As the COVID-19 pandemic inundated the child care system, Child Care Aware^® of America (CCAoA) received helpful funds from the Center for Disaster Philanthropy to support and provide relief to Child Care Resource & Referral (CCR&R) member organizations across the country. In the summer and fall of 2020, CCAoA used the funds to provide CCR&Rs with resources to meet pressing needs within their communities.  

With millions of COVID-19 cases nationwide, child care providers have had to maneuver and innovate in extraordinary ways to address health and safety concerns while still experiencing reduced income or program closures. Imagine the day child care professionals can gather with staff to care for children and support families without the concern of contracting COVID-19. That day is coming, but only if we act now to stop the spread of COVID-19 so we may keep ourselves, our families, our communities and our country safe.

COVID-19 has sent many of us on a winding road of change and unprecedented challenges. As we now have three vaccines for the virus and the number of cases is starting to go down, many communities are starting to open up and return to a more “Pre-COVID-19” life. For many families, this means children returning to child care after having been away from the setting for a year or even longer.

Update: With news that the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) is now law, Child Care Aware of America is republishing this resource to support states as they consider spending child care relief funds. ARPA provides $39 billion in child care relief, of which $15 billion in additional funding is made available through the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CCDBG). These funds can be distributed like the December relief funds ($10 billion) and the CARES Act relief funds ($3.5 billion), including towards the proposed policies detailed in this resource. The remaining $24 billion under ARPA will be made available through a separate child care stabilization fund. 

Ensuring children’s health and safety in child care is the top concern for any child care program, and child care emergency preparedness is vital to meeting this need. One way providers can strengthen safety practices in a child care program is to have a written emergency plan. 

Child care providers run an evacuation drill with infants in 2019.

In December 2020, Congress funded a new Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) to help small businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic. The new PPP is more flexible than the original and allows prior PPP loan recipients to apply for a second loan under certain conditions. The PPP is now open for applications.