Neither the Department of Children, Youth, and Families DCYF , the State of Washington nor any of its employees makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, translation, product or process that is disclosed, displayed or appears on the DCYF website. While DOH guidance is not a child care licensing rule, it is guidance for DCYF advising child care licensing regarding how to support child care providers ensuring healthy and safe environments for providers, children and their families.
The DOH guidance is informing DCYF child care licensing decisions regarding emergency child care waivers and helping with technical assistance.
Neither the Department of Children, Youth, and Families DCYF , the State of Washington nor any of its employees makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, translation, product or process that is disclosed, displayed or appears on the DCYF website.
Licensed early learning providers follow foundational quality standards, the Washington Administrative Code WAC , set by the state to ensure children in licensed care are in safe, healthy, and nurturing environments. If you are caring for children on a regular basis, you may need a license. Because child care providers are independent business owners, decisions such as a voluntary closure during a health outbreak are business decisions each facility makes on their own.
The school closures will be most effective in slowing the spread of the virus if the overwhelming majority of children, including children under age 5, stay at home or in very small group settings throughout the closure period.
There are two main reasons child care providers are not included in the closure requirement. First, child care settings are often much smaller in numbers than in K settings. Children in child care are in smaller groups throughout the day and not often in larger groups. Group sizes remain smaller in classrooms and there are not larger gatherings in hallways, gyms or cafeterias like we see in K schools.
Second, child care is a critical need for our first responders and essential personnel nurses, doctors, law enforcement, firefighters, paramedics, social workers, etc. And, while closing schools statewide helps achieve this goal, it also increases the need for child care for some families. During this time of crisis, we want to ensure that essential workers have access to safe child care so they can get to work. This the reality we are working in right now — trying to slow the spread of the virus and working to maintain critical services and functions in our communities.
The hope is that parents who can keep their children home safely will do so and that those who need child care to get to work will have access to that care without question. We also anticipate that some parents will need intermittent care, but not necessarily full-time care. To further support the goal of reducing the spread of the virus, parents may want to consider safe alternatives to the group-based child care that they might otherwise arrange when schools are closed, such as:.
At this time, the DOH would support a closure if someone with a novel coronavirus case spent time in child care and had contacts with other individuals in the child care setting while ill. In this situation, DOH and local public health department will work with child care leadership to consider the duration of the closure and to determine other steps that should be taken to limit spread. Child care providers can remain open and serve any child. If currently enrolled children need care, then you can serve them regardless of their parent's essential worker status.
You can also enroll new children, both subsidy and private pay. DCYF encourages providers to prioritize children of essential workers and uniquely vulnerable children if there are more children than the provider can safely serve.
Please continue to provide care to already enrolled families, including families with school-age children. Child care providers and community partners libraries, parks and recreations, community centers that are interested in organizing emergency child care for medical professionals and other priority workforce groups around the state, please contact EmergencyChildcare dcyf. Medical professionals are one of the priority categories that we must continue to serve and provide child care, especially in the health emergency our state is facing.
DCYF is looking for partnerships with hospitals and child care providers who are serving medical professionals. Child care services for less than four hours a day are license exempt. Governor Inslee has designated child care and licensed pre-K as an essential function for essential workers and uniquely vulnerable children. While parents are encouraged to stay home with their children if they're able to do so, we understand that child care services for our frontline health care workers, first responders and other essential workers is necessary during this pandemic.
You can find the full list of essential workers here. DCYF is working directly with first responder organizations such as hospitals and others that want to provide care on-site to stand up child care sites quickly through an emergency licensing process. If you are interested in this resource, please contact emergencychildcare dcyf.
The RCW exemption for seasonal care does not restrict care to only those children of essential workers. If you are interested in learning more about an emergency licensing process, please call or email: emergencychildcare dcyf. Monday - Friday at ; TTY to see if they qualify for special enrollment or Apple Health which is open year-round. If you have lost your insurance because you have been laid off, had your hours cut back, or are on temporary furlough, you can look to the Washington Health Benefits Exchange to see if you qualify for one of the many tiered health insurance plans available through the state.
The plans are all income based and even though we are outside of the normal enrollment period, the employment changes that are occurring due to COVID count as a change in circumstances and may mean that you are now able to apply even if you did not qualify in the past. For the period beginning March 16 through June 30, , you may claim services based upon enrollment. If you are currently providing exempt child care services, including part day services, drop-in services, etc.
We are implementing an emergency waiver process to speed up necessary licensing activities. If you are currently licensed and would like to extend the capacity of your services, start serving additional age groups or include additional working hours to your services, please contact your licensing office. There are no fees for changing your license.
Please see the regional child care licensing offices contact information. If you are currently providing exempt child care services, such as part day services, drop-in services, etc. Child care providers may request waivers for certain requirements. Family Home providers are more than welcome to use the emergency waiver process for increasing capacity of their services.
On Monday 3. This guidance is based on new modeling on how the virus might spread, according to Dr. Deborah Birx of the White House coronavirus task force. For child care providers that remain open, it is crucial to minimize the risks of spreading coronavirus.
Social distancing is one of the main strategies to slow the spread of the virus. The capacity waivers will be approved in consideration with the DOH guidance. Limiting the group size is an emergency measure that will help reduce potential coronavirus exposures and may prevent an entire program from shutting down if exposure does occur.
Please contact your local licensing office if you need technical assistance regarding emergency waivers. We understand the staffing challenges that may occur during this emergency. You should continue to recruit and hire staff. If you are able, use fully qualified workers who have cleared a background check. Work with your local licensing office to get approval.
DCYF also has a substitute pool for licensed providers that offered by The Imagine Institute and will be expanding services. Please make the needed arrangements with the providers. DCYF will not make changes to ratios across the board. Please work with your licensor and submit a request for a waiver , based on what you can provide. Please contact your regional licensing office and report your closure plans. Please contact your union representatives regarding business-specific issues.
The facility will not need to begin a new licensing process.
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