Mark Reardon Show, KMOX NewsRadio (St. Louis)

Lynette Fraga, CEO of Child Care Aware of America, discusses getting kids back to school and child care during the pandemic.

Listen to the interview.

Scripps National News

Child care facilities are struggling with how they will continue operating during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Providing care right now is expensive. We necessarily need sanitizing equipment, supportive PPE equipment. We need to ensure that ratios are high and group size is low, and that the physical space and the distances that are needed as well as the equipment and resources are available,” said Lynette Fraga, Executive Director of Child Care Aware of America.

Child Care Aware of America says it's possible that anywhere from 30 to 50% of facilities nationwide could close permanently, depending on how long the pandemic goes on.

That's with the increasing cost of much needed added health and safety measures. Also, some places are getting less money because they're keeping classrooms smaller now.

“That means those providers that are open those prices may really be affected for parents, so any way you may look at this equation, the price of care is a real concern for parents and the price for providers to provide that care is a real concern,” said Fraga.

The organization says some of the $50 billion the industry is asking Congress for would help families with this cost. It adds that families need to be the ones to raise concerns about access to affordable care.

Child care facilities are planning for what comes next if we see another spike in COVID-19 cases this fall. They're creating emergency preparedness plans, learning from what we've experienced over the last few months.

Watch the video.

Cheddar

Cheddar's Hena Doba is joined by Ami Gadhia, chief of policy, research, and programs for Child Care Aware of America, to discuss how states can't reopen with child care centers still closed.

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The Hill

Child care remains a central obstacle to reopening the economy as the school year ends and camps and summer programs remain on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“Without child care, there’s no recovery,” said Lynette Fraga, executive director of non-profit Child Care Aware of America.

“As states are starting to reopen and parents are heading back to work, the children are in need of care,” Fraga said.

Adding significantly to the problem is the major hit child care businesses have taken during the pandemic.

“I think one major piece that is so critical to focus on is that when demand increases, there are going to be fewer child care slots available and working parents are going to have a really tough time accessing affordable child care.”

In order to stave off further coronavirus outbreaks, child care centers will be forced to accommodate smaller numbers of children in the same space, regularly take children’s temperatures, implement social distancing, and institute a bevy of new sanitization instructions.

“That turns upside down the business model for the child care providers,” said Fraga.

“What’s really needed is support ensuring that when PPE is needed, providers have it, when sanitizing equipment and supplies are needed, they have it,” she added, referring to personal protective equipment.

Read the full article.

PBS NewsHour

Who will care for the children of working parents when they return to their jobs, if schools and many child care providers remain closed? The CARES Act allocated $3.5 billion to support child care programs, but a national organization says many providers have yet to receive any funding. Special correspondent Cat Wise reports from Oregon, where a shortage of child care slots preceded the pandemic.

This story includes an interview with CCAoA Executive Director Lynette M. Fraga, Ph.D.

Watch the video.

Bloomberg News

As states around the country attempt to restart their economies, lack of child care will continue to keep some people—mostly women—from getting back to work.

“The pandemic has focused the nation’s attention on the fact that access to child care is a really critical part of our economic health,” said Ami Gadhia, the policy chief for Child Care Aware, an industry advocacy group. She added that without emergency funding many providers will be forced to close permanently, citing a survey from the National Association for the Education of Young Children that estimates up to 63% of the industry will go out of business without help from Congress.

Read the full article.

CNBC.com

Day cares, preschools and child-care providers nationwide are facing a tough road as they attempt to provide safe, quality care to children while navigating the ever-changing challenges posed to their businesses. And experts say that many providers may not make it.

“We’re going to lose a lot of child care at a time when we really need it,” says Lynette Fraga, executive director of Child Care Aware of America. “If workers are unable to find child care, they’re not going to be able to go back to work — and that is problematic.” 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued guidelines that encourage providers to establish smaller class sizes, equip staff with appropriate protective gear, increase sanitation routines, provide training for teachers and facility employees and attempt to put social distancing procedures into place.

“There is expense associated with all of that,” Fraga says. “Sanitizing equipment costs money,” she says, adding that the lower ratio of children to teachers and smaller group sizes have “flipped the business model upside down on its head.”

In fact, American families regularly pay over $11,000 a year to send their infant to a child-care center, about $10,000 for toddlers and over $9,000 for four-year-olds, according to Child Care Aware of America’s 2019 report.

“We’re really at a tough place,” Fraga says. “There are a lot of unknowns on the horizon. So it’s important that the U.S. really pay attention to what it’s going on take and be willing to invest and support child-care providers. It’s not just about the safety and development of children,” Fraga says, “it’s an economic equation, too.”

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Baltimore Sun

According to Child Care Aware of America, a nonprofit designed to assist families with child care, 24 states reported a decrease in child care programs from 2017 to 2018.

In a letter addressed to members of the U.S. Congress, Child Care Aware of America urged increased investment in child care programs across the country, specifically asking for at least $50 billion in aid as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

“This funding would not only help provide emergency care for health care workers and other essential personnel in the immediate term,” the nonprofit wrote, “but would also prevent child care programs from closing permanently and help working families access these programs upon their return to work in the months ahead.”

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Real Clear Policy

By Lynette M. Fraga & Renee Boynton-Jarrett

As politicians and pundits rightfully praise essential workers during this pandemic, rarely does anyone mention another group of genuine heroes: those who care for the children of other essential workers. Could it be that because these workers are disproportionately women of color, their service is overlooked and undervalued? While women of color represent only 20% of the American population, they comprise 40% of the roughly 1.5 million child care workers in the United States.

Read the full op-ed

CNBC Online

The delay in reopening child-care centers in some states may not be due to a lack of planning, but rather, an abundance of coordination and caution. “This isn’t a light switch that we’re going to be turning back on again — there’s a real runway needed and some real thought that needs to be put into how we effectively open up child care again,” says Lynette Fraga, executive director of Child Care Aware of America.

Child Care Aware of America is tracking and updating daily the status of each state’s child care availability and any restrictions put in place amid the coronavirus pandemic

Read the full article