Diana
Diana’s SI Story
Diana is an Infant-Toddler Family Specialist. She connects families to child care options, financial support, workforce programs, and more, and also supports child care providers in her region. We spoke with Diana in July about the experience of supporting families remotely through child care closures and helping centers navigate reopening.
What was work like for you when we first entered quarantine?
At the start there was just so much unknown. So many questions from parents and providers - providers wanted to know how they were going to survive being closed and not having income every month to pay rent, utilities, you know, just keep going. And parents were struggling with finding child care; they still had to work. Luckily the state did take into consideration those essential workers who still needed to go to work, so some of the daycares did get waivers to stay open. But of course parents still had concerns about sending their child. There were so many changes in March, April, even into May. Every week there was a different directive of what to do. It was frustrating to keep up with everything, but we did have really supportive leadership. Suddenly working from home was a big adjustment at first. It is hard to not see parents face to face. I think parents feel more comfortable seeing you and you get a feel for them as a person, too. I think it’s easier for parents to ask questions in person than over the phone.
What have you done to support those interactions over the phone?
Well, you try as best you can to answer their questions and make them feel comfortable that we’ll get through this. You know, you’re gonna help them however you can. A lot of my personal work is with the people who go through the county assistance office for work readiness programs. Their participation in those programs is what makes them eligible for funded child care programs, and all of it was shut down, so they were feeling really frustrated and stuck. They would like to look for a job, get those skills, and it just wasn’t possible. I know there’s been some conversation about doing some of the programs online, but I know some families don’t have access to a computer. They may be able to use their phones, but I don’t know how efficient that will be.
What are you hearing from child care providers?
One of the big problems I’ve heard from providers is about the hard time they’re having just finding the items to disinfect and clean. You know, items are limited to one per family at stores right now. That’s been a big problem with a lot of the centers and a lot of the family day cares. I think the smaller ones, I think they’ve had issues with even the funds to buy all of the cleaning supplies that they do need. Centers have to take temperatures now, so we did send thermometers out to all of the daycares. And managing young children and masks. How are you going to keep a child over two in a mask and do social distancing in that kind of setting? You know, kids want to be around each other. They want to play with their friends. I do know they have a whole new set of guidelines to follow. I have a friend who does her own family daycare. So she only has, I believe she has six children. And she’s really struggled to find cleaning supplies. And she said all the guidelines she has to follow now are hard. She said she’s spending more time getting her center ready and following all that than she is with the children right now.
What are you hearing from families?
There are so many factors for families to consider. They’re concerned about sending their children to the centers - they wonder how safe it is. There have been centers that have had children test positive. Not many, but it has happened. And parents are concerned about how to pay for child care if they haven’t returned to work. I know it’s so frustrating for them and that’s what you try to understand. I can’t imagine. I mean, my kids are out of school now so I could not have imagined trying to work at home and do their school work, all during the same day. That has to be hard. They’re not teachers and here they’re being asked to teach their kids at home while trying to work. I know it’s very frustrating for the child, too: they can’t sit there and stare at that screen and listen to the teacher, you know, and absorb all that information. I give so much credit to these parents and families.
When you run into these particular challenges families are facing that don’t have an easy answer, how do you find support and information?
Anytime we have a question, our leadership is awesome at listening and taking into consideration our thoughts on it. We are reliant on the state to look at all of the issues we bring and then give us the direction to go, and it has been a struggle with all of the changes. But our program representatives are great with answering questions. Different things come up - there are constant changes with how to enroll, how to pay. It’s frustrating for all of us. It’s a whole new environment to get used to. But we’re working together and doing the best we can. Lots of patience.
What was work like for you when we first entered quarantine?
At the start there was just so much unknown. So many questions from parents and providers - providers wanted to know how they were going to survive being closed and not having income every month to pay rent, utilities, you know, just keep going. And parents were struggling with finding child care; they still had to work. Luckily the state did take into consideration those essential workers who still needed to go to work, so some of the daycares did get waivers to stay open. But of course parents still had concerns about sending their child. There were so many changes in March, April, even into May. Every week there was a different directive of what to do. It was frustrating to keep up with everything, but we did have really supportive leadership. Suddenly working from home was a big adjustment at first. It is hard to not see parents face to face. I think parents feel more comfortable seeing you and you get a feel for them as a person, too. I think it’s easier for parents to ask questions in person than over the phone.
What have you done to support those interactions over the phone?
Well, you try as best you can to answer their questions and make them feel comfortable that we’ll get through this. You know, you’re gonna help them however you can. A lot of my personal work is with the people who go through the county assistance office for work readiness programs. Their participation in those programs is what makes them eligible for funded child care programs, and all of it was shut down, so they were feeling really frustrated and stuck. They would like to look for a job, get those skills, and it just wasn’t possible. I know there’s been some conversation about doing some of the programs online, but I know some families don’t have access to a computer. They may be able to use their phones, but I don’t know how efficient that will be.
What are you hearing from child care providers?
One of the big problems I’ve heard from providers is about the hard time they’re having just finding the items to disinfect and clean. You know, items are limited to one per family at stores right now. That’s been a big problem with a lot of the centers and a lot of the family day cares. I think the smaller ones, I think they’ve had issues with even the funds to buy all of the cleaning supplies that they do need. Centers have to take temperatures now, so we did send thermometers out to all of the daycares. And managing young children and masks. How are you going to keep a child over two in a mask and do social distancing in that kind of setting? You know, kids want to be around each other. They want to play with their friends. I do know they have a whole new set of guidelines to follow. I have a friend who does her own family daycare. So she only has, I believe she has six children. And she’s really struggled to find cleaning supplies. And she said all the guidelines she has to follow now are hard. She said she’s spending more time getting her center ready and following all that than she is with the children right now.
What are you hearing from families?
There are so many factors for families to consider. They’re concerned about sending their children to the centers - they wonder how safe it is. There have been centers that have had children test positive. Not many, but it has happened. And parents are concerned about how to pay for child care if they haven’t returned to work. I know it’s so frustrating for them and that’s what you try to understand. I can’t imagine. I mean, my kids are out of school now so I could not have imagined trying to work at home and do their school work, all during the same day. That has to be hard. They’re not teachers and here they’re being asked to teach their kids at home while trying to work. I know it’s very frustrating for the child, too: they can’t sit there and stare at that screen and listen to the teacher, you know, and absorb all that information. I give so much credit to these parents and families.
When you run into these particular challenges families are facing that don’t have an easy answer, how do you find support and information?
Anytime we have a question, our leadership is awesome at listening and taking into consideration our thoughts on it. We are reliant on the state to look at all of the issues we bring and then give us the direction to go, and it has been a struggle with all of the changes. But our program representatives are great with answering questions. Different things come up - there are constant changes with how to enroll, how to pay. It’s frustrating for all of us. It’s a whole new environment to get used to. But we’re working together and doing the best we can. Lots of patience.