[ST. PAUL, MN]—Yesterday Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan visited Mis Amigos Spanish Immersion Preschool to highlight the Walz-Flanagan Administration’s push to provide testing, funding, and now vaccines to child care providers to help ensure their doors remain open amid the COVID-19 pandemic. More than 90 percent of Minnesota’s licensed child care providers operating before the pandemic are operating today – making the state one of the best in the nation in maintaining programs during the pandemic.

“With over 90 percent of our child care providers still operating, it’s clear that our decision to prioritize testing, financial support and now vaccines for child care programs has worked,” said Lieutenant Governor Flanagan. “We are grateful to these frontline heroes for continuing to brave this pandemic, care for our littlest Minnesotans, and help keep us all afloat.”

While there are a number of variables related to this data, and the long-term effects of the pandemic on the child care industry and access are still being determined, data in a September report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General on child care facilities operating during the pandemic showed that more than half of states reported more than 50 percent of providers closed. Minnesota ranked top among states on the percentage of child care facilities still operating amid COVID-19.

“With increased access to vaccines and testing, we are starting to see the light at the end of this pandemic. However, we need parents and families to be patient with their child care providers as they continue implementing public health guidance to keep our children, child care workforce, and communities safe. Child care providers are the backbone of our economy and must be treated as such,” continued Lieutenant Governor Flanagan.

The Administration launched a Child Care Screening Testing Pilot Program in mid-November 2020, and expanded this to over 180 early childhood and youth programs across the state. The pilot also helped inform the statewide school screening testing program.

Beginning in January, the Administration announced a pilot program to vaccinate child care providers and educators. The process of identifying providers was randomized and appointment slots were allotted to child care workers based on their program’s staff roster, with the goal of providing an appointment for all staff who work onsite for an individual program. So far over 8,000 child care workers have received a vaccine through the pilot.

The Administration has already provided $150 million in state and federal resources for financial support directly to more than 6,300 family child care and more than 2,000 child care centers across the state to help keep their doors open and implement new public health guidance, in addition to other funding to support family access to care. The state anticipates receiving $137 million in additional child care stimulus from the federal government and has already allocated a portion of those funds to provide an estimated $45 million in additional funding supports in January and February for eligible child care providers and $15 million to support child care access for lower income, working families through the Child Care Assistance Program.

Mis Amigos is a woman-owned and operated Spanish immersion preschool. The program joined the testing pilot at all three of their locations in November. All three of Mis Amigos locations were also invited through random selection to be vaccinated through the state’s vaccine pilot program. Thus far, all staff at their Hopkins location have chosen to be vaccinated.