https://www.whec.com/rochester-new-york-news/reopening-rochester-childcare-center/5726972/
Rochester area child care centers scrambled to be ready as the state indicated some coronavirus pandemic restrictions would be loosened and some businesses would be cleared to reopen, meaning many idled parents could soon be headed back to work.
“As the economy opens, and New York opens, we are looking to ramp up,” Todd Waite, Vice President of Youth Development at the YMCA said.
Since the lockdowns started, the Rochester area’s YMCA has focused more on child care. With most of its normal programs on hold, the “Y” has been using its otherwise empty facilities to take care of about 300 kids but, if necessary it’s poised to take more.
“We can pivot very, very quickly if all of a sudden 1000 children and families need services. We can pivot very quickly that we could be up and running within a week or so,” Waite said.
Care providers expressed exhaustion at being whipsawed by fluctuating need.
“I’ve been doing this for 35 years. I have never, ever, encountered anything the likes of this,” said Barbara Ann Mettle with the Child Care Council.
In March, she predicted the closing of area schools would trigger a surge in need for child care, but then came the closing of businesses, which sent parents home and rapidly brought down the need.
Now she expressed concern that so much change could now mean a care shortage once parents go back to work.
“The people who have been laid off in those child care systems and whether or not they have found other jobs or whether they will be able to return,” she saidd.
And even with New York moving forward on reopening, providers say a big concern remains all the uncertainty.
“Parents have reached out to me and they told me they are definitely coming back so I love hearing that but I don’t think anybody really has a firm timeline,” said Andrea McKenna with Expressive Beginnings Child Care in Greece.
Meanwhile workers at the Y are trying to take their care services away from just babysitting into enrichment programs that educate with instruction in STEM and language, with an eye towards helping kids avoid learning loss from being stuck out of school.
Waite predicted that the initiative would be in place by June 1.
He said the YMCA was also working, with mixed results, at teaching children the same important pandemic lessons adults struggle with, such as hand washing, masks and social distancing.
“Every day is a challenge,” he saidd. “I am not going to tell you it’s not. Young people are young people and they love to challenge rules. It’s going along well actually.”
—- WHEC-TV