Helping Families Confidently Access Safe Child Care Solutions

Arrival and pick-up procedures may continue to include strategies for minimizing contact between parents, children, and teachers. These procedures should take into consideration the parents’ rights and desires to visit their child’s learning environment while maintaining safety. Policies may be relaxed if a community is in Blue but may need to be re-evaluated when communities begin to reach Yellow. Should high or very high community spread be occurring and communities have a status of Orange or Red, child cares should reinstate policies that stagger drop off/pick up times or have child care staff meeting families outside to escort children into the building to limit direct contact. Providers have been asked to refrain from limiting visitation by mothers who are breast feeding or Direct Service Providers working with children with special needs.

Providers are intensifying their disinfecting and cleaning practices by doing one hour of deep cleaning each day. Toys and materials that cannot be cleaned should not be used. Providers will have a process for setting aside used toys and materials for cleaning before they can be used by other children. Many providers are purchasing additional materials for children to use.

Social distancing, also referred to as physical distancing, is important to limiting the spread of COVID-19. Within classrooms, the same children will be together each day, with the same teacher. Many will have reduced classroom sizes to allow for social distancing. During nap times, meal times and learning at desks and tables, children will be kept six feet apart.

Upon arrival, your provider will check your child’s temperature and conduct a verbal health screening to check for any symptoms of illness.

Providers should ensure that employees, children and families have ready access to hand sanitizer, handwashing stations or other hand hygiene products. Many providers are using this as an opportunity to help teach children about good hygiene, handwashing and health. Expect to see child-friendly signage and educational materials.

Except when on busses or on other childcare modes of transportation, children who are over the age of 2 and under the age of eight are not required to wear face coverings. Child care programs are expected to follow local ordinances regarding face coverings if they are more restrictive than Executive Order 20-48 and require face coverings for children under the age of 8. Cloth face coverings should not be placed on young children under age 2, anyone who has trouble breathing, or is unconscious, incapacitated or otherwise unable to remove the mask without assistance. Face shields are not a substitute for face coverings.

COVID Specific Policy – In order for children to attend their early care and education programs, there are more rigorous health policies that you as a parent must comply with. Your child must be:

• fever free for at least 24 hours (1 day) without being given fever-reducing medications;
• have improvement in their symptoms; and
• be 10 days out from when their symptoms first appeared.

Do you need help finding a high-quality early care and education program for your child? Visit Child Care Finder online or call Brighter Futures Indiana at (800) 299-1627.

Looking for specific information about child care? Families can find information about the different types of child care available locally through their Child Care Resource and Referral agency. Your local agency will focus on meeting your specific needs. Additionally, they can share characteristics of a quality child care program and connect families to community resources.

High-quality early care and education settings help children form caring, interactive relationships and develop their core social-emotional skills.

Early care and education programs help form the building blocks for a child’s language development, literacy and learning. Children who attend high-quality early care and education programs develop skills that will benefit them for the rest of their lives.

While you’re at work, you can have peace of mind knowing your child’s day is maximized with age-appropriate instruction, settings and activities that help them get ready for kindergarten and beyond.