LANSING, Mich. — The state agency that regulates child care issued Friday clarifications on how child care providers can stay open. The issue comes down to whose children they are caring for.
The Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs issued the guidelines under the heading, “Can childcare providers reopen during the updated Stay Home, Stay Safe Executive Order (EO 2020-77)?”
Since the order suspends operations of businesses and organizations that “are not necessary to sustain or protect life,” a child care provider can be open if they are providing child care for the following categories of workers:
(From the release:)
- Critical infrastructure workers,
- Workers who conduct minimum basic operations,
- Workers who perform necessary government activities, or
- Workers who perform resumed activities.
To clarify further, workers who perform resumed activities include employees in:
- Construction
- Distribution
- Industries that perform work that is traditionally and primarily performed outdoors, including but not limited to forestry workers, outdoor power equipment technicians, parking enforcement workers and outdoor workers at places of outdoor recreation not otherwise closed
- Workers for garden stores, nurseries, and lawn care, pest control, and landscaping operations
- Logistics, including:
- Workers who process or fulfill remote orders for goods for delivery or curb side pick up
- Workers for moving or storage operations
- Manufacturing
- Workers necessary to manufacture goods that support our response to COVID-19
- Workers necessary to perform start up activities at manufacturing facilities
- Effective May 11, workers necessary to perform manufacturing activities
- Real estate
- Workers who perform bicycle maintenance or repair
- Workers necessary to train, credential, and license first responders and health care workers
Read the executive order
FAQ page on childcare during Stay Home, Stay Safe
