A national survey is finding that child care businesses are very concerned about their abilities to financially withstand the impact of COVID-19:
- 30% say they would not survive a closure of more than two weeks without significant public investment and support that would allow them to compensate and retain staff, pay rent or mortgages, and cover other fixed costs.
- 17% say they would not survive a closure of any amount of time without support.
- 16% would not survive longer than a month.
- 25% do not know how long they could close and still re-open without support.
- Only 11% of programs are confident they could survive a closure of an indeterminate length without support.
- Half of respondents are fielding requests from families needing space for their school-aged children due to school closures.
More than 6,000 providers from all 50 states and the District of Columbia responded to the survey by the National Association for the Education of Young Children between Thursday, March 12 and Tuesday, March 16. Thirty-three percent of respondents work in center-based child care and 53 percent work in family child care homes.
The survey is still live. Child care providers in NC can share their experiences through the survey, and NAEYC has offered to provide states with their state-specific data in the near future. These data can help policymakers and advocates to better understand the impact of the virus in NC and the supports that child care providers may need in the near future. If you are a child care provider, please respond to the survey today if you haven’t already.
The NC Department of Health and Human Services and the NC Division of Child Development and Early Education both released additional guidance and support in the last two days for child care providers.
Guidance from DHHS included:
- The decision to stay open or to close child care programs is a difficult one, and there is no right or wrong answer right now.
- Child care providers are encouraged to follow guidance on how to stay healthy and protect yourselves and others from COVID-19.
- DHHS has issued detailed steps that child care programs can take to mitigate spread of the disease and protect your health and safety and those you serve.
- DHHS will continue to pursue every opportunity to support child care programs and teachers with good health and safety guidance, financial stability, and flexibilities during this time.
- Reach out to your child care consultant and/or child care health consultant with questions.
- Stay tuned for continued updates and guidance.
DCDEE shared new flexibility in policy and regulatory requirements, including around:
- Inspections of Child Care Facilities
- On-Going Requirements for a License
- Activity Schedules, Plans and Areas
- Staff Qualifications
- Staff/Child Ratio and Group Size
- Nutritional Requirements
- Training Requirements
- Indoor/Outdoor Space
- Family Child Care Home – Nutrition Standards, Inspections, Daily Operations, and Records
- Record Retention
- School-Age Children – Age Appropriate Activities
- Star Rating
- NC Pre-K – Attendance and Child Health Assessment
Thanks to our friends at the NC Early Education Coalition for posting this chart of the changes in a shareable form.