A little over a month ago, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown gave child care centers a choice: continue to operate with a focus on the children of 鈥渆ssential workers,鈥� or shut your doors.
Nearly half closed.
That鈥檚 actually not as bad as national trends, according to a , which found 60% of daycare centers 鈥渁re fully closed and not providing care to any children at the moment.鈥�
In Oregon, 1,700 of the state鈥檚 roughly 4,000 licensed child care centers are closed. Certainly, many childcare workers have lost their jobs, but the Oregon Employment Department doesn鈥檛 have numbers on how many.
鈥淲e do not have that level of detail,鈥� OED senior economic analyst Anna Johnson told OPB in an email.
According to an Employment Department article, childcare workers are included in a broad 鈥淥ther Services鈥� category, which is responsible for roughly 12% of the state鈥檚 jobless claims from late March to late April.
That category, which also includes hair stylists and massage therapists, is responsible for the third-largest share of jobless claims, after the hospitality and entertainment sectors. Brown has issued 17 executive orders to restrict business and social activity over the last two months.
Oregon Early Learning Division
/Oregon Early Learning Division has approved at least one "emergency childcare provider" in every county in the state.
State officials are praising providers that have continued to operate: 2,085 centers have adjusted to a new set of rules and begun focusing on 鈥渆mergency鈥� care for children of essential workers.
Centers operating under those new rules are required to follow a 20-page 鈥� .鈥� It includes tighter child-adult ratios, special screening procedures for potentially ill children, as well as maintaining the same group of children from day to day 鈥渢o the extent practical.鈥�
The pandemic has been a difficult and uncertain ride for parents of small children, as well as for the preschool teachers and daycare staff who care for them. On March 17, when Brown declared that public schools would stay closed through April 28, she kept child care centers open. She directed three state agencies to 鈥渃ollaborate and align resources to support and ensure the reimbursement for, continuity of, and availability of care provided by family-based, center-based, and license-exempt child care providers.鈥�
Over the next week, COVID-19 case numbers continued to grow; the total went from 65 cases on March 17 to 161 when she issued her 鈥淪tay Home, Save Lives鈥� order six days later.
Her approach to child care also changed March 23, when she called on parents with jobs deemed non-essential to care for their own children, and for child care centers to prioritize slots for critical workers 鈥� doctors and nurses, police officers, among others. That is, if they were going to keep operating.
The Early Learning Division鈥檚 2,085 emergency centers include 29 new providers, which were not fully licensed as care facilities before the pandemic. ELD communications director Melanie Mesaros said most of the 鈥渘ew鈥� programs had previously been authorized as short-term 鈥渞ecorded鈥� rather than licensed care centers. In addition, 44 school districts have been allowed to provide care, but the state hasn鈥檛 been actively tracking which ones are actually caring for children.
鈥淎t this time, we are not aware of any part of the state where there isn鈥檛 enough supply of child care,鈥� Mesaros said in an email, noting that there are 8,000 open slots across the 鈥渆mergency child care providers.鈥�
But elected officials and national policy experts warn that there could be lasting damage from the pandemic-related loss of nearly half the state鈥檚 child care centers. In part, that鈥檚 because released last year.
鈥淭he lack of quality, affordable child care options in Oregon unfortunately is not a new challenge,鈥� U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, said in a statement last week. 鈥淲ell before the pandemic, Oregon was a 鈥榗hild care desert鈥� and those serious concerns are now magnified with the uncertainty unleashed by the coronavirus outbreak.鈥�
Oregon received $38 million in CARES Act funding for child care, but members of the state鈥檚 Congressional delegation say it鈥檚 insufficient to help providers through the COVID-19 crisis.
鈥淐hild care businesses operate on razor-thin margins, and without significant support many of them won鈥檛 make it to the other side of the pandemic,鈥� said U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici, D-Beaverton.
An analysis released April 24 by the liberal-leaning Center for American Progress concluded that 48% of Oregon鈥檚 child care slots 鈥� or nearly 45,000 openings 鈥� could disappear permanently without more federal assistance. That analysis suggests that Oregon will see even more closures than the 42% of child care centers that have already shut their doors this spring.
Much like other types of businesses, whether child care centers can return may depend on how long they have to remain closed. Child care is part of Brown鈥檚 complicated 鈥� ,鈥� currently a draft being workshopped in meetings with various economic sectors.
Just as child care was a challenge as Brown tightened regulations over the last two months, reopening centers could be a tricky balance, as well 鈥� involving public health priorities, workforce demands as well as the capacities and financial constraints of the centers themselves. Brown鈥檚 framework includes 鈥渁dditional child care reopening in Phase One鈥� 鈥� meaning rules could be relaxed as the state hits its initial targets regarding disease symptoms, case numbers and hospital capacity.
But first, state officials are trying to learn more about what鈥檚 preventing child care centers that have closed from operating as emergency child centers, as allowed under Brown鈥檚 previous executive orders. ELD officials said they extended a survey intended to close last week, so that unions and advocacy groups could share it more widely through their networks.
鈥淚t鈥檚 important for child care providers to weigh in on what they need to operate safely as the governor鈥檚 office will be using feedback to inform reopening plans,鈥� read a statement on the web site for the Portland-based Children鈥檚 Institute, linking to a survey the state is circulating to providers.
asks providers that have closed what the barriers are to running under the emergency rules, as well as their view on specific rules 鈥� such as frequent sanitizing of surfaces and toys, and taking children鈥檚 temperatures.
But the survey also nods to the complex, interconnected challenge for providers. It asks how important the reopening of other businesses will be to re-enroll children and whether providers worry they may have children to care for, but not the staff to hire. That鈥檚 another problem that plagued Oregon鈥檚 childcare industry before the pandemic.
Copyright 2020 Oregon Public Broadcasting
