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Home My WebLink AboutMemo - Mail Packet - 3/30/2021 - Memorandum From Adam Molzer Re: Childcare Sector Update And City ResponseSocial Sustainability 222 Laporte Avenue PO Box 580 Fort Collins, CO 80522 970.221.6757 MEMORANDUM DATE: March 23, 2021 TO: Mayor Troxell and City Councilmembers THRU: Darin Atteberry, City Manager Kyle Stannert, Deputy City Manager Jacqueline Kozak-Thiel, Chief Sustainability Officer Beth Sowder, Social Sustainability Department Director FROM: Adam Molzer, City Grants and Community Partnerships Coordinator CC: Emily Pearson, Human Resources Compensation Analyst Sarah Gagne, Recreation Department Senior Supervisor RE: Childcare Sector Update and City Response The purpose of this memo is informational and provides a check-in on the status of the childcare sector in Fort Collins, related COVID-19 response efforts supported by the City, and an update of the City’s role and scope in supporting Council’s priority on childcare. This memo reflects efforts since the fall of 2020. Bottom Line:The childcare sector in Fort Collins is rebounding slightly from the early periods of the COVID-19 pandemic, although significant challenges remain. The City continues to address the stabilization of childcare as a priority in its community response. Status:The following updates are provided by Christina Taylor, Executive Director of the Early Childhood Council of Larimer County (ECCLC): Most licensed childcare providers have now reopened and can operate at full capacity. A few childcare centers and several family care providers have closed their doors permanently. Providers report having open spots to serve additional children, since workforce and pandemic circumstances allow families to keep their children at home or in alternative care arrangements. Since demand for spots is lower than the capacity available, providers are struggling financially. Many childcare centers struggle to keep classrooms open consistently due to COVID quarantines and the lack of additional staff to serve in classrooms during those outages. Operating costs for cleaning and sanitation continue to hinder budgets. Local and state sustainability grants are being accessed by Fort Collins providers to support these needs. Providers are struggling to retain their talented workforce, and many credentialed teachers have moved on to other employment opportunities. Providers also report that the mental health impacts of teaching in the pandemic are exhausting their staff. Supports for school-age childcare programs, including before/after school and summer camp programming, are not adequately resourced with sustainability funding from the State. Childcare workers became eligible for vaccines in early February, although in-home care providers were often overlooked in the rollout. 2 City Role & Scope:The City’s role is to help reduce barriers, increase capacity, leverage City assets, identify and respond to childcare needs, and lead by example as an employer. This response is achieved through partnerships, funding, programs, technical assistance, policy, and legislative action. Attached is an updated matrix that profiles the engagement levels of activity in the City. City Support:The City continues to support a variety of activities to help stabilize childcare needs for the larger community and employees during the COVID-19 pandemic, including: Community Over $293,000 of federal CARES-CVRF funding was awarded to seven local childcare projects in 2020 by the Social Sustainability Department. These funds supported remote learning labs, increased operational and staffing costs at daycare centers, and other childcare programming needs adapted to COVID-19. City Council approved Ordinance 116-2020 in September, which suspended specific provisions of the City’s Land Use Code to permit the temporary use of certain non-residential buildings for childcare centers in response to the pandemic. Young People’s Learning Center has hosted expanded services in partnership with Vineyard Church, thanks to this change. Human Service Program contracts for the 2020-21 grant term were executed in September, with $206,000 (General Fund) awarded towards early childhood education and childcare services. Childcare was added as a policy statement category in the City’s 2021 Legislative Policy Agenda. Childcare providers were eligible for recovery funding offered through the Small Business Assistance Program, administered by the City’s Economic Health Office. Two childcare providers were awarded a total of $20,000 in relief funds. Camp FunQuest summer programs, led by the City’s Recreation Department, were extended into the fall of 2020 and were adapted to support virtual and hybrid learning schedules with Poudre School District (PSD), running 34 weeks in a row, June 2020-January 