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childcare

STAFFING CRISIS

Lack of Child Care Afflicts Outer Cape’s Workers

Jamaican families often send their children away for the summer

By K.C. Myers Jul 14, 2021

A critical shortage of child care, worsened by the Covid-19 pandemic, remains a serious problem for many Outer Cape parents.

Families found themselves stuck when schools and child-care centers closed. Many of them are still stuck, because local child-care options remain well below their normal levels, even as the pandemic has eased.

The Cape Cod Children’s Place in Eastham has fewer spots and a shorter schedule than usual. Classrooms are now functioning 6.5 hours a day rather than the usual 9 hours. The nonprofit is offering only half the normal number of places — accommodating 21 children versus 42 per day, said Assistant Director Liz Stapleton.

Enrollment in Provincetown’s free summer infant-to-three-year-old child care for residents and Provincetown staff remains below the usual levels.

In both cases, the reason is not Covid-19 restrictions, which the state has lifted. Cape Cod Children’s Place has been turning down families every day because of a staff shortage, which was always there, but has become much worse in the pandemic.

“Our workforce is so depleted,” Stapleton said. Potential staff began to think “it is not worth it to risk my life for $13 an hour,” she added.

Provincetown Schools Supt. Suzanne Scallion said the town’s infant and toddler program has a waiting list because she cannot find staff for it. Three child-care workers have returned to watch the babies and toddlers as part of Provincetown’s free program for town employees and residents. Scallion wanted to bring on two more employees, but both backed out before their first day when they could not find places to live.

“It is an absolute crisis,” Scallion said. “We cannot hire staff.”

A full-time child-care position in Provincetown pays $40,000 a year, which is the highest in the region, Scallion said. The position does not require a master’s degree; child-care workers need only to take a few required certification courses. Salaries for most child-care workers hover around $30,000, according to Sandy Faiman-Silva, organizer of the Cape and Islands effort to pass the sweeping child-care reform bill known as Common Start.

But so far, even $40,000 is not enough to lure new employees to care for the littlest ones.

So, what are parents to do, particularly the most vulnerable ones? One young mother from Jamaica said she had to quit her job when she could not get a spot in Provincetown’s infant and toddler program for her baby. Her attempt to arrange private care for her three-month-old failed because the sitter was overwhelmed with too many children. This mother, who is 19 and grew up in Provincetown, asked that her name be withheld because of her insecure housing situation.

“I will be OK,” she said when asked about her ability to pay her bills.

The young mother and baby live with seven other people on the first floor of a small house. More live upstairs. This is not a situation she wants to be in.

Living on her own with a baby “is harder than I thought it would be,” she said.

Many other parents who come here from Jamaica to work on H-2B visas send their children back to the island in the summer to live with grandparents. They work 12-hour days to take advantage of plentiful summer jobs.

“They have no time for children,” said Cassandra Miller, who lives in Jamaica and Wellfleet.

Pastor David Brown, who preaches at the Chapel on the Pond in North Truro, said he raised four children, moving back and forth from Jamaica to Provincetown with his wife. His youngest child, Shelice Brown, just graduated from Brandeis University. Living apart from your children “is very hard,” he said.

“It is a sacrifice we make to better our future,” he said. “But you cannot make up for what you’ve lost.”

While the so-called American dream comes true for some, there are also horror stories, the pastor said.

“But all of us from Jamaica are ambitious people,” Brown said. “We have the desire to excel in life and we make sacrifices. Unfortunately, the children get caught up in that sacrifice.”

In the end, he added, it is worth it for them: “Out of the bitter cup you can drink sweet honey.”

Town recreation programs are also not operating at full steam. Brandon Motta, Provincetown’s recreation director, said he is taking only 80 students this summer rather than the pre-Covid maximum of 125. The smaller enrollment is to keep kids organized into cohorts by age group, and to limit exposure to different groups. There have been no new Covid cases in the summer camp, Motta said.

Wellfleet recreation only offers morning hours, as always, and so is not helpful for working parents.

