Child care expands for Crook County essential workers
Kid's Club to serve more families, starting next week
PRINEVILLE, Ore. (KTVZ) -- When Oregon schools closed in March, Gov. Kate Brown directed school districts and nonprofits to provide child care resources for essential employees like health care workers, police, and firefighters to ensure they could remain on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Crook County Kid’s Club, in partnership with NeighborImpact Child Care Resources and the Crook County School District, is now offering child care to other workers also considered essential. This includes classified staff within the school district employed in nutrition services, transportation, and maintenance. Teachers or other employees working from home are not eligible.
The child care option is also open to other community members working in grocery stores and agriculture, public works, utility companies like electric and gas, and employees who transport goods and services. The Department of Homeland Security has a complete list of eligible workers here: https://www.cisa.gov/identifying-critical-infrastructure-during-covid-19
“The response has been slow from first responders because COVID-19 hasn’t affected Crook County yet like other places,” said Mona Boyd, director of special education for the Crook County School District. “There are other jobs out there considered essential and we want to make sure those folks know the service is available to them.”
Essential workers can register school-age children by contacting Ashley Thrasher, executive director of the Crook County Kid’s Club at director@crookcountykids.org or by calling (541) 362-6553. For younger children, there’s a special hotline where parents dial 211 or email children@211info.org.
Sign-ups are this week, with the expanded child care services to begin Monday, April 20th.
