Our children and our daycare facilities need our support.

On September 15th, New York State Governor Kathy Hochul announced universal mask requirements for children who are still struggling to share, keep their shoes on, and, in many cases, become verbal.  

Appropriate safety measures which benefit children should be considered. However, this mandate is thoughtless, careless, and provides no mitigation towards the transmission of COVID-19. Daycare children eat, play, and take naps together in small rooms. How is mask wearing while playing needed when the same children just sat and napped next to each other maskless?   

How is it safe for a 1.5 year old maskless child to be in the same room as a 2 year old masked child?  How is it safe for children to have a mask on their face when it is very likely to be ripped off and picked up by another child (thereby spreading germs more)?  How is it safe when a child's emotion is masked and they are unable to communicate how they feel? How is it safe for a 5 year old with an IEP to be exempt from mask wearing when daycare children are too young for IEPs? 

This mandate is counter productive and will negatively impact our children's health, emotional and intellectual development, and slow developing speech habits. This mandate was done haphazardly with no outreach to daycare providers or parents.  We demand that Governor Hochul repeal this mandate. 

Please sign this petition, and please also send your comments to: info@ocfs.ny.gov 

Together, we can facilitate the change our children and daycare facilities need and deserve.