Forget about childish lawsuits. Instead let’s figure out childcare as we reopen the state.
Could anything be more childish than political pattycake during a pandemic?
Attorney General Daniel Cameron, though, obviously has too much time on his hands, threatening lawsuits aimed at embarrassing the governor that will only embarrass Cameron himself. Hint: a ban on mass gatherings is NOT an attack on religion. (Update: Thank you, gentle readers, I’m aware that AG Beshear sued his predecessor a lot. But not during a pandemic.)
As Attorney General, Cameron can always appease his base with this kind of brinksmanship about First Amendment rights. Or he could use the power of his office to actually help real people, like the daycare owners recently described by my colleague Jack Brammer. Turns out that daycare centers in Kentucky are required to have insurance, which usually include policies for a “business interruption” caused by “an outbreak of a communicable disease at the insured premises.” But because there was not enough testing for COVID-19 in March, when they were shut down, the insurers are denying their claims. Seem like something the top lawyer in the state could take a look at?
More people need to be looking at daycare right now, including Gov. Andy Beshear. He made it very clear on Wednesday that daycare centers are not part of Phase One of reopening the economy, which extends through May 25. But that begs a basic question: What? How are people supposed to go back to work without childcare?
This is has been confusing for a while, but now that we’re closer to revving our economic engines, it’s becoming an urgent question. I appreciate Beshear’s conservative approach to public health, which clearly succeeded in flattening the curve. I also appreciate a slow and steady approach to reopening, which allows for assessment and recalibration if COVID-19 numbers start to go up and the dreaded curve appears. Georgia, Florida and South Carolina will become the coal mine canaries to tell us how much is too soon.
But we also need a plan for childcare, whether we open tomorrow or in two months. What if you are a single mother with no daycare and your employer opens? What are you supposed to do? Do you lose your unemployment because your office is open, but you can’t go? It’s not as if you can depend on elderly grandparents anymore.
On Wednesday, Beshear seemed unfazed. “We can’t do any of this at all if we open a daycare right now,” Beshear said. “If we open a daycare right now, we would see a spike that would ultimately set us back.”
But here’s the thing: There are daycares still operating right now. All About Kids and different sites of the YMCA are serving the children of healthcare workers, first responders and all essential personnel, such as grocery employees. Paula Anderson, interim CEO of the YMCA of Central Kentucky, said 150 children of UK, Baptist Health and St. Joseph are at Beaumont, Whitaker and the Northside locations. There have been no outbreaks amidst strict protocols, like taking teacher and student temperatures every two and a half hours, and as much social distancing as possible for kids.
“I think it’s going really, really well,” Anderson said. “I can’t tell you how appreciative these parents have been. It’s been an interesting exercise for us.”
Anderson, who is also a former chair of the Fayette Board of Health, says the protocols they’re using could be replicated elsewhere. The state needs a more cohesive plan for childcare across the state “because how do you get people back to work if there’s no daycare?” she asked. “I understand the governor’s hesitancy, but at the same time, we have to find a way to care for these children. Think of all the children in Lexington if pools, parks and summer camps are closed, who’s making sure they’re fed and active? Surely, the answer is not to just say no one.”
Because as Beshear knows, people are getting restless and they’re getting angry and they want to get moving. I checked in with Somerset Mayor Alan Keck, who spearheaded a kind of mayors movement to push reopening. “We’ve done everything we’ve been asked to do and now the goalposts are being moved,” he said. “Restaurants and day cares, those are the two biggest holes in the plan right now.”
Keck said he’d be writing the governor again about his concerns. “We have to think about risk mitigation versus risk elimination.”
On Friday, Keck released a new plan that included opening daycares only to families working in Phase One businesses ans well as adopting the kinds of protocols currently being used in daycares for healthcare workers.
Keck has made a point of not engaging in the kind of political partisanship we’re now seeing from Cameron and his gang of wounded Christian warriors. Keck is bringing common sense concerns and Beshear would do well to listen.
On Thursday, Beshear reiterated his position on keeping day cares closed through Phase One, and looking for a way to possibly open in Phase Two. He went through a model that shows how many more people a family of four is exposed to if a child is in daycare. “It’s a piece we just can’t do if it was in the form it was before,” he said. “We have to figure out this challenge.”
I bet there are plenty of day care owners who are tired of talking to their insurance companies and would be happy to help him figure it out.
This story was originally published May 1, 2020 at 10:03 AM.