Truro and Eastham recreation are operating at reduced capacity because they, too, cannot hire enough staff.

Motta said he recruited employees this year by signing up a few 14-year-olds who had valid work permits. Ordinarily, he would never hire anyone under 16. But this year was not normal, and he felt he had enough senior staff to supervise the younger employees, he said.

THE GAP

Funds for Child Care Are in the Works, but Where to Spend Them?

Outer Cape struggles with the ‘single biggest barrier to reopening’

By K.C. Myers Dec 10, 2020

PROVINCETOWN — Jennifer Cortes is just the type of person policymakers have been trying to get to live in town for years: she’s a 2003 Provincetown High School graduate who returned to raise her three children. She works as a registered nurse at the Outer Cape’s only nursing home, Seashore Point Wellness & Rehab Center.

Cortes can live in her hometown because of affordable housing. She has lived at Stable Path, built by Community Housing Resource, for years. And she works at Seashore Point full-time because of Wee Care, Provincetown’s free child-care program, which provided an affordable, safe place for her two younger children. Town meeting voters in 2018 elected to provide free care from birth to kindergarten to residents and town employees in order to attract and keep young families here.

But in March, schools and child-care centers closed because of the coronavirus, just as Cortes’s job as a nurse got even busier.

“I never stopped working through all this,” Cortes said. “Originally, I went back days because my kids were in Wee Care.” She was able to come out ahead in terms of earning more than what her child-care costs would have been. “But then, they shut down Wee Care and the preschool, and my schedule didn’t change,” she said.

Now, most schools have reopened at least partially, as have some child-care centers. But not the toddler program operated by the Provincetown Schools. Supt. Suzanne Scallion has kept it closed because toddlers, ranging from children who’ve just begun walking up to age three, cannot be expected to wear masks and stay socially distanced. Cortes’s two-year-old has nowhere to go.

“I understand, but it’s created a really big child-care gap,” said Cortes.

Cortes faces a dilemma common to parents and employers all over the country. The pandemic has emphasized just how critical child care is to the economy.

Wendy Northcross, head of the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce, said that when the economy began to reopen in June, she heard immediately from business owners that the single biggest barrier to reopening was a lack of child care for their staff.

Meanwhile, Barnstable County’s Dept. of Health and Human Services Deputy Director Vaira Harik said most public health experts are recommending that health-care workers and nursing home residents get first access to Covid-19 vaccinations. Her department wants child-care workers to be added to that list.

The juggling of work, spotty school openings, and scarce child care “has led to extraordinary stress among parents and kids,” Harik said.

Cortes’s particular need for child care and affordable housing is proof of what state Sen. Julian Cyr described as an acute problem for people trying to raise children here.

“Even prior to the pandemic, access to child care and the costs of child care were a significant barrier for those families who are already housing burdened,” he said.

To help the situation, Provincetown is about to roll out a child-care voucher program. This would allow families with toddlers previously enrolled in Provincetown’s early childhood program to use vouchers to pay for care at a licensed child-care facility. Baily Boyd Associates provides child-care grants for low- and moderate-income families as well.

The problem there, however, is a lack of such child-care centers in this area. The Cape Cod Children’s Place, in Eastham, cut its enrollment in half to allow for social distancing.

Nola Glatzel, owner of a year-old licensed child-care center in Truro, has only six spots and she’s full.

Cortes said, “I finally found a sitter, but I want to compensate her for the amount of work she is doing.” She urged the select board to consider allowing her to use the voucher money for her sitter.

Nola Glatzel, owner of Earthstar Play School in Truro, peels an apple as Ana Jeronimo, right, and other children look on. (Photo courtesy Nola Glatzel)

Glatzel, who is 30 and grew up in Provincetown, decided to reopen her Earthstar Play School in September, knowing there was a risk. But her service plays such a vital role that Glatzel felt compelled to try. She first studied the successes and lack of outbreaks at the other child-care centers. She said she has had no Covid-19 cases among her client families to date.

