Homecare agency defends N.L. child care spending

One of the private home care agencies named in a provincial auditor general's report on child care spending in Newfoundland and Labrador is defending the cost of its services.

John Noseworthy's report highlighted the amount the province spends on child care. In 2009, it paid two companies, CareGivers and Waypoints, more than $10 million  to provide those services.

The annual cost per child ranged from $157,000 to $600,000 in 2009.

CareGivers received $8 million.

In his report, Noseworthy said his office couldn't track down contracts between the companies and Eastern Health, the provincial health authority that runs the program.

CareGivers Manager Ann Whelan told CBC News that child care services are expensive because the employees who provide them are highly qualified and trained.

"It is a lot of money," she said. "When you consider most children would require two-on-one staffing, 24 hours a day, it doesn't take long to figure out where the bulk of that money is going. It's in direct care. When you have a requirement, for example, for a registered nurse to provide that care, that changes things dramatically."

Whelan says most children are housed and cared for in furnished apartments. She said only one child had to be put up in a hotel last year.

Eastern Health said the two companies were the only agencies able to provide all the services required and the health authority doesn't plan to open the contract bidding to public proposals.