Directive addresses daycare guidelines during pandemic

Montana Governor Steve Bullock on Wednesday issued a directive providing additional guidance for childcare facilities during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Bullock said the directive helps to ensure that Montana’s essential workers can receive access to childcare during the state of emergency, while also requiring safeguards to protect children, families and childcare workers from the spread of coronavirus.

“Like many Montana families, our state’s essential workers are pulling double-duty, working and caring for their children at the same time,” Governor Steve Bullock said. “We must make sure childcare is still available to lessen the burden on Montanans who are on the frontlines of the response to COVID-19, while taking appropriate measures to keep children and workers safe.”

Childcare facilities are listed as an “essential business” in Montana which allows them to remain open during Bullock’s stay-at-home order.

Bullock said the state “cannot effectively respond to the COVID-19 pandemic if healthcare providers, first-responders, and other Montanans performing essential functions cannot work because they are at home caring for their young children.”

The directive requires childcare providers to comply with the following requirements, to the maximum extent possible:

•Childcare must be provided in stable groups of 10 or fewer children. The same children must be in the same groups each day.

•Children may not access any classroom space allocated to a different group of children. Priority should be given to keeping members of the same family in the same group.

•Facilities must prioritize the needs of children in the custody of individuals engaging in “essential businesses and operations,” as defined in the March 26 directive.

•Childcare providers should, where possible, limit the total number of children in any one facility to 24.

•Facilities that cannot comply with the Directive should cease operations for the duration of the directive.