FRANKFORT, Ky. — On Monday, Gov. Andy Beshear announced that child care providers can go back to normal class sizes on March 15. This announcement comes as many daycares have been turning people away because of capacity limits.

What You Need To Know

  • Child care providers can fully reopen March 15

  • The increased capacity will help working parents

  • Even with normal classes, safety protocols will be in place

 

“Lots of facilities were just at their maximum with the restrictions,” Bradley Stevenson, executive director of the Child Care Council of Kentucky, said.

As some schools start reopening, parents thought that would alleviate some of the child care concerns, at least for school-aged children. What they've found is that many of these districts are returning to a hybrid model, instead of full-time. That leaves parents wondering what to do with their kids the other days of the week.

“The increase in capacity will make a huge difference for parents to be able to find care more easily. That is more accessible to them. It makes a huge difference to working Kentuckians who need child care to go back into the workforce," Stevenson said.

When child care centers are allowed to return to regular capacity, the same safety protocols will continue.

“The increased requirement on cleaning, PPE, distancing, minimizing traffic in your facilities, those are not changing with this announcement yesterday. All of those measures will stay in place,” Stevenson said.

There are also steps in place to make sure those providers stay safe. Originally, only K-12 educators were able to get COVID-19 vaccines, but Beshear has since prioritized child care workers as well. Stevenson said some have already started getting their first dose, and many others have appointments coming up.

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