Public policy in favor of early childhood

The community's commitment to a comprehensive early childhood policy was set out in the mandate project around 3 axes:

• A substantial increase in the number of childcare places: 449 additional places including more than 300 places carried by the City by the end of the mandate and the inclusion of the child in the city to make Montpellier a Ville à hauteur d'enfants et du petit enfant.
• Equal access to quality childcare, adapted to each family, by informing, supporting and facilitating the process for families; diversifying childcare arrangements and promoting early childhood professions.
• Promoting equal opportunities from the earliest age by working towards a universal right to early learning and socialization, developing a prevention policy aimed at families and supporting parenthood and reconnecting the very young to nature and their environment.

The City of Montpellier wishes to be fully involved in the creation of a Montpellier early childhood service on its territory to put quality at the heart of practices via the training and qualification of early childhood professionals, best meet the needs of children and their families over the first 1,000 days, enter into a preventive approach, bring common and shared values to life, develop partnerships and networks, together design a one-stop shop and collectively commit to a policy of developing and diversifying the offer.

The Service Montpellierrain de la Petite Enfance (SMPE) fulfills 4 major functions:

• Informing, guiding and supporting parents;
• Diversifying solutions and guaranteeing parents' freedom of choice for their child's care;
• Ensuring a high-quality public service that reduces social inequalities;
• Financing the development of places by acting on the remaining costs for communities and families.

The construction of the guichet unique will enable the City of Montpellier to upgrade its system for informing families and processing requests for crèche places.

The guichet unique is a system enabling families to have a single point of contact (the City) in order to obtain information and carry out their procedures. Families will visit the City's 8 Relais Petite Enfance (RPE) to formalize their procedures, with a view to centralizing the various requests as much as possible and enabling every little Montpellier resident to access a childcare facility.

A joint allocation commission involving all partners could be envisaged to complete the process and make it efficient.

It is based on an approach of:

• Centralization of requests
• Harmonization of criteria
• Transparency and equal access
• Information and advice on the different types of childcare
• Simplification and facilitation of procedures, responsiveness on complex files
• Broad information (leisure, culture, neighborhood life..)
• Links with the first 1,000 days
• Meeting place for one-stop-shop players, network of referents
• Creating links with families