In order for families and child care providers to navigate COVID-19 effectively, the Baker Administration and the MA Department of Early Education and Care should release all data on COVID-19 cases in child care in MA including emergency child care providers and child care providers that have opened up recently. We know that the data is being collected but is not being released. This places children, families, teachers, and providers at risk. The data should come with a comprehensive report that explains the cases based on city/town with updates done on a weekly or bi-weekly basis. 

This is REQUIRED in the supplemental budget that the Baker Administration signed. 

"SECTION 45. The department of public health shall collect and compile data related to the 2019 novel coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, from all boards of health, as defined in section 1 of chapter 111 of the General Laws, and regional boards of health established pursuant to said section 27B of said chapter 111 in the commonwealth and disseminate any data relevant to programming overseen by the department of early education and care. 

The department of public health shall consult with the department of early education and care in order to provide the public with updated reporting on local department of public health reports relative to the number of known COVID-19 positive cases among children, staff or the extended families of children in care at a Massachusetts childcare program overseen by the department of early education and care. 

The department of public health shall publish a weekly report on its website that includes the data compiled from early education and care programs and their respective local boards of health and regional boards of health. Said report shall include data broken down as follows: (i) geographic location, including statewide, by county and by municipality; (ii) childcare facilities reporting COVID-19 positive cases and the aggregate known number of COVID-19 positive cases at each childcare facility, as well as, the aggregate known number of COVID-19 positive cases among staff, by occupation, at each childcare facility. 

The department of early education and care shall publish a weekly report on its website that includes helpful and relevant data compiled by the department of public health for the purpose of ensuring providers and families have up to date information, that also includes: (i) the number and location of those early education and care programs operating as of June 22, 2020; (ii) the number of early education and care programs that were closed due to COVID-19; and (iii) any actions taken in response. 

The department of early education and care shall provide a link to relevant data on the department of public health’s weekly report on its website. Any reporting relative to this section shall be provided in languages reflective of the diversity of the early education and care field and the families it serves."

We noticed that NBC received numbers on Aug 10, 2020. Those numbers were given to the field when the emergency centers ended in June. As such, we are asking that we receive updates regularly to see the changes as they happen rather than data that is not current. Now that many providers have opened their doors, we need this weekly data to make informed decisions.

We understand that data informs decision making on a state level, but the lack of providing data to its citizens makes us less well informed as a group. We have anxiety about COVID-19. Everyone does. We know this. But we can't rely on faith to get us through COVID. We need data. Keeping the data internal does not help the child care industry or the families in our care. It only keeps us from knowledge of how Massachusetts is handling COVID. 

We know that Massachusetts is doing a decent job at keeping COVID contained. This is in part to your hard work. But if we are going to be on the front lines, it is not unreasonable to provide us with data to keep ourselves and those in our care safe.

#WeAreTeachersToo