Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/life-after-the-american-recovery-plan-act/5027293/
First it was just COVID-19—and it seemed that we would weather the virus and be done with it—no big deal. First, everything was unknown, then as we learned more, schools and businesses closed, many early childhood programs had to close, and others stayed open to serve essential workers. Months went by, staff members caught COVID-19, quarantine became a common occurrence, enrollment and attendance lagged as families stayed home, revenue lagged while expenses rose with smaller class groups, smaller ratios, walking children in from their cars, extended cleaning protocols. Now it almost feels like it never happened or was a bad dream—but it did happen! It happened to almost every early childhood program worldwide. Many organizations found solutions to survive and keep fulfilling their missions. Many could not survive the huge financial burden of increased costs and decreased revenue.
Answers and survival funds began to flow as the realization grew that without access to childcare, societies could not get back to work and start to move forward through the pandemic. This realization became an opportunity for our field to further conversations with our business and economic communities, work with local corporations to help meet their needs while developing recovery strategies for our own ...