December 11 | Weekly Digest: COVID-19 Response & Recovery for Child Care & Wellbeing

Bright BeginningsAdvocacy, Community

COVID-19 Response & Recovery Plan

Our goal is to ensure that young children have quality, nurturing, and safe child care and education as physical distancing and other guidelines continue in order to slow the spread of COVID-19.

The next Coalition Call will be held on Wednesday, December 16, 1:30-2:45pm. If you are not already receiving calendar items, please RSVP here. 

For more information about this effort and the coalition behind it, please visit our web hub here.

This Week’s Highlights

A few highlights from this last week are shared below. Previous Weekly Digests are available here. 

By the Numbers

96 local child care centers are operating now (81% of total registered) — no change less since last week.

290 local child care homes are operating now (90% of total registered) — 3 less since last week.

953 families requested a referral since the start of shelter-in-place — 5 more since last week.

News

  • From Sunday, December 13 at 10:00pm through January 11, 2021 at 6:00am, Monterey County will be under a more restrictive Stay at Home Order, per public health recommendations. Schools are allowed to remain open if they have previously been allowed to conduct in-person learning. For the latest information, click on this link.
  • Governor Newsom has announced assistance for businesses impacted by COVID-19. In his plan, California will provide temporary tax relief to eligible businesses, relief grants for small businesses, and increased funding for the California Rebuilding Fund. Read the details here.
  • The U.S. Chamber of Commerce conducted a series of studies during the COVID-19 pandemic related to child care and education. In the study, families expressed concerns about child care safety and were considering not going back to work. Interestingly by October 2020, 77% of men and only 54% of women had returned to work. See the full report here.  
  • University of California, Santa Cruz Associate Professor of Biomolecular Engineering Dr. Rebecca DuBois offers a fascinating glimpse into how vaccines work and an overview of various COVID-19 vaccine candidates currently under development in this presentation featured at the 2020 Monterey Bay Economic Partnership State of the Region event.
  • The Roadmap for Reliance report was just published by the Surgeon General on Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES), toxic stress, and health as a public health crisis. The entire report is available here. A brief on COVID-19 and Toxic Stress provided by the Surgeon General is available here. 
  • Need a COVID-19 test for you or your family? Local testing sites are open over the next few weeks as our county continues to see a surge in cases and hospitalizations. Use this link to pre-register for a test or call 888-634-1123. Here is a schedule of all testing sites in Monterey County, or consider one of the following:
  • Community Care Licensing has a disaster resource webpage that includes updates specifically for child care providers across California. Access the webpage for the latest info. 
  • Shots for School is a website that outlines immunization guidelines and requirements for children, birth through college age. Check it out here!
  • Talking with your child about COVID-19 can be difficult. Here’s a resource from an Early Care and Education Mental Health Therapist that might be helpful. Illustrations were done by her 4-year-old daughter! Check out the book on Amazon here.

Resources
Monterey County COVID-19 Testing Locations

All Ages Distance Learning Supports

  • Need help with distance learning for your school-age child? Families and providers in Monterey County who need help with distance learning can get support from their school district technology department. Click here for a list of district online tech support links. 
  • Need support helping your child with special needs during distance learning? Click here for an article from the Greater Good Science Center that may help, and feel free to subscribe — it’s free! 
  • We as a community are getting creative on how to provide child care and distance learning supports for children of all ages. While we don’t have all the solutions to this complex puzzle, here are a few resources (available in multiple languages soon): 

Public Health

  • Want to go to your local park or playground? Here is a link to city parks that will help you plan your trip. Some parks are still closed, so please check the park listing before you go! The state Public Health Department has released guidelines for use of public playgrounds. 
  • The California Department of Public Health has provided clarification on staff and cohort sizes in child care settings. In this guidance, staff working with children under age five are able to work with children in one or two cohorts. This allows staff who typically work in the morning and afternoon sessions to continue to work with both groups, if needed. Substitutes who are covering for a staff member are only able to work with one cohort of children per day. 
  • Monterey County Office of Education and the Monterey County Health Department have provided a scenario map to help programs respond to cases of COVID-19. Use this communication and action sheet to help you make the right decisions for families and children in your community. 
  • Find the most recent guidelines from the California Department of Public Health for day camps, schools, and child care providers.
  • Pajaro Valley Unified School District released information about the COVID-19 in Mixteco — watch the video here and please share!

