Among the highest priorities for families with young children is the desire to keep their children safe from harm, healthy, happy and well. While many families are keeping their children at home right now, states are slowly starting to re-open. But is it safe for a child to be in a group early childhood setting?
As difficult as it can be to balance family and work responsibilities, some families that have retained employment through COVID19 have flexibility to work from home and still care for their child. Many of these families now are grappling with returning to the workplace following the initial brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic. And employees that now are being rehired back after being laid off or furloughed also need child care. As more parents begin to return to their places of work, the health of their children when they return to child care is top of mind.
A parent drops her child off at a family child care program before the coronavirus pandemic.
Each day we gain new understandings of COVID-19. Very early reports indicated that children may be less affected by coronavirus – less likely to acquire the virus and less likely to have serious or fatal outcomes if infected. More recent information indicates that COVID-19 may express itself differently in young children and they may not be immune to poor disease outcomes. It’s no wonder that families are reluctant to return to child care.
We have developed a new resource entitled, Information for Families on Health & Safety Measures (PDF download), that equips families with information they need to feel confident about returning to an out of home child care setting. This new resource, available both in English and Spanish, offers information on enhanced health and safety procedures and policies families may encounter in child care settings. It applies to both family child care homes and child care center settings and is based on the latest guidance from respected organizations like the Centers for Disease Control. Click the image below to download the guide.
Please share this timely resource and the growing collection of other assets on our Coronavirus Hub for Families widely so families are better equipped with information they need to make the best child care choice for their family, during this time of crisis and in the months to come.
Don't have time to review the entire document? Check out our short, one-minute video of the top five questions to consider when thinking about sending your children back to child care.
