Guidelines for 0-3 Childcare During COVID-19 Balancing Physical Health and Safety with Social Emotional Development

Childcare providers are historically undervalued (Tobia, 2020) and are in one of the most underpaid jobs (McClean, 2020), yet are the foundation upon which much of working America is built. The current pandemic has highlighted the extent to which childcare workers are essential (Simonton, 2020) for the functioning of the U.S. economy, and in particular, for working mothers, who historically and currently have taken the brunt of the childcare responsibilities (Cohen & Hsu, 2020; Collins, Landivar, Ruppanner, & Scarborough, 2020; Rhubart, 2020) and associated mental health distress (Miller, 2020). Childcare centers have also struggled to balance financial concerns and best practice care (Covert, 2020). Now, as many employees have returned to work, it is important to consider how to support childcare providers doing this critical work. A key focus must be to provide high-quality care to young children while managing health and safety requirements and limitations of a pandemic. The focus of this article is on supporting the social-emotional health of our youngest children during a time that pushes many of us apart physically.