NICOLE MCCORMACK, a hairstylist from Haverhilll, always dreamed of opening a home daycare. So with her youngest son entering kindergarten, she started applying for a license in March. Five months later, she has not been able to take the training courses required by the Department of Early Education and Care, and her licensing process is […]
child care
Posted inUncategorized
Providers question feasibility of childcare guidelines
CHILDREN RETURNING to daycare will no longer be encouraged to play together. Caregivers will wear face coverings. Public playgrounds will be off limits. Class sizes will be smaller. Gov. Charlie Baker on Monday released detailed health and safety guidelines that daycares will need to follow in order to reopen. Baker called the guidelines a “very […]
Posted inOpinion
Major public funding needed for child care
MONTHS BEFORE the first documented case of coronavirus became public, an owner of a Connecticut-based child care center suggested a way to demonstrate child care’s critical role in the economy. “Just shut down child care for a day,” she said. “The economy will come to a screeching halt.” Her words have proven prophetic. The essential […]
Posted inEducation
Parents, daycare providers grapple with uncertainty
BEFORE THE CORONAVIRUS pandemic hit, April McCarthy, 31, of Chelmsford, was working as a mental health clinician, while a family daycare provider watched her 2-year-old daughter and 7-month-old son. Then COVID-19 hit and the daycare shut down. McCarthy’s husband works in an essential job for a facilities company servicing Harvard Medical School. McCarthy tried to […]
Posted inEconomy
Congress must act on child care crisis
CHILD CARE IS an essential component of our national economic infrastructure, as fundamental as our roads and bridges. Just ask any parent performing essential services during the pandemic, or any mom or dad juggling kids and working from home. Ask any parent in America and they will tell you that quality, affordable child care has […]
Posted inOpinion
A human infrastructure stimulus is needed
IN THE MIDST of the COVID-19 crisis, the United States stands at an inflection point; our policymakers hold in their hands the future of the American narrative. In this time of uncertainty, what will we prioritize when it comes to rebuilding our country’s infrastructure? The Great Depression and World War II birthed the New Deal, […]