TODAY.com 

A large-scale study conducted by Yale University found that child care is not associated with the spread of the coronavirus.

The study, published in Pediatrics, the peer-reviewed journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, found that child care programs that stayed open throughout the pandemic did not contribute to the spread of the virus to providers if those child care programs were in areas with low COVID-19 spread and took multiple safety measures, including disinfecting surfaces, hand washing, screening for symptoms, social distancing, masking and limiting group sizes.

Lynette Fraga, Ph.D., the CEO of Child Care Aware of America (a resource to help families access quality, affordable child care), which participated in the study and offered recommendations based on its results, said that the study shows that it can be possible to reopen child care safely as long as appropriate measures are taken.

"This study shows that to be open safely, child care providers will need to practice mitigation and prevention strategies which cost money," Fraga said. "And, at times, it may not be safe for child care to be open if community transmission rates are high. To stabilize an industry facing additional costs and ongoing, public health-related closures, significant funding is needed."

Read the full article.

Forum News Service (ND, SD, MN, WI)

The number of childcare facilities continues to slump in the Upper Midwest, and it’s likely the COVID-19 pandemic will take a further toll, according to recently released annual tracking report and multiple surveys by organizations who monitor child care options.

Good Morning America/ABCNews.com

At the same time women face a gender pay gap where they earn around 80 cents for each dollar their male co-workers make, the costs of child care now exceed $20,000 per year in nearly two dozen states, according to Child Care Aware of America, a nonprofit organization that works to make child care in the U.S. high-quality and affordable.

Also not enough, advocates say, are the state policies that popped up to try to help child care centers during the pandemic.

"A lot of those were temporary fixes and may not be extended as states reopen," said Lynette Fraga, Ph.D., CEO of Child Care Aware of America. "There is no doubt that a federal solution is absolutely necessary, and a federal investment, supported by state solutions and state-by-state policies, that can raise up that federal solution."

Read full article.

Seattle Times

Without child care, there can be no economic recovery from the pandemic.

Those are the dire consequences that can transpire if the government doesn’t give more financial assistance to U.S. child care providers, including those in Washington state, a new report warns.

Since July, nationwide, 40% of child care centers and 27% of home-based child care providers closed, according to research compiled by Child Care Aware of America, a national child care advocacy organization. The causes, Child Care Aware found, were dropping attendance in child care facilities and extra costs associated with the pandemic.

Read the full article.

MarketWatch

The U.S. child-care system is buckling under the weight of the coronavirus pandemic, new data suggests — and economists warn that a lack of feasible options during the economic downturn could leave some working mothers’ careers in the lurch.

CNBC.com

Despite states allowing child-care providers to reopen their doors as the spring and summer stay-at-home orders lifted, attendance is still down and many centers have yet to get back into business. 

About 35% of child-care centers and 21% of family child-care programs remain closed nationwide as of July, according to the latest data available from Child Care Aware of America released Thursday. Of the providers that are open, attendance and enrollment is significantly lower than it was at the start of the year.

That’s due, in part, to state and local health guidelines limiting the number of children allowed in a classroom or facility in order to maintain social distancing. Child Care Aware found that 17 of the 32 states that reported attendance data say they’ve lost more than 25% of their capacity.

Read the full article

Iowa Public Radio

A new report has found about half the state’s licensed child care centers have closed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The report by the non-profit Child Care Aware of America found the state’s licensed child care centers dropped from nearly 1,590 in January to just over 802 in July.

However, the report found the state’s in-home providers fared much better. They reported 2,542 providers in January and 2,546 providers in July - a slight increase.

Kristina Haynie, a senior data analyst with the non-profit, said licensed centers may be struggling because they have more children and staff to manage.

Dionne Dobbins, the senior director of research at Child Care Aware of America, said parents may be more comfortable during the pandemic putting their children in a space with fewer people and in-home providers have more flexibility serving different aged children.

Read the full article

Exchange Magazine

As a Mexican-American born in Arizona, I encountered racists and was subjected to racism. As a mother, I worry about my college-age son as he navigates his way in the world, including interactions with the police. As I watched George Floyd suffocate and die under the knee of a white police officer, I felt its painful pressure in my own life, and the lives of my children, parents and grandparents.

In many ways, I am the manifestation of the dreams of my grandparents—a college graduate, earning a doctorate and living her passion in her professional career. Like so many of my brothers and sisters of color, I am both deeply grateful for my family’s sacrifices and the life I have, as well as painfully aware of the subtle—and not at all subtle—ways that my skin color informs people’s interactions with me, my family and countless others.

I share this to make explicit that if we are to confront the reality of racism, implicit bias and their painful outcomes, we need to talk about them in a very personal way.

CCAoA believes that equitable early childhood education must lift up all children and support their growth and development, while providing educational advancement in partnership with families. To do so, we must acknowledge the history of our country and the disparate impact that racism, past and present, has had on generations of Black and Brown Americans. We must acknowledge the pernicious effects of historical trauma and structural racism that have resulted in cumulative adverse economic and social impacts on people of color. And we must work to ensure that our early childhood and child care systems do not perpetuate—indeed, must actively work to reverse—the racism, poverty and lack of opportunity that exists in the United States.

Read the full article

TIME

If there are mass closures across the childcare industry to the extent that experts predict, the failure of the government to act will have broader ramifications. Daycare providers who find themselves unemployed may never return to their profession. Daycare owners may abandon their businesses for more lucrative ones. Families may opt to keep a parent home to watch the kids. “Absent our collective investment in childcare, there really won’t be an effective community recovery,” warns Lynette Fraga, the CEO of ChildcareAware. “If we aren’t supporting childcare providers, there won’t be childcare to go back to.”

Read the full article.

Seattle Times

Op-ed by Jackie Bezos, president and co-founder of the Bezos Family Foundation, and Lynette M. Fraga, Ph.D., CEO of Child Care Aware of America.

Read the op-ed.