Child care coronavirus guidelines created for Sarasota County families

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To provide assurance and alleviate confusion for Sarasota County families with children in child care centers, a task force of early learning experts has set safety guidelines for centers to follow while dealing with COVID-19.

Led by the Early Learning Coalition of Sarasota County and Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation, recommendations from the CDC and Department of Health helped establish protocols for early learning facilities. Health care professionals and disease specialists at Sarasota Memorial Health Care System and Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital were involved in the collaboration.

"What we have collectively agreed upon is what the best practices are," said Teri Hansen, Barancik Foundation President and CEO. "We had every expert we could get take part on a call to create these guidelines. As a parent, I would be fearful if there was not a consensus.

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"Our child care providers have been in a state of flux trying to interpret high-level recommendations and create new operating protocols. This collaboration to adopt local best practices affirms the leadership and professionalism of our early childhood educators."

The task force established minimum recommendations, including guidance on daily health screenings, facility sanitization and preventive measures to reduce the spread of germs, a news release stated. The objective is to offer staff and parents practical, affordable and enforceable protocols, and the Early Learning Coalition will distribute the guidelines to more than 170 child care centers in their network. It is their recommendation that the standards be communicated to the families with children in the centers.

"Parents have to know they are making the right decision when they drop off their child," said Janet Kahn, executive director of Early Learning Coalition. "We know quality child care is critical to our region's economic recovery, and these guidelines are designed to protect everyone as we return to work and school."

The guidelines can be found at earlylearningcoalitionsarasota.org.

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