Virginia child care provider: “what are these families to do?”

This is the story of Rachel Salmon, a child care provider based in Virginia.

We are a small-business, privately-owned child development center in the state of Virginia. We serve more than 225 children each month. Due to restrictions, we turned away over a quarter of our children in need of care.

What are these families to do? The workforce is opening back up, but the restrictions on daycares are not. Even if parents can juggle working from home and watching children under the age of 5, what does this mean for the children? It means a lack of structure, increased screen time, inconsistency, increased stress, lack of instruction and social interaction… The list goes on.

In many cases, we are creating a high stress environment for these children in a place (their home) where they should feel safe, comfortable and secure. We are ignoring our children while trying to tend to the pressures of the workforce. They are not independent of our care.

If these restrictions are necessary to keep our children safe and healthy, then step up and assist the childcare industry. A $60,000 deficit each month will force us to close our doors. 225 children will no longer have a stimulating early care and educational experience in an environment that fosters and promotes their social/emotional, physical and cognitive development. This compounding change will be detrimental to our young children. It is time to step up and help these young children, parents and daycare centers!