Are child care centers ‘essential’ businesses?

Initial confusion about Gov. Wolf's coronavirus order

• Ed Mahon
  BioRecent Stories

  

  Ed Mahon comes to Spotlight PA from PA Post, where he covered state politics and policy, produced radio stories that were broadcast on public media stations throughout the state and on NPR’s national newscasts, and co-wrote a weekday newsletter. Prior to joining PA Post, Ed worked for six years as an investigative and political reporter for the York Daily Record, part of the USA Today Network. His reporting on failures in Pennsylvania’s system for protecting domestic abuse victims was a finalist in the national 2018 Livingston Awards for Young Journalists in the local reporting category. He was also part of a team whose coverage of the criminal justice system, including the aggressive use of civil asset forfeiture by York County prosecutors, received the 2018 G. Richard Dew Award for Journalistic Service from the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association. Before joining the York Daily Record, Ed covered K-12 education at the Centre Daily Times in State College and worked as a stringer for suburban sections of The Philadelphia Inquirer. He grew up in Delaware County, Pennsylvania.

 Matt Slocum / AP Photo

A person walks past a closed craft store, Tuesday, March 17, 2020, in Havertown, Pa. Concerns about the new coronavirus have led to the temporary closure of many businesses and schools across the region.

Matt Slocum / AP Photo

A person walks past a closed craft store, Tuesday, March 17, 2020, in Havertown, Pa. Concerns about the new coronavirus have led to the temporary closure of many businesses and schools across the region. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Gov. Tom Wolf said Monday he wouldn’t send the Pennsylvania State Police or National Guard to shut down child care centers.

But Diane Barber, executive director of the Pennsylvania Child Care Association, said his directive to close nonessential businesses has put pressure on child care providers across the state. She said many of her members were left “confused, frustrated and afraid” after his announcement Monday that child care should close statewide.

Barber many said child care providers weren’t sure if they were being ordered to close — and what the consequences would be if they didn’t. Plus, in Philadelphia, Mayor Jim Kenney’s administration on Monday said child care was an essential service. Some childcare centers didn’t open Tuesday, while others did. Barber didn’t know how many decided to remain open.

And she wasn’t sure what consequences child care centers would face for defying Wolf’s order, and whether staying open would have any impact on their licensing status. Even if there are not immediate consequences from state government, she said providers have concerns about legal risks.

“What if you’re open and a child or adult contracts the virus?” she said. “There’s a business liability.”

For child care centers, the closure order raises questions about how operators will pay their workers in the short-term and stay in business in the long-term. Barber said the state continues to offer funding to centers through a subsidy for low-income families, but she said few child care centers serve only children who rely on a subsidy.

Barber also has concerns about the people who rely on child care centers, particularly health care workers and others who need to work during the crisis.

The state Office of Child Development and Early Learning is offering waivers to help with the last part. Erin James, a spokesperson for the Department of Human Services, said the state recognizes that closures are “especially burdensome for essential personnel such as health care workers and first responders who must have safe and stable care options for their children in order to report to work.”

On Tuesday, Philadelphia updated its guidelines, noting that child care centers are only essential if they receive a waiver (the city is granting its own waivers in coordination with the state.). That adds some much-needed clarity. Barber said child care centers still have questions. For now, her advice to providers is to do what’s best for their businesses, their staff members and the families they serve. —Ed Mahon

Best of the rest

Matt Rourke / AP Photo

Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro speaks before Gov. Tom Wolf signs legislation into law at Muhlenberg High School in Reading, Pa., Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2019. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

• Price gouging: One effect of Gov. Tom Wolf signing a disaster emergency declaration on March 6 is that businesses can’t artificially inflate the prices of toilet paper, hand sanitizer and other consumer goods. Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro said his office has received more than 1,000 tips so far, followed up with 45 verified complaints and sent out 34-cease-and desist letters and subpoenas. In one case, he says a bottle of hand sanitizer that typically cost $2 was selling for nearly $20.

• State liquor stores closed: Tuesday was the last day they were open until further notice. There were a lot of tweets about it!

• Special hours: A trend started in Europe arrives in Pennsylvania, as grocers begin to offer “seniors-only” shopping hours as a way to minimize elderly customers’ potential exposure to coronavirus. The Morning Call says Whole Foods and The Fresh Market are participating. Looks like Giant, Target and Dollar General are also in on the trend.

• Instruction for students: House Speaker Mike Turzai (R-Allegheny) wants education to continue while public K-12 schools are closed. He said most students have access to online materials, and for those who don’t, the district should make hard copy material available in packets that could be mailed out or picked up.

• Pa. justice in self-quarantine: In a statement, Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice David N. Wecht said one of his children tested presumptively positive for COVID-19 after returning from an overseas trip. KDKA Pittsburgh has more details.

• $10 million Emergency Action Fund in Pittsburgh: The fund will provide grants to organizations providing human services, health care support and economic assistance during the crisis, Pittsburgh City Paper reports.

• Union wants more details: Rick Earle of WPXI in Pittsburgh reports that the firefighters union there is upset  about possibly coming into contact with coronavirus patients and not know it.

• Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Toomey blames bureaucratic ‘bottlenecks’ for testing delays in Pennsylvania; urges passage of stimulus deal

• WHYY: Bucks special election: Candidates bump elbows, carry sanitizer to slow polling places

• Speaking of Tuesday’s special elections: The apparent winners of 3 races to fill open state House seats are: Tim Bonner (R)  in the 8th, K.C. Tomlinson (R)  in the 18th, and Eric Davanzo (R)  in the 58th. Once the results are certified, it will leave the House with a GOP majority of 110 seats to the Democrats’ 93 seats.

Coronavirus must-reads

• The Inquirer: Why the coronavirus and most other viruses have no cure

• NPR: New Analysis Suggests Months Of Social Distancing May Be Needed To Stop Virus

• The Inquirer: When coronavirus kills, the lung condition ARDS can be the culprit. Here’s what you need to know

• ProPublica: Are Hospitals Near Me Ready for Coronavirus? Here Are Nine Different Scenarios

• The New Yorker: What Went Wrong with Coronavirus Testing in the U.S.

• Los Angeles Times: How ‘silent spreaders’ are fueling the coronavirus pandemic

• Post-Gazette: In a time of social distancing, social media is spreading false and misleading information about COVID-19

• LNP: How the influenza pandemic of 1918 affected Lancaster County