Emergency Response & Recovery Plan
As part of the Bright Beginnings Early Childhood Development Initiative, a coalition of early childhood champions is providing coordinated support and solutions for emergency care and education, developing the first-ever countywide emergency response and recovery plan for the early childhood development system.
The goal of this plan is to ensure that young children of essential workers have quality, safe child care and education during the COVID-19 emergency measures — regardless of the caregiving setting — and are resilient beyond the emergency. The plan has four strategies:
- Triage the immediate health and safety needs of children and caregivers/educators in all child care and education settings.
- Connect essential workers with the child care they need.
- Support parents during the shelter-in-place order.
- Plan for the future needs of educators, children, and their families, post-COVID-19.
The work is organized around various workgroups: library of resources and information; capacity of child care and education (openings and closures); tools to find care for essential workers; caregiver and educator needs (supplies, information, training); outreach to essential industries to assess need and provide care; outreach and communications to the general community for care and other resources; mental health supports for caregivers and educators, and families; policy and advocacy; supplies procurement; and fundraising.
A coordination team brings it all together and ensures priorities are met (Child Care Planning Council, Resource and Referral, Quality Matters, United Way, and the Bright Beginnings backbone).
See the full Response & Recovery Plan — and ever dynamic documentation of the planning and prioritizing process here.