PORTLAND, Ore. — Oregon Governor Kate Brown's stay home order limits how childcare businesses can operate.
Childcare facilities can stay open only if they limit the number of kids in a group to 10 and can keep those 10 kids separate from any other children who may be there.
While many people are now working from home, it is not an option for everyone. That is why the order says childcare facilities must now prioritize the childcare needs of first responders, emergency workers, and health care professionals if they have to scale back.
Some day cares, for example, may be forced to make cuts because of the 10-kid per group limit.
“A lot of parents have said are you still open because their friends' daycares are closing,” explained Susan Purdy, the director of Sonbeam Preschool and Daycare in Clackamas.
Purdy said they have been doing everything they can to stay open because a lot of their parents work in the medical field.
“A couple of moms cry all the time because they just say, they don't know what they would do without us, so we are trying to find ways to make it work,” Purdy said.
Purdy said Sonbeam normally has between 25 and 30 kids. However, with everything going on surrounding COVID-19, they are down to about nine or 10 children per day. With less kids, Purdy said staying open has not been easy.
“We're all going to take cuts,” Purdy explained. “There are days where we're not going to get paid, and we're just going to keep the kids that we can, and as long as we financially can stay open and get our bills paid and get food because we also serve lunch and so we can supply all the things we need to and see how it goes, it's just a day-by-day thing.”