Child care to be free through May 17 for essential Colorado workers

(KOSA)
Published: Mar. 30, 2020 at 1:15 PM MDT
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Effective immediately, child care in the state of Colorado will be free for essential workers.

The state announced Monday it would be extending a 100 percent tuition credit to all workers deemed essential under the current public health order. These are the jobs currently exempt from Polis' stay-at-home order.

(To view the order and a full list of what are considered essential jobs, click here.)

The credit will completely cover child care for these workers until May 17. To serve these essential employees, the state has established a system of emergency child care, Colorado Emergency Child Care Collaborative.

“We know that this global pandemic is putting an unprecedented strain on Colorado’s health care and emergency workers. More than 80,000 of our emergency workers have children under age 8, and without child care, many of these workers will not be able to perform the jobs that are most crucial to containing the spread of the virus,” said Gov. Polis in a news release sent to media Monday. “I thank this group of childhood providers, advocacy groups, school districts and foundations for their partnership with the Colorado Department of Human Services and Gary Community Investments to establish a system of emergency child care for our workers on the front lines of this crisis.”

Families can fill out an interest form

to be matched with a child care provider in their community.

Alternatively, families can reach out to the Colorado Shines Child Care Referral by calling 1-877-338-CARE (2273), emailing childcarereferrals@unitedwaydenver.org, or texting "child care referrals" to 898-211.

For more information on the program, who is covered, and how it works,

.