“I wear a mask, and children wear masks if they are ready to,” she said. “There is obviously a risk, but parents have to go back to work and I wanted to open.”

When Rudelle Falkenberg closed her legendary Storybook School in Truro, friends and relatives told Glatzel, with her degree in early childhood education, that she could really fill a void.

Then two of her childhood friends, Zach Luster and Edwige Yingling, offered to renovate the walkout basement of their Truro home to create a space for Glatzel’s school.

“When they said they’d be willing to do that, all the pieces fell into place,” Glatzel said.

The voucher program in Provincetown will help her, she said, as well as many families. She thinks it’s a model that Truro should consider. Wellfleet and Eastham already offer child-care vouchers to residents.

CURRENTS

This Week In Provincetown

By The Independent Oct 15, 2020

Meetings Ahead

Meetings are held remotely. Go to provincetown-ma.gov and click on the meeting you want to watch.

Thursday, Oct. 15

Board of Health, 4 p.m.
Zoning Board of Appeals, 6 p.m.

Tuesday, Oct. 20

Human Services Committee, 5:30 p.m.

Conversation Starters

Covid-19 Update

As of Oct. 13, there were no new cases of Covid-19 in Provincetown, 32 cases considered recovered, and one death.

Infant Child Care Reopens

Provincetown’s free infant child care program reopened on Oct. 13 for children up to 15 months only; toddlers are still not invited back into the Early Learning Center, formerly known as the Wee Care program, due to Covid-19 concerns.

The Early Learning Center is free to residents and employees of the town.

School Supt. Suzanne Scallion said seven babies may attend the infant program.

The infant and toddler program had been closed indefinitely due to staff retirements and resignations. But two teachers, whose names Scallion would not release, applied for their positions when Scallion announced her intention to reopen the infant program and when they saw the school’s other safety protocols, she said.

Edgar Miranda, the head of the Early learning Center, has retired with no plans to return, Scallion added.

Early Voting Basics

Early voting in person runs from Oct. 17 to 30, Monday to Thursday 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.; and Friday to Sunday 9 to 11 a.m. at town hall.

You can also vote early by mail. The application is available at provincetown-ma.gov, under “Voting and Election Information.” Send the form to the town clerk by email to [email protected] or mail it to Provincetown Town Clerk, 260 Commercial St., Provincetown 02657, or deliver it in person.

An early voting package will be sent to you with a pre-addressed return envelope. Complete the affidavit and mail your ballot to the town clerk’s office or deliver it in person. If you are using U.S. mail, allow one week before Nov. 3 for delivery.

John A. Henry Trust Can Help

The John A. Henry Fund has cash for Provincetown families with a child under 18. Babysitters paid with grant funds must follow Covid-19 safety precautions. Charlotte Fyfe, the administrator, said grants are awarded on a case-by-case basis.

The trust was bequeathed in 2002 when John Henry, who owned the White Dory Inn, left his life savings to the town of Provincetown.

For the last two years, the fund has had $20,000 to distribute annually, with most of the applicants seeking help with rent, mortgage, utility, and car payments. Child care has traditionally been one of the main uses.

“Eviction will rear its ugly head again [on Oct. 17, when the governor’s moratorium is lifted],” Fyfe said. “Although we were worried in the spring, I think this winter will be really tough.”

For more information email [email protected]. —K.C. Myers

Dormitory Gets Unanimous Support at ZBA

The dormitory and workforce housing project that local business owner Patrick Patrick is proposing to build on his family’s land made it through a second town committee this month. The Zoning Board of Appeals voted unanimously to grant three special permits to the project on Oct. 1. The select board allocated 9,150 gallons of wastewater capacity to the project last November, also on a unanimous vote.

Patrick’s proposed building would contain 28 dormitory rooms, each housing four summertime workers in bunk beds, as well as 16 small apartments, which could be occupied year-round. The seasonal workforce housing, in particular, has been cited by proponents as addressing an unmet need.

