After Hurricane Helene, help was offered to reopen and find child care in North Carolina

by Liz Bell, EducationNC
October 14, 2024

by Liz Bell, EducationNC
October 14, 2024

Child care programs affected by Hurricane Helene may be able to reopen, even if they lack running water or cannot meet other requirements, to meet the emergency needs of communities.

Licensed child care programs in western North Carolina should consult with a licensing consultant to determine if and how they can reopen without meeting normal licensing requirements, according to the state Division of Child Development and Early Education (DCDEE) of the Department of Health and Human Services Services (DHHS). Consultants for the West region can be found here on pages 4-12.

In the meantime, families seeking child care can find help through the NC Child Care Hotline at 1-888-600-1685 weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. It is conducted by DHHS and Child Care Resource & Referral agencies to help families find care options for children up to 12 years old.

Gov. Roy Cooper signed an executive order Friday acknowledging that child care is essential to the region’s workforce, that many programs have been “damaged, destroyed or closed” and that reopening under normal conditions “may be difficult or impossible.” “.

State and local authorities can provide flexibility in the 27 counties in the federal disaster area, the order states. It allows DHHS to waive or modify child care requirements related to “activities, record keeping, orientation, continuing education, nutrition, attendance, staff qualifications, training, and sanitation,” as well as requirements for subsidized child care.

As of Oct. 11, in the original 25 counties declared a disaster, there were 55 child care programs with damage that prevented them from reopening, 40 programs that the state could not contact, 130 programs that were operating but closed , and 587 open programs. according to DCDEE.

DCDEE is working with the Division of Public Health’s Environmental Health Division and the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) to determine how each program can resume based on its circumstances.

Lawmakers passed a $273 million initial Helene relief package last week, which Cooper then signed. Despite requests from DCDEE and other early childhood leaders, funding for child care was missing from the legislation.

In the short term, child care programs need funds to repair or replace buildings and continue to pay teachers, local leaders and early childhood educators told EdNC.

“We hope to have our funding request approved when the General Assembly reconvenes later this month,” DCDEE acting director Candace Witherspoon said in a newsletter Friday.

The next session of the Legislature is October 24th.

Programs also need additional funding to function long-term as an extension of pandemic-era relief funding expires in December, local and state advocates say.

The Legislature is expected to return in November to finalize its budget.

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