Early Learning and Childcare Reopening Plan – A Draft Framework
Erin Schryer is the president and CEO and Jennifer Arsenault is the founder and CFO of Origins Natural Learning Childcare in Saint John.
Now that we have navigated and followed a plan to mitigate the spread of COVID- 19, it is time to plan and think about how to reopen early learning and childcare facilities, when it is time, so families can return to work.
Childcare is an instrumental piece to the success of any plan that brings the economy back to life. The importance of a plan that prioritizes the health of staff, children and families cannot be overstated. This means that things cannot be the same as they were a short time ago. Procedures and protocols associated with COVID-19 likely must be adopted long-term, if not forever.
We’ve outlined below the goals and specifications for what we feel will offer a strong and mindful approach to re-opening childcare. We offer this as leaders and contributors to the field of early learning and childcare: a sector not very well understood or appreciated until, perhaps, now.
As a company that volunteered and is currently serving the children of essential services personnel, we are well-positioned to consider our experience thus far and model the measures needed for families and our communities to build back our way of living and to come together once again. For these reasons alone, we are sharing our ideas and look forward to the future discussion, planning and new beginnings.
The Goals
A thoughtful plan begins with the goals for setting a plan in place. The following are important goals to consider. There may be more and we look forward to that conversation and feedback. The goals we’ve identified include:
1) Childcare Access. It is essential that New Brunswickers have access to regulated child care so adults can return to work and children can return to the safe learning environments and routines critical to their healthy development.
Returning children to care may need to occur in a staggered or reduced fashion, however, to limit the number of people first entering facilities and occupying classrooms, and then gradually build over time.
Determining who may access childcare first, next and so on is a critical decision that our leaders must weigh. The financial ramifications of these and any changes to the business model must be considered. It is critical that early learning and childcare operators are financially viable in order to return to full capacity.
We want to make special note of children living in precarious and perhaps unsafe conditions. These most vulnerable children need to return in the first phase. We must make the wellbeing of these children a priority. It is important to consider too that child care facilities may not be fully staffed at reopening as some educators may not return after being laid off for the duration of the pandemic. In fact, some operators may not be reopening at all.
For all of the above, and likely more, questions of access and the procedures forward are important to consider, debate and describe clearly to the public. Recall that childcare access was already limited pre-pandemic, with too few licensed seats available and the cost or location prohibitive for many.
2) Health. A strategy for positioning individual and population health as a priority and fundamental value among New Brunswickers is important. In the context of childcare, all persons accessing and working in childcare will need to be mindful and honest about their health status and concerns. Continuous screening at the door should become routine practice until further notice and the number of people accessing the building limited to one or two designated persons per child.
Health exclusion criteria for children must be strict and importantly, all parties must work together to keep our facilities safe and healthful. This includes employers in our community who rely on us to care for the children of their staff.
Greater flexibility from employers for parents will be required as we adjust to our new normal and adhere to strict health guidelines. While many families will eventually again have support from their friends and familial support networks, we must recognize that many families do not have such networks – something we hope will change post-pandemic.
Access to support and resources from public health officials will be key in this endeavour. Should masks, thermometers, gloves or more be daily requirements, support for accessing these materials will be necessary. These additional resources will come at a cost that must be considered as well.
3) Policy. The above two points have multiple ramifications for policy development. Operators, particularly those already involved with essential services care, should be consulted in the creation of new policies to ensure compliance may be achieved, families served, and staff and children kept safe and well.
All of the above must be considered for their financial impacts as childcare operators and parents in New Brunswick are already in precarious financial situations given the COVID-19 pandemic. Financial support to simultaneously support parents and preserve business health for a progressive return to full business will be necessary.
In fact, an overall reframing of how we approach policy and procedures in the early learning and childcare sector is a critical next step and discussion following reopening, to better serve our province. This pandemic has shown all of us just how important the early learning and childcare sector is, but also the precarious nature of these businesses given historically inadequate funding and support for success. The importance of the sector must not be underestimated.
Final Thoughts
As David Alston and Marcel Lebrun aptly wrote in their recent articles on the “dance” and planning for the reopening of New Brunswick, there is likely no “best” plan.
Our circumstances continue to change daily and as citizens, business owners, parents and employees we must continue to be flexible and adaptive while extending one another grace and patience. These are truly unprecedented times and the recipe is not written.
But, if you can adopt the innate joy and curiosity that we see among young children in our work every day, you can frame the opportunity of creating this recipe as pure magic.
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Huddle publishes commentaries from groups and individuals on important business issues facing the Maritimes. These commentaries do not necessarily reflect the opinion of Huddle. To submit a commentary for consideration, contact editor Mark Leger: [email protected].