A new task force has been formed to help life-critical and essential service employees find child care services during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Bartholomew County Emergency Child Care task force has been formed to help guide individuals to child care offerings and provide the most up-to-date information on the virus for families and youth care professionals.
The task force is made up of about 20 different community partners who have been engaged in extensive video conferencing over the past two weeks to address the important issue of child care, according to Mark Stewart, executive director of the United Way of Bartholomew County.
While some local residents can work from home, most essential services employees have to be physically at their job. They include health care providers, grocery store clerks, police officer, firefighters, emergency medical technicians, garbage collectors, and public transit workers.
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Although child care is also considered an essential service, some daycare facilities in the Columbus area have opted to close, task force representatives said.
Those decisions came after some of the facilities determined they could not maintain a proper amount of social distancing, while others gave up after seeing health regulations and recommendations change on a nearly daily basis, Stewart said.
When asked how many child care facilities are still open, Stewart said he didn’t want to provide estimates because at least two day care facilities were planning to close soon — and other facilities may shut down in the days ahead.
Providers who are open are only allowed a limited number of children, while state regulations also call for providers 60 or older, or those with underlying health conditions, not to accept kids into their care at this time.
While that leaves a shortage, the Council for Youth Development has announced that life-critical or essential service employees in need of emergency child care can apply to have their kids temporarily enrolled in a emergency child care center. This is what the 20 different community partners have been working on, Stewart said.
The first such center is Children Inc., 715 McClure Ave., which provides child care for children from age 1 to 12. That facility, as well as other emergency day care centers that may be created in the coming weeks, will be open Monday through Friday from 6:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., according to the Council for Youth Development website.
For concerned parents worried that these facilities might jeopardize their child’s health, local emergency child care centers will follow all Indiana Family and Social Services Agency regulations, in addition to COVID-19 specific protocols defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the website states. All child care workers are specifically trained and have been property vetted, the website states.
Protocols includes reserving an hour each day for deep cleaning when children aren’t present, as well as taking each child’s temperature each day on arrival to ensure they don’t have a fever of 100.4 or above. Additional recommendations made by the Bartholomew County Health Department will be implemented as they are issued, according to the website.
Since a number of trained child care providers are available, Bartholomew County Emergency Child Care will be working with trusted child care centers to grow capacity as needs arise at different locations, the website states.
But Stewart reminds all families that current plans are tentative and subject to change if unforeseen circumstances and complications warrant it.
If demand exceeds capacity, parents or caregivers who provide life-critical and emergency services to the county, as well as those with health reasons that have no other options for care, or who may be facing extreme economic hardship, will be given priority.
Parents who wish to utilize these services must complete an intake process through the United Way of Bartholomew County.
Eligibility guidelines, as well as other details about the process and application, can be found online at cydbartholomew.org/emergency-child-care-bartholomew. Additional information can also be obtained by calling the United Way of Bartholomew County at 812-375-2203.
While each site will determine its own cost of child care services, there may be scholarships for families who meet certain income-based requirements. Details will be provided during the intake process.
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Experienced child care and youth care workers interested in temporary employment are invited to register and submit their application at Bartholomew County Emergency Child Care Centers.
Staff member will contact individuals if needs arise at the emergency care centers.
Child and youth care workers can also register to provide in-home child care, which many consider the preferred solution because it further reduces the risk for community transmission to a family member.
Registration for in-home child care can be done through an online service called care.com. Due to the current circumstances, caregivers who sign up to help on care.com will receive a free premium membership and free enhanced background check.
Care.com is an easy-to-use platform that can be accessed and managed on a desktop computer or through a smartphone app to connect paid caregivers and families.
Those who are considering providing either at-home services through care.com – or working in the emergency daycare centers – should go online to cydbartholomew.org/share-your-care.
Applicants are asked to read the FAQ, Quick Start Guide and Fee Reimbursement Process on that webpage before applying.
Inquires can also made over the telephone by calling the United Way of Bartholomew County at 812-375-2203.
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