2021. Fall/Winter enrollments totaled 758, which included 30% overall Reduced Fee program participation. The program supported remote learning for 40-hours each week, through mid- January 2021, and addressed academic instructional assistance, inclusions support, outdoor activities, social-emotional development and team-building skills. The City’s Recreation Department continues to offer childcare services during school-out days and spring/summer breaks. The Colorado Office of Early Childhood is supporting the program with grant funding. The program offers reduced-fee scholarships and inclusion aides for children with disabilities and/or academic support needs. City Employees The Caregivers’ Alliance Employee Resource Group continues to be where all employee caregivers can connect and find support, share resources, and make policy recommendations. The group was recently renamed and aims to be more accessible to all parents, caregivers of aging and/or disabled loved ones, and others who have significant responsibilities to provide care. A Caregiver Roadshow is in development and will give a presentation to City departments to increase the culture of support for caregivers. City staff has a new benefit, Care@Work, that offers free, unlimited access to Care.com’s premium membership to find caregivers, tutors, senior caregivers, pet walkers and sitters, housecleaners, errand runners, and access to other families looking for shared-care arrangements like a Nanny Share or Learning Pod. A total of 10 backup care days per employee via Care.com is subsidized to use for either child or adult backup care if the employee’s regular provider is not available. The benefit must be used for work purposes and is in addition to the current backup care offering through Family Care Connection. 3 Next Steps: Maintain regular correspondence and check-ins with childcare partners to understand emerging service gaps and respond appropriately. Human Resources will evaluate potential updates to the City’s Teleworking Policy. Finalize a funding partnership with the Early Childhood Council to support the launch of a community-wide substitute teacher training and placement program for childcare providers, as well as scholarships for early childhood education teachers to advance their training, certifications, and career pathways. Evaluate the role the City may serve with administering federal American Rescue Plan funds towards local childcare needs. Recreation Department staff are working collaboratively with PSD and other community partners to support all grade levels with summer academic support planning to promote readiness for entering school in the fall, prevent “summer slide”, and offer high school credit recovery options due to credit loss during the pandemic. Updated March 2021 Childcare Affordability * Accessibility * Workforce Stability Role of the City: * Reduce Barriers * Increase Capacity * Leverage City Assets * Identify & Respond to Needs * Lead by Example as an Employer Scope of the City’s Influence Examples & Ideas Resourcing ** Green = Occurring Purple = Concept ** Considerations & Variables Age Infant & Toddler Preschool & Pre-K Ages 6-12 Family & Workforce Needs Income Levels: Low – Medium – High Shift, Weekend & Odd-Hour Employment Children with Special Needs Business Structure Center-based In-Home Provider Drop-in Family-Friend- Neighbor Nonprofit For-Profit Local or National Industry Regulation primarily from State of CO Limited earning potential for teachers Teacher/Child ratios & regulations disable the childcare business model Partnership Engagement, leadership and cooperation with sector and system collaborators Larimer County Chamber of Commerce Poudre School District Early Childhood Council Childcare Providers 0.35 FTE Funding Direct funding via grants and special contracts to community partners Competitive Grant Process CARES-CVRF Funding BFO Opportunity Funding $206,000 $293,886 (2020 assistance) $25,000 (2020 mid-cycle) Programs City-managed services that facilitate the provision of childcare City Employee Care Options Camps & Licensed Care COVID Response Business Loans & Assistance $75,000 - $100,000 Recreation Dept., Fee-based Childcare providers eligible; $20,000 to 2 providers Technical Assistance Specialized expertise, tools and resources within the City organization that can be shared with partners GIS Mapping Safety / FCPD Not practiced at this time Trainings Consultation Policy Levers of direct City influence around regulation, code and planning Building & Zoning Suspended Dev. Review for COVID-related expansions Fee Incentives & Rebates Flexible Development Standards Not practiced at this time Legislative Recommendations and support to LRC to influence State policy Examples: CCAP Funding Teacher Qualification Site Requirements Childcare included in 2021 Legislative Policy Agenda