“At the family child care center she runs out of her Dorchester home, Dottie Williams has started asking parents to send teddy bears along with their kids.
“Ms. Dottie’s NeighborSchool serves children between five months and four years old, an age range for which Williams said touch is an important way of bonding. To translate the ritual of a hug to the COVID-19 era, she now asks the kids to hug their own teddy bear while she hugs hers.
“ ‘Children are very, very creative, and when you’re creative with them, they can adjust,’ Williams told lawmakers Tuesday.
“As advocates and child care providers continue to call for an infusion of public funds to help the industry cope with added costs and lost revenue associated with providing care during a pandemic, stuffed animal-facilitated hugs are among several short-term adjustments speakers highlighted during the Education Committee’s virtual oversight hearing.”
— “COVID-19 forcing innovation at child care centers: Ripple effects linger as key industry is strained,” by Katie Lannan, State House News Service story in The Salem News, Jul 7, 2020
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“The critical role that childcare plays in society has never been more apparent. But as decisions get made about reopening guidelines and adult-child ratios, are we forgetting the rights of children and of those who care for them?
“All young children, especially those experiencing adversity because of racism, economic and food insecurity, and other systemic injustices deserve access to excellent and equitable childcare. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights provide protections for children’s health, well-being, and education that we must keep front and center. We, members of the newly formed Faculty Alliance for Early Childhood Well-Being at Boston University, urge focusing on children’s rights as we grapple with reopening childcare.”
— “POV: We Need to Focus on Children’s Rights as We Grapple with Reopening Childcare in Massachusetts,” by Peter Rockers, Ruth Paris, Ellie Friedland, Stephanie Curenton, Felicity Crawford, and Megina Baker, BU Today, July 6, 2020
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“The child-care crunch triggered by the pandemic has rapidly become a crisis for many workers and companies that is hindering the economic recovery, disproportionately harming women and threatening to leave deep scars for years to come.
“A consensus is emerging among top economists and business leaders that getting kids back into day cares and schools is critical to getting the economy back to normal. And the American Academy of Pediatrics warned this week that keeping children out of school in the fall would threaten a degree of ‘social isolation’ for children that could lead to mental and physical harm.”
“While big companies might be able to provide white-collar workers with generous work-at-home flexibility, blue-collar and “essential” industries, from grocery store, fast-food and sanitation workers to nurses, often can’t. Low-income and working-class women — who have already been hardest hit by the crisis — as well as smaller businesses are disproportionately impacted by the child-care crunch. Some who would turn to grandparents for extra help now see that option as less safe and other possibilities can be unaffordable.”
“Tom Wyatt, chief executive of KinderCare Learning Centers, said in an interview that his inbox is filled with parents begging him to find a place for their children. All 1,500 KinderCare centers are open now, but most classrooms are restricted to 10 children, down from 24 before the pandemic. With costs up and enrollment limited, the company isn’t making money. ‘Obviously, that is not sustainable,’ he said.
“ ‘The child-care industry is going through a gut-wrenching challenge right now,’ Wyatt said. ‘We literally have waiting lists at this point.’ ”
— “The big factor holding back the U.S. economic recovery: Child care,” by Heather Long, The Washington Post, July 3, 2020