Patrick’s project needed three special permits from the ZBA, but neighbors of the property objected particularly to one: a major deviation from the “neighborhood average scale” calculations.

The proposed dormitory is about 10 times bigger than the nearest residential home. Patrick’s land, however, is zoned for commercial use and dormitory housing is an explicitly listed acceptable use in the commercial zone. The neighboring properties in the “average scale” calculation are all in a residential zone.

The next stop is the planning board, which has oversight over a broader range of concerns including congestion, noise, light pollution, and neighborhood character. —Paul Benson

SCREENS, NOT CLASSES

Schools to Offer Child Care in Gym

Former supt. criticizes remote learning plan for youngest students

By K.C. Myers Sep 3, 2020

PROVINCETOWN — Twenty-five children of working parents will be offered free child care in the Provincetown Schools gym as part of the school administration’s plan for completely remote learning when the schools open later this month.

On Aug. 28, Gov. Charlie Baker issued an executive order allowing the creation of partnerships between early education centers and schools that are doing remote learning. These partnerships are designed to help working parents and their children navigate the daunting realities of so-called virtual learning.

The policy is designed in response to concerns arising from the school committee’s vote to require at-home learning for all preschool through eighth-grade students for two weeks beginning on Sept 16. Whether to stay remote or bring students back to classrooms will be revisited every two weeks, said Eva Enos, chair of the school committee.

The plan has generated criticism primarily because the Provincetown Schools, with just 131 students from preschool through grade eight, serve many working families who cannot take time off to supervise remote learning.

For almost half the students (49 percent), English is not their first language; 35 percent are from economically disadvantaged homes, according to the state Dept. of Elementary and Secondary Education.

And 62 percent of the students have what the state terms “high needs,” that is, they have a combination of economic and learning challenges.

In the neighboring Nauset district, serving Wellfleet, Eastham, Orleans, and Brewster, high needs students will return to classes immediately in all grades. Nauset is also accepting all elementary school students in person, while the regional middle school is scheduled to begin in-person classes two days a week on Sept. 16.

Nauset Regional High School announced a change of plans on Sept. 1, however. It will be teaching all students remotely, at least to start, rather than offering a hybrid plan.

Louise Venden of the select board is among several townspeople who feel Provincetown, with a large building relative to the number of students, does not need to be as conservative as Nauset, especially given its demographics.

Many Provincetown parents in the service industries don’t get paid unless they go to work, Venden said.

Provincetown Schools Supt. Suzanne Scallion said she empathizes with working families. She had been compiling a list of child-care agencies, babysitters, and resources to pay for them, while not recommending any one agency. Parents can, she said, apply for funds to the John A. Henry Trust, which helps Provincetown Schools parents. Applications are available at the website of the Cape Cod Children’s Place.

When Baker made his announcement about partnerships, Scallion immediately assigned three of the town-funded Wee Care, infant, toddler, and preschool program staff to supervise up to 25 students in the gym. The limit of 25 is based on the state’s guidance on how many can gather in an indoor space, Scallion said.

The students will bring their portable electronic devices to school and work in the gym. They will have chances to play and interact with each other, staying 10 feet apart, Scallion said.

Based on a first round of surveys and phone calls, Scallion estimated that 13 students needed child care, and another seven emerged in follow-up phone calls. A few slots will go to children of staff who will be teaching remotely, she said. There were still spaces left as of Aug. 31, she said.

The child-care program will last as long as the remote learning model remains in place. Scallion said if the number of new Covid-19 cases remain low in this area, the school will move to a hybrid program, and then fully in person.

But some, including former Provincetown Schools Supt. Beth Singer, think the remote plan is not necessary at all, especially for the youngest students.

Singer, who lives in Wellfleet, said, “Little kids just cannot do remote learning and parents cannot be teachers. Why can’t we do something different for the youngest?”

While some of its staff will be caring for school-age children, Provincetown’s Wee Care itself — an unusual free day-care program for infants and toddlers located in a separate building from the school — will remain closed until the school building reopens.

Scallion said she is most worried about toddlers, for whom social distancing and mask-wearing will be challenging.

