Region Liguria also confirms the measure of “for 2024Summer Nests”designed for support municipalities that guarantee at least dtwo consecutive weeks of opening Between July and August of nursery schools and similar services. This year too they were 500 thousand euros allocated: the funds will be distributed among the leading municipalities of the various Ligurian social and health districts, which, in turn, will provide the accredited/equalized private owners participating in the initiative with the shares due to them on the basis of the regional distribution.
“We have now reached the eighth edition of this measure, confirming the large share of municipalities and especially families throughout the territory – comments the councilor for Social Policies Giacomo Giampedrone –. Helping local authorities to keep facilities open even in the height of summer, in July and August, is of fundamental importance for families, especially for working parents, who often struggle during holiday periods to find suitable places with specialized staff to welcome their children.”
“Thanks to this measure, early childhood services in Liguria perform the precious functions of educational and social protection even in summer – explains the councilor for Child Protection Simona Ferro – Through the provision of these funds, the Liguria Region demonstrates its concrete closeness to the municipalities, to the public and private structures that make available almost 8 thousand places and, obviously, to the families and children who benefit from the service”.
In the 2023 they have joined the 92 comun initiativei (in 2022 there were 84), involving 223 summer servicesthe (there were 214 the previous year) dedicated to early childhood, both public and private: a synergy between early childhood services of the public administration and associations which last year had managed to guarantee over 7681 places dedicated to children up to 3 years oldi, over 1,600 more than the previous year. Last year around 80% of the services remained open for the whole day, the remaining 20% guaranteed half a day almost always with meals included; in July there was opening for the entire month, in August most of the participating services ensured an average of two weeks of opening.
For this year, the sum of 500 thousand euros will go to offset the expenses incurred by local authorities to guarantee the nursery service in their territories. The allocation of resources for individual municipalities will be quantified based on the number of places made available by each early childhood facility (nurseries, centers for girls and boys, home education services, spring sections owned by public bodies such as of private entities that have followed the path of accreditation), al guaranteed number of opening days in the period July and August 2024 and the number of hours of daily opening guaranteed in the same period, i.e. a mechanism that is all the more rewarding the more a service commits to extending its opening into the summer.
“This initiative confirms the attention paid to our youngest ‘citizens’ who, even in the summer period, can continue to enjoy an important opportunity for socialization in environments and with quality staff dedicated to them, among their peers”they conclude councillors Ferro e Giampedrone
