COVID-19 Has Nearly Destroyed the Childcare Industry—and It Might Be Too Late to Save It
Sanitizing a daycare facility preparing to re-open Jenna Antico, a 31-year-old childcare operator in Sarasota, Fla., thought 2020 would be a pivotal year for her business. The daycare facility she started building in 2015 was turning a steady profit, so she leased a second building in October 2019, then purchased a third in late February 2020. As it turned out, this year has indeed been pivotal—but not in the way she had hoped. When COVID-19 hit the United States like a tsunami in March,
Read in TIME: https://apple.news/AUnZfYZHMSl634ctqRfWvpA
New Mexico Waives Parent Copayments for September and October
ECECD Action Will Support Parents and Child Care Providers
Santa Fe - Today, the New Mexico Early Childhood Education and Care Department (ECECD) announced that parent copayments for the Child Care Assistance program will be waived for the months of September and October. The department will cover the revenue child care programs would have received from parent copayments and will include this amount in their regular monthly reimbursement checks.
“The pandemic has created economic challenges for New Mexico families - and for child care providers. By waiving parents’ copayments, we’re making it easier for families to afford child care while ensuring providers continue to receive revenues,” said ECECD Cabinet Secretary Elizabeth Groginsky.
ECECD’s decision to waive copayments follows earlier initiatives intended to support families and sustain New Mexico’s child care industry during the pandemic, including offering free child care to essential workers and delivering wage incentives to more than 3,100 early childhood professionals.
More recently, the department has awarded Child Care Recovery and Stabilization Grants to approximately 500 licensed child care facilities in order to help the industry return to pre-pandemic strengths. ECECD is also partnering with the New Mexico Public Education Department (PED), the state’s Regional Educational Cooperatives (RECs), and the Child Care Resource and Referral agency at UNM to connect families who need child care with providers who can offer it.
In New Mexico, Child Care Assistance eligibility is up to 200 percent of the Federal Poverty Level ($52,400 for a family of four); parents and caregivers can apply for assistance here.
The State of New Mexico has awarded Counties and Municipalities Small Business Grants.
The local government grants can cover small business continuity grants, child care assistance, the purchase of PPE, expenses incurred to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, and the costs of public health and safety personnel.
They also can cover business continuity costs and business redesign: employee payroll, scheduled mortgage payments, insurance, utilities, marketing, reconfiguring physical space, installing plexiglass barriers, purchasing of technology for working at home, and PPE for employees.
See if your County or Municipality received an award (CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW) and reach out to them today.
