Long Islanders Seek Child Care Solutions Amid Coronavirus Scare

WEST BABYLON, NY — As the coronavirus pandemic grows in New York and school districts close for an unknown amount of time, Long Islanders are grappling with the issue of child care. For families with parents unable to work from home, Sunday's announcement that Nassau and Suffolk county schools are closing for two weeks to prevent the spread of COVID-19 presents an obstacle.

Licensed day care centers operate under the Office of Children and Family Services and do not fall under the mandatory public school closure. As of Monday, the decision to stay open or closed is up to the individual accredited child care business, even as Governor Cuomo ordered restaurants, gyms and bars in New York State closed as of 8 p.m. Monday night.

Follow the latest on Long Island coronavirus news here.

For working parents with jobs that cannot be done from home, K-12 school closures meant a quick scramble to find child care. College students home after the closures of their schools have been trying to fill the gap by offering full-time babysitting to those parents in need.

Jackie Corbett lives in Deer Park and works as a teaching assistant at a preschool that closed. She posted on Facebook and in community groups offering her services babysitting for anyone needing it during the public school closures but said no one has hired her yet.

Sherin FitzPatrick Shanahan is a Rocky Point resident with two daughters who are willing to babysit during the crisis. Her older daughter works at a gymnastics gym that has cut sessions, leaving her without a job. Shanahan's younger daughter is a college senior home until further notice. After her older daughter was upset about the possibility of not being able to work Shanahan thought of the idea of seeing if any families needed child care with the closing of schools and some day cares.

"I think people are probably going to use any vacation or sick days they have first," she said. But "many will have no choice," but to go into work, she added, like first responders or health care workers.