Childcare businesses forced to close, still waiting for CARES Act funding
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and last updated 2021-06-29 19:48:07-04
BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) â The last time we visited Toot-Toot Day Care in Buffalo, Diane Abram was busy caring for a handful of children, putting them down for a nap.
That was in February 2020, before the pandemic hit. Now, the childcare provider has been forced to shut down.
âMy enrollment dropped all the way down to two children which I couldnât afford to provide childcare for just two children,â said Abram.
Abramâs in-home daycare service was paid mostly through county subsidies, and many of her former clients are either not working or not back to school full time.
Working parents with two children aged under five could soon be paying as little as $6 a day in childcare fees as part of the federal 2021-22 Budget.
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg announced on Sunday a $1.7billion package that will bring in several sweeping changes to the childcare system.
Among the changes include providing a 95 per cent subsidy for second and subsequent children aged five and under, and lifting the $10,000 subsidy cap for high-income earners.
Mr Frydenberg said the changes would not only be a massive help to hundreds of thousands of families, but also boost the number of people returning to the workforce.
Los Angeles Teachers Return to School with $500 Monthly Child Care Subsidy
7 Apr 2021
Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) teachers and other district staff with young children will be returning to in-person learning with a $500 per month child care subsidy in order to further ensure schools are staffed appropriately, the district said.
NR: Superintendent Austin Beutner Announces Childcare Support For Employees As They Prepare to Return to Schools https://t.co/tXGCYwWJ7Rpic.twitter.com/OW4jWPQ6aK
On Monday, LAUSD Superintendent Austin Beutner announced the district will provide the subsidy “for employees who have childcare issues and help ensure the appropriate staffing of schools as they reopen.”
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Edwina Shivers, a supervisor at a child care center, tried unsuccessfully for two weeks to make a vaccine appointment until her employer pointed her to a pop-up vaccination clinic at a South L.A. church held this week. When I m at work I don t want to take (COVID-19) home and vice versa I don t want to be at home and take anything to the center, Shivers said.
The clinic aimed at early educators was a collaboration between her employer, Drew Child Development Corporation, Charles R. Drew University, Children s Hospital Los Angeles and Macedonia Baptist Church.
The list of organizations trying to get the word out to child care providers about when and how they can be vaccinated is even longer.
Child care providers, many of whom have never stopped caring for children during the coronavirus pandemic, have been anxiously awaiting their turn for the COVID-19 vaccine. Starting March 1, they can sign up.
Child care workers who work or live in L.A. County, Orange County and Long Beach are now eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. However, with an uncertain supply, it s hard to say whether it will be days or weeks before they ll be able to sign up for appointments.
Many of L.A. s child care workers are part of a population more likely to contract COVID-19 - 65% of early educators are Latino.