Baker announces launch of state’s ‘test and stay’ program for child care providers

Originally Appeared in Boston Globe
By Stephanie Ebbert and Sahar Fatima

January 19, 2022

Child care providers will begin receiving rapid antigen COVID-19 tests by the week of Jan. 31 under a new “test-and-stay” program designed to help facilities stay open during the pandemic, Governor Charlie Baker said Wednesday.

All child care programs affiliated with the state’s Department of Early Education and Care can sign up for free COVID-19 tests and training through Neighborhood Villages, a nonprofit that began partnering with EEC last year to provide weekly pooled testing. Those that enroll by Jan. 24 will begin receiving tests the week of Jan. 31.

“We are fortunate to be in Massachusetts, which is leading the nation in early education testing and has made it a priority,” said Lauren Cook, chief executive of Ellis Early Learning in Boston, where Baker made the announcement.

The first-in-the-nation statewide testing initiative will allow staff and children 2 years and older who are close contacts of someone who tests positive for COVID-19 to take rapid antigen tests for five consecutive days. As long as they test negative, they can remain in child care.

“This will eliminate the need to quarantine these close contacts, which in some centers can translate into the entire classroom,” Baker said.

Staff and children who develop symptoms while at child care facilities will also be able to take the rapid tests. “This will help quickly isolate any infected staff and students,” Baker said.

Baker said testing would help keep centers operating on a more reliable schedule, a welcome development for working parents.

“We expect the rapid test program will be a giant game-changer for many folks in early education and care, as the vast majority of the kids they serve are under the age of 5 and therefore can’t be vaccinated at this point in time,” Baker said.

Parents of young children have been frustrated by the state policy that children be kept home for at least five days if they were deemed a close contact of someone with COVID. With the Omicron variant circulating, parents have repeatedly had to keep youngsters home since the holidays.

Elizabeth Chiu, a mother of three, was pleased with the test-and-stay program for her older children, who attend Boston public schools, and hopeful it could help keep Charlestown Nursery School open for her youngest. The 4-year-old was home sick on Wednesday — not with COVID, according to a test — but had missed two days last week when her classroom was closed due to a COVID exposure.

“Children have had a lot of disruption over the last two years. Anything that we as adults can do to kind of give them a routine while keeping them safe is probably a step in the right direction,” said Chiu, although she cautioned that “I don’t know how it will go logistically testing all those little ones.”

Until now, many child care providers have been paying for the rapid tests themselves. Cady Audette, a codirector of Charlestown Nursery School, noted that the tests can cost $5 to $15 each, a hefty sum when staff members are taking them regularly.

“Our teachers have been testing daily,” Audette said. “It has been difficult for centers to find tests and pay for tests, and we think it’s wonderful they’ll be provided.”

Unlike K-12 schools, child care centers were shut down only briefly and many early educators have worked throughout the pandemic. Early educators are especially vulnerable to COVID since the children in their care require hands-on attention and are too young for vaccinations; those younger than 2 don’t wear masks.

“One of the most important areas is to make sure our workforce feels confident that they are being protected while they are caring for this really vulnerable population,” said Samantha Aigner-Treworgy, commissioner of the Department of Early Education and Care.

The state is working to make sure child care providers are aware of the program, Aigner-Treworgy said, although the number who have signed up for regular pool testing through Neighborhood Villages has skyrocketed in recent weeks. Aigner-Treworgy said providers will receive tests directly and can decide individually how to administer them, whether by staff at the center or at home by parents.