As Texas works to re-open in the next few weeks, much of our workforce will be impacted by lack of available childcare. Currently under Governor Abbott's order childcare facilities may only be made available for government deemed "essential workers."
We sat down with Day Nursery of Abilene's Cynthia Pearson and asked where she saw childcare headed moving forward.
"The Governor made several key points related to child care in his remarks early last week as the state of emergency is lifted May 1. There is a child care portal set up for providers to register with the number of available space they have. Here’s the link. There is a place for parents, vs. employers, providers, etc. to sign up. It’s a great tool.
I’m not sure how long the essential worker restrictions for child care will go on, but we are monitoring that, too. The subsidized child care system has also updated their guidelines to include funding for essential workers and they have also eliminated the requirement for qualified parents to pay a portion of the child care fee (referred to parent share of cost) based on their income and have eliminated the restrictions on absences as well. These changes are also fluid and related to the pandemic and funded through the CARES Act. Here’s the link to the site in general for child care assistance in our area and the link too for the families to apply for child care for essential workers.
Here's another resource from Texas Care for Children which includes much of what is above."
We reached out to the City for guidance on summer camps and this is what we received: "Children’s summer recreation programs at Sears and Rose Recreation Centers (also known as ‘Summer Playground’ program). Registration for program sessions tentatively set to open May 6, 2020. For more information, click here.
Your Chamber will be monitoring the situation and reporting back to the business community as additional information becomes available.