Texas implements new requirements for child care centers to prevent spread of coronavirus
Texas implemented new requirements for child care centers on Monday in order to protect children from coronavirus exposure.
The nearly 17,000 daycares in the state will need to start doing health screenings for staff, children and parents, per Texas Health and Human Services recommendations. The requirements from HHS will be implemented under state law and Gov. Greg Abbott’s disaster declaration.
“Protecting the health and safety of children in the settings we regulate is paramount,” said David Kostroun, HHS deputy executive commissioner of regulatory services, in a news release. “We are taking these proactive measures to limit the spread of COVID-19 and safeguard children and their families.”
Daycare centers will need to do the following:
- Limit access to the center to only staff, parents, children and law enforcement or government officials.
- Require parents to pick up and drop off their children outside the center instead of going inside.
- Take temperatures of each person who comes into the child care center.
- Deny entry to the following people: anyone who has a temperature of 100.4°F or higher, has symptoms of a respiratory infection, has been in contact with someone with COVID-19 in the previous 14 days, is under investigation for having COVID-19 or has been out of the country in the previous two weeks.
Some daycare centers closed entirely due to the virus.
Head Start campuses in Tarrant County will be closed between March 16-27, due to COVID-19 concerns, according Kara Waddell, head of Child Care Associates, which oversees child care services in the area.
CCA runs 24 Head Start campuses throughout the county with more than 2,400 children ages 3-5. The organization also works with Tarrant County Workforce Solutions that contracts with 671 independent child care programs.
Because this situation is rapidly evolving, child care providers are highly encouraged to contact the Child Care Licensing (CCL) team at MSC@hhsc.state.tx.us, HHS said.
