Coronavirus: Texas Portal IDs Essential Worker Child Care Sites

AUSTIN, TX — State officials have created a portal identifying sites offering child care to medical workers and other essential workers amid a growing level of coronavirus illness sweeping across Texas.

Gov. Greg Abbott revealed details of the initiative during a Friday afternoon press conference during which he detailed the current level of diagnosed cases in the state.

The Frontline Child Care Website aims to help essential workers in Texas locate child care offered by centers offering to care for their children amid the oubreak of respiratory illness, Abbott explained. The new online website featuring a mapping portal was built by the Texas Frontline Child Care Task Force led by Elaine Mendoza of the Supply Chain Strike Force; the Texas Workforce Commission; the Texas Health and Human Services Commission; the Texas Education Agency; and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.

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The Frontline Child Care Portal allows essential workers to search for child care facilities near them, as well as facility operating hours and the number of seats available, officials said. It also includes links to HHSC's inspection and compliance records for each operation, according to a news release.

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The website also helps parents find other basic information about child care including health and safety information and step-by-step instructions for applying for child care financial assistance. Additionally, the website gives frontline employers guidance to assist their employees in need and provides child care centers and school districts resources to support their child care programs.

"We have a duty to support Texas health care workers and other essential employees as they work on the front lines of the COVID-19 response," Abbott said. "For essential workers with young children who don’t have other options, that means providing safe, regulated, and accessible child care. The Frontline Child Care Website will strengthen our child care capacity across the state, allowing our essential workers to continue their work to keep us safe and provide the critical services that Texans depend on."

View the governor's presentation

Abbott referenced the esprit de corps that has emerged amid the onset of illness outbreak, taking time to thank those offering child care for essential workers: "There is nothing more powerful than Texans helping Texans, and I want to thank child care workers across the state for stepping up to support our essential workers during these challenging times."