Child care resources for healthcare workers
Because of our work together as a union and the partnerships we’ve developed with local elected officials like King County Executive Dow Constantine, we’ve won critical support for our King County members with children. King County is providing funding to support child care for frontline healthcare professionals like us. The county and city of Seattle are partnering with licensed child care agencies to serve toilet-trained children of essential personnel ages 3- to 12-years-old. Care will be provided under guidelines created by Public Health – Seattle & King County for childcare facilities operating during the COVID-19 crisis.
In addition, the CARES Act — a $2.2 trillion bill that passed with bipartisan support — directs significant funding into programs that support the care and education of young children, including $56 million to Washington state for child care. Because of our continued advocacy, done in partnership with local labor organizations, the Washington State Department of Children, Youth and Families announced that it will administer additional child care slots to accommodate the growing need.
We continue to work with elected leaders at the local, state and federal level to ensure that relief efforts recognize the unique needs of healthcare workers regarding child care. Members accessing these resources are encouraged to request union childcare providers to support our labor family.
Carina
SEIU Healthcare 1199NW has partnered with Carina and the union family child care providers of SEIU to connect essential workers to nearby licensed family child care providers that have IMMEDIATE openings available. The child care providers on Carina are union members and small businesses, working to stay open to serve our communities. Click here to find available child care providers near you who are open and ready to provide care to families.
King County — A Guide for Essential Workers
King County is helping essential workers access free emergency child care. Learn about the verification process, requirements and the documents you need to submit to access this resource. This benefit was made possible thanks to our union’s advocacy and our strong partnerships with county officials.
Seattle Workers and Residents
This program has been discontinued.
Seattle’s Department of Education and Early Learning launched the Emergency Child Care (ECC) program to support the City’s essential workers, including healthcare professionals. If you are a healthcare worker in Seattle who did not receive an invitation to the ECC program from your employer and you believe that you qualify for participation, please check with your employer. If your employer does not have a link for you, complete this form. For further inquiries on eligibility, please email ECC@seattle.gov.
Child Care Aware of Washington Family Center
The Child Care Aware of Washington Family Center has expanded its operations to serve as the statewide child care response, resource and referral hub during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Family Center, operated by Child Care Resources, will support families seeking child care, as well as employers needing child care options for their workforce. Call the Child Care COVID Communications, Response and Referral Center at 1-800-446-1114 to speak with a child care expert who can help you find high-quality, licensed child care near you.
Child Care Check
Child Care Check is Washington state’s licensed child care status and record database. Search providers and find out background check statuses, licensing history, monitoring reports and more. For more help in finding programs to meet your family’s needs, please contact their partners at Child Care Aware of Washington (see above).
