Department of Human Services adopts changes to child care guidelines amid COVID-19

The Department of Human Services (DHS) announced policy changes surrounding child care to better accommodate working families, including relaxed guidance for non-licensed child care services.

These changes come as schools across the state are reopening in person or virtually -- after many parents spent the summer “scrambling” to establish childcare options for their families.

One of these changes creates criteria for “learning pods” and other makeshift child care options to ensure they are safe for families. Although these groups are organized independently between same-age school children and their families, they have to register with the Department of Health and Safety and all child care providers will have to undergo a background check.

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“We have two goals: keeping children safe and healthy and creating flexibility for working families during this unprecedented time of challenge, stress and anxiety,” Human Services Secretary Teresa Miller said.

The DHS requires that learning pods, or groups of less than 12 school-aged children, must register with the DHS and create a health and safety plan similar to the ones required for school districts for day-to-day operations and an emergency plan if a COVID-19 case is reported within the pod.

Pods that do not register with the DHS may be reported, although Tracey Campanini, Deputy Secretary for the Office of Child Development & Early Learning, said they would work with families to get them registered properly and handle each pod on a “case-by-case basis.”

Around 30 learning pods have registered with the state as of Sept. 9, Campanini said.

The leader of these learning pods is required to go through a background check and enforce the health and safety plan created. They are also required to be reporters of abuse through state law. Other requirements include checking the pod’s local zoning laws to ensure child care services can be run in the home.

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Regulations around nonlicensed part-day programs such as sporting camps or summer camps have been relaxed to extend past the 90-day limit to allow parents to take advantage of that child care option. This means a basketball summer camp that ran through the summer could stay open and provide child care for families.

“We want children to be in situations where they are safe and supervised by trusted adults; where they are able to focus on their education; and where their interactions with other people are limited so as to minimize the risk of COVID-19 transmission,” Miller said. “What we don’t want is parents quitting their jobs to stay at home with their school-aged children.”

These programs will be required to follow the same guidelines as learning pods, including the creation of a health and safety plan and undergoing background checks.

The DHS also said their waiting list for the Child Care Works Subsidized Child Care Program for lower-income families has fallen from 1,200 to just over 100 this summer. Miller said this option is available for working families who cannot afford child care.

Further resources:

Here’s a list of School-Aged Child Care locations

Here’s a breakdown of child care information in your area

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