State prepares for reopening of day care centers
The leader of the state Department of Human Services outlined the implications that Harrisburg’s phased-reopening plan carries for day care centers and other businesses that provide child care during a press briefing on Monday.
When the state redesignates Washington, Greene and 11 other counties in Southwestern Pennsylvania from red to yellow on Friday, child-care centers that closed following the governor’s mid-March shutdown order will be allowed to reopen.
“I want to emphasize that child-care providers in counties moving into the yellow phase are not required to open, and families may still choose to keep their children at home,” Miller said. She added that the change in risk category won’t mean an immediate “return to normal life,” as officials are still uncertain about the extent of the danger still posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
She said that providers that intend to reopen must learn the guidance issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“The CDC’s guidance for child-care providers outlines the steps providers should take to keep child-care spaces safe, and to properly monitor staff and children for potential exposure to and symptoms of COVID-19,” she said.
Among other work that DHS is doing in connection with the pandemic, Miller said her office is in talks with the administration of Gov. Tom Wolf and the state Legislature about potential uses of federal stimulus funds. Meanwhile, the agency is working with Pennsylvania State University, Harrisburg, to conduct an impact study that “will help inform future supports for child care,” she said.
Providers that looked after the children of essential workers were allowed to obtain waivers to remain open despite the lockdown order.
Miller said that more than 1,520 child-care providers still operated as of earlier this month, before any counties were moved to the “yellow phase.” That figure included more than 620 child-care centers and another 900 family- and group-home providers, which didn’t have to close, across the state.
“Many child-care providers were motivated to remain open throughout this crisis, because they felt a sense of duty to the families of workers, first responders, grocery store employees and other essential workers,” Miller said.