Office on Youth Faces COVID - 19 Challenges and Proves Resilient by Alicia Vines, Office on Youth Director
March 13, 2020, started like any other day for the Office on Youth (OOY) and their childcare programs. Children arrived that morning and departed for school as usual. By that afternoon, everything changed. The schools informed OOY that they would be closed until after Spring Break per the Governor's order. OOY programs sites housed in three elementary schools had to close as well. Parents were understanding even though the closures created childcare challenges. On March 23, the Governor announced that schools would close for the remainder of the 2019 - 2020 school year, and children would learn virtually. OOY committed to providing childcare for essential workers. The school system and OOY reached an agreement to open two of OOY's childcare sites, Orange Elementary and Locust Grove Primary, starting Monday, April 6, for children of essential personnel only. At first, parents requested care only at the Orange Elementary site. Within weeks childcare was needed at the Locust Grove location as well, which re - opened on May 18. OOY's third site, Gordon - Barbour, re - opened June 1 in time for the summer care program. The Virginia Department of Social Services required COVID safety changes at licensed childcare programs. The number of children in the program had to be reduced by more than half to meet social distancing requirements. Staff assigned each child an individual table and toys. Staff improved sanitizing procedures to ensure the children's spaces and toys, including the playground equipment before outside playtime, were as clean and sanitized as possible. Masks became a requirement for staff and children unless approved for a waiver (previously, the Governor's orders did not require masks for children under the age of 10). Additionally, the children and staff were screened upon entry each day, and parents were not allowed inside the buildings. That was a significant change from pre - pandemic norms when parents were encouraged to come in to interact with the staff and children.
Page 7 | January, 2021
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