On May 23rd, Taichung Shalu District's first 'Publicly-Funded, Privately Run Daycare Center' and 'Coastal Preschool Resource Center' were jointly unveiled at the Shalu Child Welfare Services Center. They will be accepting 25 children under the age of 2 for a fee of 7,000 NTD per month and will provide temporary and extended childcare services. In addition, they will also assist parents in applying for preschool subsidies, meaning that parents will only be responsible for 2,000-4,000 NTD of the fees for each child.

At the Childcare Resource Center parents took their children to take part in music activities which were also attended by Mayor Jason Hu, City Council members Yang Chiu-Yun, Chang Liao Nai-Lun, Director-General of the Bureau of Social Affairs Wang Hsieu-yan. Mayor Hu said that, according to statistics, there was a relatively lower amount of daycare and preschool resources in Taichung's coastal areas - but it was the responsibility of the mayor to make sure that children in each district received the same level of care.

In order to help vulnerable families, the Bureau of Social Affairs has provided 5 quotas for vulnerable children, with fees completely waived for children from low and middle to low-income families. In addition to daytime preschool services, the Shalu Daycare Center has taken into account the needs of parents by providing temporary and extended care for children. It organizes a range of parent-child activities in the community to help improve the relationship between parents and children and enhance participants' parenting skills. Ms. Hong, a mother of twins, said with delight that she planned to regularly take her children to events organized by the Preschool Center.

In addition, the Bureau of Social Affairs has also organized various preschool measures such as affordable childcare, childcare subsidies, parenting classes, maternity allowance, childcare allowance and the Preschool Resource Center, all of which have received strong support from the city's residents.

The Bureau of Social Affairs stressed that, considering the current lack of community play and activity areas for children under the age of 3 outside of their homes, it had actively opened Preschool Resource Centers in city, coastal and mountain areas as well as Dajia and Datun County. It had organized children's activities and provided a diverse range of services such as advice about childcare resources and parenting, as well as parenting education, a community tour service, and free borrowing of educational aids from libraries. In particular, the Coastal Preschool Resource Center and Shalu Daycare Center are both located at the Shalu Child Welfare Services Center, making it highly convenient for parents and their children to make use of all the resources there.