Health is the priority for reopening child care

Jun. 25--As Maryland counties reopen to Phase 1 and Phase 2 operations, Fort Meade parents are concerned about the availability of child care and the reopening of the installation's Child and Youth Services facilities.

Francisco Jamison, division chief of CYS, said Fort Meade is carefully planning the reopening of child care and CYS facilities when the installation's operations are lowered to HPCON Bravo.

"COVID-19 has posed many challenges to our community at large, with child care being among the greatest we have faced," Jamison said. "The intention behind closing our child care facilities continues to be to ensure the safety of all children, staff and families.

"In order to ensure the safety of our community, the plan to reopen must be well planned, phased and deliberate with a focus on adopting all of the new health precautions that have been required by IMCOM G9 and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"But CYS will continue to do everything possible to provide as much child care and child development programs as conditions allow."

Garrison Commander Col. Erich C. Spragg continues to address parental concerns about child care in Fort Meade's weekly Facebook Live Town Hall sessions.

On June 18, Jamison joined the panel discussion to answer questions from the Fort Meade community.

Priority Placements

In an interview on Monday, Jamison confirmed that CYS will open Child Development Center III and School Age Center 1 during Phase 1 of the installation's reopening plan. CDC I and SAC II will reopen during Phase 2, and CDC IV and the Youth Center will reopen during Phase 3.

Family Child Care will reopen as part of Phase 2. FCC providers will receive their guidance from the FCC director, and patrons will receive their information from their FCC provider.

The number of children per home will be in accordance with the most current guidance from Installation Management Command.

"The number of child care spaces will be based on the most current guidance available to CYS as directed by IMCOM," Jamison said. "CYS is in the process of providing around 175 spaces as part of Phase 1.

"Each family will receive a personal phone call from our Parent Central Services staff."

CYS will operate daily from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. for the foreseeable future.

CYS is following strict health guidelines implemented by the CDC to ensure the health of children and staff members, said Jamison.

"Before reopening any CYS facilities for child care, the contracted custodial service will provide a deep cleaning no sooner than 48 hours before reopening," Jamison said.

"High-touch surfaces, for example, door knobs, handles, electronic devices, breakrooms and restrooms will be cleaned, then disinfected and sanitized by CYS and custodial staff at least three times per day.

"At the end of each day, all hand contact surfaces on the playground should be cleaned and disinfected using 1,000 ppm bleach or other EPA-approved disinfectants. A clear water rinse is needed after and one-minute wet contact time if using bleach solution, or else follow manufacturer instructions for use."

Following Safety Measures

Jamison said CYS will implement strict social distancing guidelines when the facilities reopen.

"The goal is to keep staff and children safe by minimizing exposure and contact between staff members, restricting access into the facility, and implementing increased preventive measures," he said.

"Child drop-off and pickup occurs via curbside only. Parents are responsible for removing their child and/or children from cars at drop-off and placing their child and/or children in cars at pickup."

Protective gear will be worn by the staff.

"Face coverings will be worn by all staff, including classroom, administrative, curbside, runners, kitchen, custodial and management, at all times while in and at the facility," Jamison said. "Curbside staff will wear face covering and gloves.

"Hand hygiene will occur before and after glove use, using an alcohol-based hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol, or washing hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds."

CDC staffers will also don disposable aprons.

"Caregiving CDC staff will wear disposable aprons and kitchen staff will wear disposable apron and gloves while preparing all meals," he said. "Infant bottles accepted at drop-off will be placed in zip-lock bags then placed in designated classroom refrigerators in the zip-lock bag by the caregiver.

"Staff will be required to wear fresh gloves and wash hands before and after each bottle feeding. At nap time, children's nap-time mats or cribs will be spaced out as much as possible, ideally 6 feet apart, and children will be positioned head to toe."

Family or cafeteria style dining is temporarily suspended at CYS facilities, Jamison said.

"Classroom staff will prepare food plates and fill cups for children away from the dining tables to prevent possible contamination from sneezing or coughing," he said.

"Whenever possible, staff will maintain 6 feet separation or as close to 6 feet as possible, in between each child during mealtime."

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