Resilience & Mental Health Resources

  • Monterey County Forward Together is a free way to connect with others to support your social-emotional well-being, including a network for teens, parents, seniors, and new moms. Facilitation is provided by Monterey County Behavioral Health staff and other partners. Learn more here.
  • Social-Emotional Learning is a critical part of supporting the children and families in our community. This Social-Emotional Roadmap provides critical practices for reopening schools with equity-focused strategies as we move forward toward healing. 
  • The Kinship Center in Monterey County provides training and support for families and children including those experiencing social-emotional challenges. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Kinship Center Mobile Response Team has been providing immediate services to families with a child or youth experiencing crisis, ages 0-21. Services are available M-F 8:00am-10:00pm, S-S from 11:00am-9:00pm and by hotline 24/7 at (831) 687-4379.
  • The Kinship Center’s Families Matter series is available every Tuesday at 7:00pm with a variety of topics. Visit here or contact 1-800-4-kinship for more information.
  • COVID-19 Child Care & Wellbeing Response & Recovery Coalition partners have posted valuable resources on how to talk about diversity and racism with young children. Check out what First 5 Monterey County has shared:

Child Care & Education Quality & Business Tools

  • The State Master Plan for Early Learning and Care has been submitted to the Governor. The plan includes recommendations for pay equity, quality enhancements, training and education paths, better outcomes for children, and other important elements. Our own local representative, Sonia Jaramillo, is a member of the ECPC providing input and a voice in the development of the plan. Click here to access the entire report. 
  • Community Care Licensing has released best practices for child care educators who are serving school-age children. The information includes ways to enhance communication with families, the importance of schedules, support for distance learning, free meals, and other tips. Click here to learn more.
  • Interested in starting a Family Child Care program? CAPSLO can help you with design, paperwork, and tips to get you started! Contact Daisy Jacuinde at (831) 821-1593 or djacuinde@capslo.org for more information.
  • Early Start provides free services to infants and toddlers (0-3 years) with disabilities and their families. The San Andreas Regional Center serves Monterey County and can provide speech, occupational and physical therapy, nutrition, nursing, and other services. Flyers and information to share with providers and parents are available to help understand the importance of early intervention and prevention. Click here for more information. 
  • The statewide Resource and Referral Network released a report highlighting the impacts of COVID-19 on family child care arrangements, plans, and preferences. Earlier in the year, over 12,000 parents responded to a statewide survey. Click here to access the report.

Children’s & Family Activities & Resources

  • The Monterey Bay Aquarium has online family-friendly science activities to encourage wonder and connection to the natural world. Check out these amazing resources here! They also offer online courses in English and Spanish here. 
  • Unable to pay rent due to COVID-19? The Attorney General has provided a simple form for tenants to notify their landlords about their inability to pay rent. Click here for the form. 
  • An Alisal Union School District Kindergarten teacher created a Spanish and English site called Kinder Rockets, full of fun, music-filled learning activities. It’s gone nationwide!

It Takes a Coalition 

The emergency response providing coordinated solutions for child care and education is led by a coalition of early childhood champions, united under the Bright Beginnings Strategic Framework to better support all young children and their families, to prepare every child for life and school. This coalition is ever-growing:

4th Monterey County Supervisorial District
30th California Assembly District
Building Healthy Communities
CAPSLO
Carmel Unified School District
Child Care Planning Council
Child Development Centers and Continuing Development Incorporated
Children’s Council
Early Development Services
First 5 Monterey County
Go Kids, Inc.
Health Department
MAOF Resource & Referral & Alternative Payment Program
Monterey Peninsula Unified School District
Natividad Medical Center
North Monterey County Unified School District
Office of Education – Early Learning Program
Office of Education – Educational Services
Public Health Office
Quality Matters Monterey County
Salinas City Elementary School District
Social Services – Child Abuse Prevention Council
United Farmworkers Foundation
United Way of Monterey County
YMCA

A special thanks to the coordinating team and major funders: Bright Beginnings Backbone, Child Care Planning Council, First 5 Monterey County, MAOF Resource & Referral, Quality Matters, and the United Way of Monterey County.

For more information, please contact sonja@brightbeginningsmc.org.