Some childcare facilities impacted by Helene may not reopen

Workers from Samaritan's Purse work on helping out a homeowner whose house was damaged to Hurricane Helene. Used with permission from Samaritan's Purse.

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  • "If these ‘flexibilities’ make it easier for child care centers to operate while maintaining safety standards, why not make these flexibilities permanent?” said Brian Balfour, VP of research at the John Locke Foundation.

Of the 200 childcare facilities ravaged by Hurricane Helene across the 25 counties impacted in western North Carolina, 55 were so severely damaged that they likely will not reopen for the foreseeable future. 

“Even before Hurricane Helene devastated western North Carolina, our childcare facilities were in financial crisis,” Gov. Roy Cooper said in a press release. “Quality childcare is a critical resource not only for children in storm-impacted counties but for parents working to rebuild their homes and lives. Work is underway to get programs reopened quickly, but we will need additional funding from the General Assembly to address both the immediate Hurricane impacts and also ensure the long-term viability of North Carolina’s childcare system.”

Earlier this month, Gov. Cooper issued Executive Order 319, which implements flexibility for programs overseen and administered by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS). 

“Whereas many childcare facilities have been damaged, destroyed or closed as a result of Helene, and it may be difficult or impossible for childcare facilities to re-open or remain open without changes in regulatory requirements,” reads the order. “Whereas to meet these critical childcare needs, the undersigned has determined that the Secretary requires authority to modify or waive enforcement of regulatory requirements as necessary.”  

Efforts at the state and local levels to safely reopen these facilities align with the executive order, allowing regulatory flexibilities in storm-impacted counties so that critical services such as childcare can serve families while facilities recover and rebuild. 

The regulatory flexibility is also needed due to the expiration of the Child Care Stabilization Grant, a stop-gap funding initiative initiated in 2021 due to COVID closures. The General Assembly released the final payment of $67.5 million in September, which should fund the grant program through the end of the calendar year, albeit at a reduced level.

“As our friends, neighbors, and communities in Western North Carolina begin to recover, we are committed to helping childcare facilities reopen safely,” NC Health and Human Services Secretary Kody H. Kinsley said in a press release. “We want children to have access to quality early care and learning, and parents to return to work confident their children are safe and cared for.” 

The NCDHSS is helping childcare facilities impacted by the storm reopen to provide support and care to families and children in these communities affected by Helene. Facilities that lack power, drinking water, or wastewater treatment or have lost records, documents, or paperwork may reopen under an Emergency Operations Plan developed with a childcare licensing consultant from the NCDHHS Division of Child Development and Early Education (DCEE). This division is partnering with the Division of Public Health to develop environmental health guidance for childcare facilities so they may be reopened quickly and safely. 

The department is also partnering with the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP), a USDA project, to align childcare facility rules and regulations in North Carolina with “disaster flexibilities” allowed under the federal program.  It allows agencies to be more flexible with the government regulations surrounding federal food programs, helping to simplify the delivery of nutrition assistance, make benefits more accessible to families affected by the storm, and prevent a lapse in food security for children who are currently being served by the program.  

“Cooper’s most recent executive order allowing for ‘flexibilities’ for – among other things – child care centers requires an answer to the question: if these ‘flexibilities’ make it easier for child care centers to operate while maintaining safety standards, why not make these flexibilities permanent?” said Brian Balfour, VP of research at the John Locke Foundation. “There’s little doubt that childcare centers are weighed down with burdensome and often unnecessary requirements and regulations, which help to drive up the cost to families. Cooper should consider making these loosened requirements permanent to provide some relief for North Carolina families.”

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