Coping With COVID-19

The COVID-19 global pandemic affected the Institute and our work in ways that were immediate and profound, shifting our attention to how we could be of greatest service to Nebraska’s children, families, and communities. We asked ourselves—and our partners—how we could be most useful and how to focus our energies in ways that best supported children, families, schools, and professionals. We also modified our research to concentrate on the caregivers and teachers who were on the front line of a once-in-a-century pandemic.

COVID-19 Surveys. Within the first month of the COVID-19 lockdown—before the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, or CARES Act, was passed by Congress in March 2020—the Institute conducted the first of three surveys to assess the impact of the pandemic on early care and education providers in Nebraska. The Institute collaborated with state agencies, University of Nebraska faculty and staff, and organization partners to develop and distribute the first survey in March 2020 and two subsequent surveys—one in June 2020 and another in February 2022. Survey questions examined the impact of the pandemic on child care professionals in Nebraska to inform potential policy and practice interventions. These survey results were widely disseminated in Nebraska and in the national press and were cited in several national studies of COVID-19 effects on the early care and education workforce. More information about the COVID-19 surveys is provided in Chapter 5 (pp. 108–109).

Nebraska Child Care Referral Network. While conducting the first COVID-19 survey, it became clear that Nebraska parents were struggling to find available providers and that child care businesses were struggling to connect with parents. We joined with other early childhood organizations in the state to create a new statewide, searchable database of licensed providers to help parents find child care. The purpose of the Nebraska Child Care Referral Network is to enable families to locate licensed child care providers in communities across the state. Providers include both family child care and center-based child care that are available for children from birth through age 12.

COVID highlighted the vital contribution [early childhood educators] make every single day. These are the first responders who stepped up so the first responders could go out and do their jobs.

– Betty Medinger, Nebraska Children and Families Foundation

During the COVID-19 pandemic, it was particularly urgent that medical providers, emergency responders, and other essential personnel be able to quickly and easily locate child care options. While many child care programs were temporarily closed due to the health risks of the coronavirus, many remained open and had capacity to accept children. The referral website was designed to help those in need of emergency child care to find it easily.

COVID-19 Response in the Schools. When school buildings closed in March 2020, we worked closely with partners in Omaha-area schools and communities to adapt programming and services to meet the needs of children and families. From the outset, home visitors and family facilitators, who are part of our Superintendents’ Early Childhood Plan (described in

Chapter 4), adapted their work to be responsive to families’ and schools’ changing needs. In addition to working with teachers and families remotely, Institute staff supported families in accessing basic needs, securing iPads and other electronic devices for children’s learning, working through challenges with internet connectivity, and facilitating conversations between schools and child care centers for out-of-school learning supports for school-age children. As children returned for a full year of in-person schooling in 2021–22, new challenges arose, including staffing shortages. In partnership with school staff, the Institute took an “all hands on deck” approach to the day-to-day needs of schools experiencing staffing shortages. Our staff substituted for teachers in classrooms, stepped into the roles of paraprofessionals, served lunch duty, covered administrative tasks for principals, and fulfilled many other tasks requested by principals and staff. More information about these adaptations and others that were made to support children and families in the schools is provided in Chapter 4.

Responsive Professional Development. With school closings and statewide directives limiting public gatherings, the Institute quickly shifted its Professional Development (PD) for All series to virtual formats. In addition, PD for All topics were adapted to address new and emerging issues of concern. More information about these adaptations is provided in Chapter 4.

In addition to the PD for All series, the Institute contracted with Chip Donohue, a leading national consultant on technology in the early years, to help support early childhood educators in adopting technology-mediated strategies for reaching young children during the pandemic. In the late summer and fall of 2020, Donohue facilitated 11 professional development sessions and provided consultation and support in a variety of ways, including:

• Direct assistance consisting of one-hour synchronous sessions on technology for all Omaha Public Schools (OPS) elementary supervisors

• A webinar for all PreK–6 teachers in OPS on technology integration in the early and elementary years

• A seminar on digital storytelling in preschool for all OPS PreK teachers, plus other webinars for other districts

• Three additional webinars that were part of a PD for All series for all districts and three internal learning sessions for Institute staff

Videos of these sessions and accompanying professional learning guides continue to be available to early educators on the Institute website.