Protect Our Essential Childcare Industry

We have been asked to reopen at a time when our health department strongly recommends that staff and children with pre-existing medical conditions stay home. This is critical for safety; however it also means that our pre-pandemic staffing crisis is much worse and we need to operate below capacity while many of our children remain home. Our operating costs have skyrocketed, we have little access to supplies, and social distancing is not possible for young children. We have a work environment at very high risk for infection, even with strict regulations and highly trained staff. Our programs are facing an unprecedented staffing crisis and revenue hit and we were already in crisis before the pandemic. There are centers that do not have enough staff to open or can only partially open, and we need funding to bridge this gap. In addition, we need to protect our current staff so that we can reopen to full capacity when the crisis is over.
There are a number of ways that we can ensure the solvency of the childcare industry, but there are three systems in dire need of long-term public investment. Those three systems are healthcare, wage supports, and access to childcare financial assistance. As we attempt to re-open, we will be missing a substantial portion of our staff that fall into the "at-risk" categories, meaning we need to support what little workforce we have left. Those teachers that are able and willing to return to work are going to need guaranteed access to healthcare and childcare financial assistance. Historically, teachers that did not qualify for these things would either quit or work part-time as they juggled schedules. In addition, our average wage is just over $12.00 per hour. This is at or below many other lower tier essential jobs and we often have higher education degrees and continued education. Without public investment in wage supports for our teachers and directors, many of our workers may never return.
Even with our best efforts, many programs cannot resume operation on June 1 or can only partially open due to lack of staff and/or lack of children. Programs that have teachers and/or directors out will not be able to resume full operation or may not be able to open at all. Without continued financial support, these programs risk permanent closure. In addition to lack of staff, programs will have reserved spaces sitting open with no income for those at-risk children that cannot return, or for those families that have experienced lay-offs. This creates a precarious financial situation for an entire industry. We need continued stabilization grants and continued allowance for subsidy reimbursement for both open and closed programs; otherwise the system is penalizing programs that have staff and children with pre-existing conditions. Without continued financial support, open programs will have operating expenses that are higher than their tuition income, closed programs will cease to exist and not be available to provide care when it is safe for staff to return. Supporting current programs will allow the industry to bounce back from the pandemic much faster than allowing programs to fail and then trying to restart anew.
In addition to financial investment, all programs will need assistance with health and safety measures such as procuring PPE, cleaning supplies, and groceries as well as testing and contact tracing. We don't have the buying power of large businesses and have little access to the supplies that we need to operate safely. Our work environment is close contact and high risk for disease transmission. We need PPE for our workforce to try to prevent widespread illness and additional center closures. We will need regular access to free testing for our workforce and our families as we try to monitor and control infection. In addition to the testing, we need clear and enforceable protocols for keeping staff and children safe and that do not leave wiggle room for parents to send in sick or possibly contagious children. Lastly, we would like to mention that there will be a significantly increased need for social/emotional support for children as they return to group care and funding for mental health and case management services will be needed as we help children cope with the effects of a pandemic.
We realize that this list is extensive and will require significant financial investment, but it addresses many of the issues that our profession is currently facing and will face in the future. If we can secure permanent funding for wages, subsidy, healthcare, and a path back to re-opening during a health crisis, then we will have helped to create a much more sustainable model of early education that should last us years into the future.

Thank You for Your Consideration,

The Early Educators of Vermont