Singer said that makes little sense, when child-care centers are reopening all over the Cape and the nation. Cape Cod Children’s Place in Eastham began accepting a limited number of kids on Aug. 31.

About 40 percent of Provincetown’s students come through “school choice,” that is, they live in other towns, Scallion said.

The fear of losing students to districts returning to classrooms immediately, however, should not guide policy, Singer said.

“Decisions should never be made based on whether you gain or lose kids,” Singer said. “You make decisions on what’s good for kids.”

The school committee unanimously supported a fully remote start to school.

“The majority of our families are totally OK with it,” said Enos. “But there are three who did not agree. I’m really feeling good about the board’s decision.”

LEARNING

Coalition Calls for Action on Child Care

A community conversation about addressing the crisis is planned

By K.C. Myers Sep 3, 2020

For years, child-care centers have survived by paying workers minimum wage and offering a service that is, for working parents, still just barely affordable. It is this reality that reveals the fact that child care has been in crisis for years, said Cindy Horgan, executive director of the private nonprofit Cape Cod Children’s Place in Eastham.

Now, the crisis is at a breaking point: 163 Mass. child-care centers have closed permanently during the pandemic, according to the Boston Globe.

On Cape Cod, this includes the child-care stalwart Stepping Stones on Route 28 in Cotuit, which has closed, Horgan said.

Cape Cod Children’s Place in Eastham reopened on Aug. 31, but only at half capacity in order to allow for safe distancing. Financially, this has gutted the organization, she said.

“We are staffing at the same level with half the revenue,” Horgan said. “Now we’re losing $8,000 to $10,000 a month or $120,000 a year.”

On Wednesday, Sept. 9, Cape Cod parents, educators, and the public are invited to attend a virtual town hall from 6:30 to 8 p.m. on the topic of affordable, accessible, high-quality early education and child care. It is being organized by the Cape & Islands chapter of Common Start, a statewide child-care advocacy campaign. Common Start wants to involve local, state, and federal governments, as well as private businesses, in creating a robust day-care system.

U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Rep. Bill Keating, and other legislators will join in this “town hall” conversation.

“Elizabeth Warren calls child care ‘infrastructure,’ ” said Sandra Faiman-Silva, a member of the Coalition for Social Justice and the convener and co-facilitator of the Common Start chapter here. “We require it to have a productive workforce.”

The Coalition for Social Justice is a 25-year-old South Shore nonprofit that organizes and lobbies on behalf of low-income families in poorer communities such as New Bedford, Fall River, Brockton, and Taunton.

Provincetown in 2018 stepped up to fund free child care and preschool for all infants, toddlers, and three- and four-year-olds of residents and town employees, Faiman-Silva said. Seaman’s Bank partially pays for Cape Cod Children’s Place child care for its employees. Wellfleet voters fund a voucher program to help residents afford preschool.

Still, young families struggle to pay up to $20,000 a year for child care, Faiman-Silva said, while child-care workers earn only $12 to $14 an hour, according to Horgan.

“People cannot afford to do this work,” Horgan said. “I’m embarrassed by the salaries we offer. But we cannot raise tuition to raise salaries.”

Those who are able to further their education go on to teach kindergarten, which pays a living wage.
“The status of workers and the wages are pathetic relative to K through 12 teachers,” said Faiman-Silva. “The pay has to be raised to make it the well-respected profession that it is. You give your cherished children to them, and yet you pay them minimum wage. That’s ridiculous.”

To RSVP for the Cape and Islands Regional Town Hall: http://bit.ly/townhallcape. For more information about the Common Start Coalition, visit commonstartma.org.

RECREATION

Rec Sails Away This Summer

Eastham, Wellfleet, and Truro cancel programs, but Provincetown has a plan

By Ryan Fitzgerald Jun 18, 2020

Summer recreation programs are fun for local kids, but also important because they provide jobs for teenagers and child care that helps working parents get through the summer months. But rec is not happening in Eastham, Wellfleet, or Truro this summer — all three recreation departments have decided to cancel their annual programs.

