DHS Newsletter - April 2020

Child Care Newsletter

April - Volume 5, Issue 2

News and Announcements

Health Guidance during the COVID-19 Pandemic

We know it can be hard to keep up with all the information in the news about COVID-19. If you have health questions we encourage you to check out the Healthy Child Care Iowa (HCCI) portion of the Iowa Department of Public Health’s website or call a Child Care Nurse Consultant (CCNC).

#1 - HCCI Website: On the Printed Products page of the HCCI website, scroll down to the heading “COVID-19” and you can find resources on:

Guidance for Centers and Homes
A Fact sheet on Talking to Children About COVID-19
Prevention
Cleaning

#2 - Contact a CCNC: Child Care Nurse Consultants are Registered Nurses that also have an understanding of child care and support you with health and safety related information. Click here to access statewide contact information for CCNC's.

#3 - You may also look at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) guidance for child care centers that remain open as it is periodically updated. Please note there are many resources available here. If you have questions about how to implement the guidance on the CDC website we encourage you to contact a CCNC.

Here to Help

How Do I Explain What is Happening to Children?

Many things seem uncertain right now and even experts are still working to understand COVID-19, so how do we explain what is happening to children? First and foremost we must assure them that we as adults will help keep them safe and care for them during this crisis. As caring adults we have an important role in supporting children through this uncertain time. Below are some key ideas and resources to support you.

Key Ideas:

Reassure children that you will care for them and help keep them safe.
Share age appropriate information about COVID-19. (see below)
Help them learn about and practice the things that they can do to help slow the spread of COVID-19. (see below)

Resources:

Social Stories, or stories that describe specific social situations and how to respond, can be a good way to communicate information to children. If your program is still open, consider reading this social story with your children. If your program is closed, consider sending this social story as a resource for families to read with their children.
Something Strange Happened in My City, by Dr. Shu-Chen Jenny Yen, for ages 3-8
A Coronavirus Comic, for school-age children
The CDC has printable “Stop the Spread of Germs” posters (near the bottom of this webpage). Consider printing them out and hanging them up around your program.
Review the CDC key points on how to protect yourself and develop learning activities for children around these key points.

DHS Inside Scoop

Updated CCA Billing Policy

Effective March 9, 2020, the Iowa Department of Human Services (DHS) no longer limits the amount of absent days paid per month to child care providers who remain open for business. Please make sure you are using the absence box to indicate absences when completing your billing. Additionally, please note that this temporary policy has required DHS to do manual processing in some cases. If your check from the State does not match what you were expecting please contact the Child Care Assistance (CCA) Payment Unit at 1-866-448-4605 to review any discrepancies.

DHS Guidance Issued on March 20, 2020

If you haven’t already seen the guidance issued by DHS on March 20, 2020 please be sure to review and follow this guidance related to COVID-19. Click here.