CSDA is pleased to announce that, in response to a request from a CSDA-led coalition of park and recreation providers, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) and Department of Social Services (DSS) have issued updated guidance allowing for specific settings to offer childcare under a waiver, provided the entity meets some critical health and safety standards and engages in local coordination. Each request will be addressed on a case by case basis and the requestor should work with their regional DSS office to start the process.
CSDA and its local government partners representing recreation and parks districts and municipal departments throughout the state worked diligently with DSS over the last several weeks to address limitations on providing supervised child and youth programming at or by park and recreation facilities. Following a formal request for a broad statewide waiver and subsequent communications, CSDA advocated for the department to use its emergency authority under the Governor's March 4th proclamation to temporarily suspend time and other program limitations on recreation and park programs.
Due to the modified and remote learning schedules at schools, there is a need in many communities to offer more youth programs beyond the hours of operation allowed by current law in order to support working families whose situations are incompatible with distance learning.
Recreation and park districts often work with local school and community partners to offer youth day and after school programs; however, their ability to fully serve the needs of our communities and working parents during the COVID-19 crisis is severely limited by standard restrictions on the hours of operation of public recreation programs.
The updated guidance released from CDPH includes information related to cohorts. Some areas of focus include cohort size, partitions, and keeping consistent cohorts. The cohort concept is similar to the what was released in childcare guidance around groups size and mirrors the guidance released for schools.
The most recent guidance includes:
If your district needs a waiver to meet the needs in your community, please work with your regional DSS office.
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