How might we share findings from the UNC Health employee survey for childcare needs?
HMW: How might we quickly synthesize and share findings from the UNC Health employee survey for childcare needs with UNC Health leadership and other stakeholders?
What we learned:
Between last night and this morning, email communications went out to UNC Medical Center, UNC Rex, and UNC School of Medicine employees requesting that they complete the childcare needs survey our task force created.
UNC Health leadership is meeting daily to discuss matters relating to COVID-19. Our task force is providing ‘snapshots’ or updates on survey results to UNC Health HR by 12 pm noon each day.
NC DHHS is asking hospitals/facilities who want to help individual employees with unmet child care needs to direct employees to call 1-888-600-1685 to find high-quality, safe child care for infants through children age 12.
NC DHHS is also requesting that hospitals/facilities who are interested in purchasing a block of 10 or more slots at a childcare center for the duration of the COVID-19 crisis to complete an online request form ASAP.
We learned that YMCA is opening childcare programs across the Triangle to provide childcare for essential employees. An operation at its Chapel Hill YMCA facilities will open on Monday, March 20th. More information on their program can be found on YMCA of the Triangle’s website.
We know Orange County Government is assessing their own essential employees’ need for childcare this week. We are working together with our local government partners to identify need in our communities, and direct families to local (and safe) resources.
Insights:
Healthcare workers prefer in-home childcare solutions for their children compared to out-of-home solutions (e.g. childcare centers or emergency care sites for school-aged children at local schools). This is based on responses the UNC Health survey on childcare needs.
To care for kids at home – and to make informed decisions about childcare – parents need guidance on childcare safety amidst COVID-19. We will be posting our suggestions – created by UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health Faculty – on our website this evening. These suggestions include safety information for babysitters, nannies, and childcare providers as well.
There are a number of survey responses from employees that indicate that their partners/spouses are also UNC Health employees.
Very few employees from high-needs units (e.g. Emergency Department, ICU, Respiratory Care) have completed the childcare needs survey. We understand that they are incredibly busy and will need to think through ways we can respectfully ask for them to complete the survey to indicate whether they have/do not have coverage.
Some UNC Health employees are still being asked to pay childcare costs this month even if their center has closed - to keep their child’s daycare spot when the operation reopens.
We know community members and donors are interested in supporting emergency childcare. We need to create an equitable system to identify employees who need financial assistance for emergency childcare, and how our community can help our fontline healthcare workers with this cost.
Questions generated:
Which data points from the employee survey are most important for UNC Health leadership? With so many UNC Health employees indicating a preference for in-home childcare solutions for children 0-17, how many of them will opt to send their children to out-of-home sites?
How should we follow up with folks who completed the online survey?
How do we work with the UNC Health Care Foundation and other Development partners to provide financial support for emergency childcare?