Visitors to Provincetown won’t see the children out on boats this summer the way they usually do. West End Racing Children’s Community Sailing program is not happening this year. (Photo Nancy Bloom)

Provincetown, however, has found a way to go forward. “We have the safety of all the children as the number one priority,” said Recreation Director Brandon Motta, “and we will be welcoming these children back, with a contactless high five.”

In Eastham, Christine Mickle, the recreation director, said cancellation was “a real difficult decision.” She and her colleagues concluded that “there was just no way to do it safely or even for the kids to have fun.”

Mickle said the town’s summer program typically serves up to 120 kids with 65 to 70 attending daily. Many of their parents now find themselves in a bind.

“I’ve told my work I’m not going to go back until school starts,” Allie Davis said at the Eastham Recreation Commission’s June 10 meeting. Davis is a member of the commission and a mother of two.

“I don’t understand why Wellfleet didn’t do it, since it’s all outside,” said Nicole Parkington, “but I’m not surprised.” Parkington’s three children would have participated in Wellfleet Rec this summer. “It’s been hard to have them out of school for three months,” she said, and now, “to know this summer there’s no break, no chance for them to be with their friends, it’s hard.”

Kristen Roberts, co-owner of Truro Vineyards, has had two children attend the summer recreation program in Truro. For working parents, she said, many decisions are difficult right now — whether it’s reopening a business or running summer recreation. Roberts said that, although her children no longer take part in rec, they’re dealing with other summer cancellations. “When you add kids into the mix it makes everything harder,” she said.

The Wellfleet Recreation Department decided to cancel swimming lessons and summer recreation programs during a staff meeting back in May, said Suzanne Grout Thomas.

Damion Clements, who runs the recreation program in Truro, said he, the town manager, and select board collectively decided to cancel the program.

“After reviewing guidance from the state of Massachusetts and the CDC, we have determined that we will not be able to safely operate the Summer Recreation Youth Program,” reads a statement on the Truro town website. Puma Park is also closed. Clements did not provide further information.

Provincetown recreation will be offered Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The town’s plan for managing social distancing begins with keeping activities completely outdoors and being sure children remain six feet apart. Limiting the number of participants in the program should help make that work, said Motta. Registration will be limited to Massachusetts residents only and the maximum capacity of the program will be 50 children.

“Children will be broken down into five groups of 10 or fewer, based on age, and there will be two staff members to each group,” Motta said via email.

Motta said each group will have its own defined area for activities, its own access to a hand-washing station, bathrooms, and eating area. “Staff and children will stay with the same group the entire summer and will not intermix at any point,” he said.

The department will follow state guidelines and, in the event that children cannot remain six feet apart, they will then wear masks, Motta said.

The logistics are complex. There will be no field trips, no visitors or volunteers, children will have their own supplies for each activity, and each age group will have its own designated drop-off area. Daily drop-off procedures will include a health screening for symptoms related to Covid-19, and daily temperature checks, and the same protocol will be used for staff member arrivals each day.

“This year’s summer program will be different,” Motta said, “but that does not mean it will not be fun.”

Mickle said Eastham is hoping to hold some social-distanced family nights at the Field of Dreams that could include paint night, yoga night, or fitness night.

“We’ll be starting those hopefully the second week of July,” she said.

Eastham, Wellfleet, and Truro have different virtual programs that children and families can participate in. More information can be found on their recreation departments’ websites.

West End Racing Children’s Community Sailing in Provincetown, which provides inexpensive summer sailing programs for around 160 children every year, has also been canceled.

“It’s frustrating for us,” said AJ Santos of West End Sailing. “We’re a nonprofit and we’ve been doing this since the 1950s. We have a lot of dedicated employees to keep this going and we rely on community support,” he said.

Those at West End Sailing felt there was just no way to practice safe distancing while teaching children on the water. “I’m sure it’s quite a blow to a lot of families, but these are very unusual times,” Santos said.