We know that there is great concern for the spread of COVID-19 and what that means for childcare staff, parents and children. We want to provide you with adequate resources on how to deal with current concerns.
Helpful Resources
Minnesota Childcare Provider Hotline: 1-888-234-1268
Minnesota House of Representatives: COVID-19 pandemic worsening state’s child care crisis
Minnesota Department of Health: Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)
New America: Supporting Families and Child Cade Providers Through COVID-19
Minnesota Department of Health: Communication to Childcare Providers following Executive Order 20-02
Minnesota Government: To Our MN Childcare Providers
KTSP: What Minnesotans Need to Know About Governor Walz’s ‘Stay at Home’ Order
The Vox: Senators Elizabeth Warren and Tina Smith Have a Plan to Fix the Pandemic Child Care Crisis
The Hill: We Need Bold Action on Childcare Now
Governor Walz has extended his Executive Order, 20-20, enforcing ‘stay at home’ orders for all Minnesotans until May 18th. However, with this extension he is releasing some restrictions for certain businesses, given that they adhere to social distancing guidelines and safety measures. However, he is encouraging childcare centers to remain open in this time. Below is advice and helpful steps for childcare centers and staff during this unprecedented time:
| For any providers who choose to stay open during this time, if your staff are ill, and need to be tested for COVID-19, we will prioritize the testing of these staff in our lab. Also, if you do stay open, we encourage you to prioritize serving children of health care and emergency workers. We would ask: -If a family does not include health care or emergency workers, ask them to keep their children home or use a family, friend or neighbor to provide care in order to make capacity for new families. -Consider expanding your hours to accommodate longer shifts of emergency workers. -Let us know if you are choosing to remain open and if so, how many children you could serve here. We are working with community partners to identify families in need. -With this new guidance, the social distancing of children will require new practices. For larger childcare settings this could include separating or staggering multiple smaller groups within your facility. Complete updated guidance can be found here. -During this time of emergency, we need leaders to stand up and help our emergency services continue to operate. Remaining open, even at reduced capacity, can help enable emergency and healthcare workers to do their jobs. Should you decide to close, we would ask that you consider continuing to care for children of health care and other emergency workers in your community. Again, for those providers who are willing to continue to serve families of health care and emergency workers, we will prioritize you in COVID-19 testing. |