COVID-19 Child Care Guidance

CASY will continue to work to keep this information updated with new guidance released from the Office of Early Childhood and Out of School Learning. To ensure you are reading the most update to date guidance released, we urge you to visit their website directly at: https://www.in.gov/fssa/carefinder/5761.htm

COVID-19 (coronavirus) guidance for OECOSL stakeholders

Child Care Closure Assistance Grant provides assistance to a program if a program has closed due to a confirmed COVID-19 case which requires closure of a classroom or facility.

• • • Grants will be awarded to programs for the purpose of continuing to regularly pay child care staff and maintain operations for the time period of the required COVID-19 closure.
    • This grant should cover the cost of lost revenue during closure from children who are funded through private pay/cash pay. • Providers must have been temporarily closed during the time period of this grant because of a confirmed COVID-19 case of a person affiliated with the facility.
    • Providers must be eligible to receive CCDF
    • For purposes of this grant, total grant awards will be capped at $40,000

Note: The grant will be evaluated every two weeks to see if funding is still available to continue. Please check the Office of Early Childhood and Out of School Learning COVID-19 webpage regularly!

• Instructions/tutorial for the Child Care Closure Assistance Grant application (August 3, 2020) – Please read these instructions before applying for the Child Care Closure Assistance Grant!
• Child Care Closure Assistance Grant application

Reminders:

• All applicants can check status of applications by logging back into Submittable and following the instructions/tutorial posted!
• Please check your junk/spam emails for communications and approvals from Submittable
• Child Care Closure Assistance Grant applications cover a two week time period. Applications will be posted one grant period at a time, new grants will post once the prior grant closes.

Please Note: When applying for this grant you will only claim the self/private/cash paying children that are absent or did not attend due to closure from your program. All CCDF voucher children will be paid by using personal days through the late attendance process.

INDIANA CARES ABOUT CHILD CARE

As Indiana child care providers operate in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, many are faced with difficult financial challenges. To support our state’s providers and ensure Hoosier families have high-quality child care options, the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration – in partnership with Indiana’s Child Care Resource & Referral Network – has launched the Indiana CARES About Child Care relief fund. Supported through the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act, these grants will help providers with safety-related expenses and emergency operating needs.   

Grant amounts are up to $12,500 based on a provider’s capacity.

GUIDANCE:

• Updated child care guidance (March 18, 2021)
  • Updated child care guidance – Spanish
  • Face coverings in child care
  • Face coverings in child care – Spanish
  • Mask resources for child care providers and families
  • Mask resources for child care providers and families – Spanish
  • Background check guidance
  • Background check guidance – Spanish

• Guidance for school age programs (September 30, 2020)
• School Age Exemption Guidance (August 21, 2020)
• School Corporation and Entity Agreement Guidance
• MOU Template
• COVID-19 nebulizer guidance (August 4, 2020)
• COVID-19 nebulizer guidance – Spanish

• Guidance for child cares – What to do when you have a COVID positive (July 21, 2020)
• Guidance for child cares – What to do when you have a COVID positive – Spanish

• Guidance for school age summer camp programs (May 22, 2020)
• Reference material regarding mandatory versus recommended practices during COVID-19 in child care licensing (May 22, 2020)
• TB testing guidelines (May 15, 2020)
• Updated guidance regarding Paths to QUALITY™ ratings (May 15, 2020)
• CPR certification and renewal (April 30, 2020)
• Extra clothing policy notification template (April 23, 2020)
• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in partnership with the federal Offices of Child Care and Head Start, has released new guidance for Child Care settings during COVID-19. Check the link for specific guidance for child care on issues such as: This guidance can be found on the CDC website or at this link. This information is intended for child care programs that remain open, and should be used in conjunction with CDC’s guidance for administrators of child care programs and K-12 schools. This guidance does not supersede federal, state and local laws and policies for child care programs. (March 12, 2021)
• Updated guidance for child care providers (March 20,2020)
• Cleaning and sanitizing guidance (March 20, 2020)

RESOURCES/SUPPILES:

• Community resources (October 5, 2020)
• Resources for reopening or communicating changes (July 14, 2020 – Resources for programs as they reopen or need to communicate changes with families as well as resources for families as they return back to child care.
• Other local resources for providers (June 8, 2020) – Local resources including funding or other local supports offered at the county level.
• General supplies (May 1, 2020) – OECOSL will provide updates to general suppliers who have indicated they are able to provide various supplies.
• PPE supplies (April 30, 2020) – OECOSL has collected a list of supplier who have been able to provide specific supplies, such as sanitizers, thermometers and cleaning supplies. OECOSL will update this list as it continues to expand.
• Indy Chamber Rapid Response Hub (April 30, 2020 )- The Indy Chamber has created the Rapid Response Hub in response to the COVID-19 Pandemic. The Rapid Response Hub houses a plethora of resources, information and supports for small business and is applicable to small businesses across the state.
• COVID-19 multi-language resource available from Luna (April 1, 2020)
• Talking to children about coronavirus (March 20, 2020)

WEBINARS:

• Indiana’s CRRSA plan – Recorded webinar (March 25, 2021)
  • Presentation

• COVID-19 revised update – Recorded PowerPoint presentation (December 11, 2020)
  • PowerPoint
• COVID-19 updates – Recorded webinar (December 2, 2020)
  • Webinar presentation / PowerPoint
• COVID-19 updates Recorded webinar (October 2, 2020)
  • Webinar presentation / Powerpoint
• COVID-19 updates Recorded webinar (June 27, 2020)
  • Webinar presentation / PowerPoint

Resources from Child Care Aware

Child care providers across the nations are closing as measures are set in place to reduce the spread of the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19). If your child care business has closed or seen a drop in children attending and you’re experience financial distress, these resources can help.

Emergency Funding Resources that Child Care Providers Can Use Now

Child Care Aware of America (CCAoA) has also prepared several resources including a video covering the following topics:

• Background and prevalence of the virus
• Protection in childcare
• Hygiene practices including cleaning, sanitizing, and disinfecting*
• Exclusion policies
• Social distancing
• When to seek medical attention
• Self-care

View those resources here. *Please note: It is the recommendation of Child Care Aware that “Family style dining should be suspended indefinitely to prevent multiple hands touching utensils and to decrease the risk of contamination.”