BLISS CHILD CARE Provides safe, reliable solution during pandemic BY MICHELLE GORDON FORT BLISS PUBLIC AFFAIRS
Ann Ogle distinctly remembers standing in a parking lot in mid-March 2020, discussing with Fort Bliss leaders how to protect children enrolled in Fort Bliss child care facilities from the novel coronavirus. Ogle is the child administrator for Fort Bliss Child and Youth Services (CYS). She said Fort Bliss CYS has more than 10,000 registered militaryconnected children. Now, with cases of a highlycommunicable disease on the rise in the United States, the installation leadership had to determine how, and if, those services could continue. “We talked through plans and policies, and we instituted them immediately,” Ogle said. “Masks were a big change and we started wearing them day one.” Caregivers and children age 3 and older are required to wear masks in all Fort Bliss CYS facilities. In addition to face coverings, other COVID-19 mitigation processes in place include: strict sanitation guidelines, Plexiglass dividers, a no-visitor policy, and cohorts. “Every classroom is a cohort and there are no more than 10 people in a classroom – not 10 children – 10 people, which includes the providers,” said Ogle. “So, in an infant room, you have eight infants and two providers; the same with the toddler room. In a preschool room, nine preschoolers and one provider.” Ratios are approximately 25 percent of normal operating capacity, which is possible because currently CYS only provides full-time child care for
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