Recovery
Many factors affect the recovery of individuals and families. But planning for the recovery of the child care and early education systems in your state, territory, or Tribe needs special attention. The Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) Lead Agency should plan to support and coordinate recovery efforts for child care.
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic expanded our thinking about the need for child care services. CCDF disaster plans should include considerations and strategies that CCDF Lead Agencies and their contractors and partners may put into effect to support recovery. These options could include considerations in response to the following:
- What data and information will be collected about the impact of the disaster on child care and unmet needs?
- How does the data show the unique needs of the most vulnerable children, families, and providers? People with low incomes and housing or food instability are only a few of those who are affected more severely.
- How will this information be shared via social media, partner organizations, and provider associations?
- Where are services available to address the social-emotional and mental health needs of children, families, and child care providers and the early childhood education workforce?
- What supports are available for caregivers to aid their return to their child care careers?
- How can donations be requested, received, stored, and distributed to support affected families, providers, and communities?
- What contingency contracts can be put in place to increase the capacity to recover?
Federal Resources to Support Planning for Recovery
This information memorandum provides guidance to state, territorial, and Tribal CCDF Lead Agencies regarding the flexibility in spending CCDF funds in response to federal or state-declared emergency situations.
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration has resources to aid systems of support following a disaster, including a Disaster Distress Helpline that provides crisis counseling and support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and 365 days a year to people experiencing emotional distress related to natural or human-caused disasters.
- Disaster Distress Helpline: Call or text 1-800-985-5990 (support is available in English, Spanish, and many other languages)
Technical Assistance Resources
This brief from SCBC is part of the Emergency Preparedness, Response, and Recovery discussion brief series and addresses the key data that will help state and territory leaders describe the predisaster context and quantify the disaster’s impact in order to respond and calculate assistance needed for recovery. The brief also discusses which partners and community organizations may have data and the importance of information-sharing agreements.
This brief from the Child Care State Capacity Building Center (SCBC) briefly explores how to leverage Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (VOAD) in disaster response and recovery. This is part of a series of briefs about emergency and disaster issues and opportunities for partnership, coordination, and collaboration.
This brief from SCBC is part of the Emergency Preparedness, Response, and Recovery discussion brief series and provides CCDF Lead Agencies and those working with child care programs suggestions and considerations for planning to recover from an emergency.
This brief from SCBC is part of the Emergency Preparedness, Response, and Recovery discussion brief series and describes how the Louisiana CCDF Lead Agency responded to the issue of continuation of child care services in the face of a large-scale disaster that directly affected the CCDF Lead Agency and staff. The brief also highlights CCDF and Lead Agency flexibility following the disaster as well as interagency collaboration, and it includes recovery considerations and strategies.
Return to Child Care and Development Fund Disaster Plans page.
