• Know Your COVID-19 Community Level, CDC
• Find a COVID-19 testing center, Florida Department of Health  

Office of Head Start Resources: 

For any OHS-specific questions related to Head Start programs, please check in with your Program Specialist.

 Coronavirus Prevention and Response

• Staff Wages and Benefits: Flexibility Through Sept. 30, added June 30, 2020
• Supporting Emergency Child Care During the COVID-19 Crisis: How Head Start and Early Head Start Programs Can Help, added April 23, 2020
• Enrollment Q & A related to COVID-19, added April 16, 2020 
• FY 2020 Supplemental Funds in Response to Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19): ACF-PI-HS-20-03, added April 14, 2020 
• Update to Wages and Benefits Flexibility During the COVID-19 Pandemic, added April 6, 2020
• Responding to Head Start Grantee Questions on COVID-19: Updated March 31, 2020
• ACF Guidance Letter
• Mental Health and Wellness Resources, added August 3, 2020

Wage & benefit flexibility: In response to COVID-19, OHS is advising grantees to coordinate with local health authorities and implement their existing policies and procedures related to the closure of Head Start centers during infectious disease outbreaks. Closure of centers in areas heavily impacted by COVID-19 is an important element of containing and limiting its spread.

Food flexibility: Head Start and Early Head Start programs may provide meals and snacks to children during center closures. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has waived its group setting meal requirement for closed schools and authorized special flexibilities for many states.
General Disaster Recovery Flexibilities ACF-IM-HS-19-01

National Head Start Association Resources

COVID-19 Destination Reopening Playbook, updated July 2020

Other Resources and Information:

White House/CDC/FEMA Guidance on Coronavirus, check for latest updates
Daily Situation Reports from the World Health Organization (WHO), situation reports
FNS Program Guidance on Human Pandemic Response- U.S. Department of Agriculture
Florida Department of Children and Families
Florida Department of Education, OEL
Florida Department of Health
The White House
Office of Child Care
Institute for Childhood Preparedness

• English coronavirus page https://www.childhoodpreparedness.org/corona
• Spanish coronavirus page https://www.childhoodpreparedness.org/covid19

Should I Close My Child Care Program? A Coronavirus Flowchart- Child Care Aware® of America
Map: Coronavirus and School Closures - Education Week
COVID-19 Response for Students Who are Homeless or With Experience in Foster Care - Hope Center
Forgivable Loans for Child Care Providers through the CARES Act: CLASP, added April 6, 2020 
Guidance for Childcare Programs that Remain Open, updated January 28, 2022
Guide to low-income internet options and affordable internet plans, updated October 14, 2022
Coronavirus (COVID-19) guide for parents, UNICEF, added May 20, 2020 
Resources available focusing on your health, Simply Healthcare, added May 21, 2020 
Telehealth and Online Mental Health Resources During COVID-19 Pandemic, Sunshine Behavioral Health, updated March 20, 2021
FDA Warnings about the Dangers of Hand Sanitizers With Methanol, updated October 12, 2021
Lifeline During Coronavirus Pandemic updated May 28, 2021 

Food Services & Distribution: 

USDA Announces Online Tool to Help Families Find Meals for Kids During COVID-19 Emergency, the Meals for Kids site finder. (added April 17, 2020)

CACFP During COVID-19: New USDA Flexibilities Offer Program Options: FRAC Food Research & Action Center (Webinar added April 6, 2020)

• Farm Share 
• Aunt Bertha
  
• United Way 2-1-1
  
• Free Meals for Kids
• Feeding South Florida 
• Respect for Life: Dade County Assistance with diapers and baby food
  
  

Free Resources from FHSA members to help provide support to Teachers and Families: 

Our Friends at TeachingStrategies®  has partnered with the founders of Baby Einstein and created a new app for parents and families of young children from birth through age 5. ParentPal™ is an all-in-one personal parenting coach, providing tools to take the guesswork out of parenting. To support parents and families at home during these challenging times, we are offering access to ParentPal™ at no cost through June 30, 2020, excited to extend this free access period until later this summer.  ParentPal™ provides families a daily roadmap to follow each day that promotes active, joyful engagement and developmentally appropriate progress through key developmental milestones from birth through age 3, with additional activities and support, such as Mighty Minutes® activities, through age 5. Click here to learn more. 

Our friends at Frogstreet are offering a Summer Program and Online Parent Resources. Frog Street Summer Program is a 4-week complete review of key literacy and math skills for young learners to prepare children for Kindergarten Readiness.  The instruction is fully English and Spanish. They are also providing Online Parent Resources which are complementary activities to help young learners ages 3-5 years old to use at home during school closures due to COVID-19.

Our friends at Lakeshore have over 1,000 FREE resources designed to support essential skills in math, language, science and social studies for pre-k through elementary grades. These resources are for parents as well as teachers needing to help their children learn at home. 

Our friends at Kaplan are offering hundreds of different FREE resources including how-to videos and directions to create fun and learning while in a center or at home! 

Our friends at Teachstone have developed a place of helpful Coronavirus resources such as blog posts, their CLASS® at Home guide, and other downloadable resources. They are committed to keeping this page updated with all of their latest resources so be sure to bookmark it.

Our friends at Nemours has also shared some additional resources for your use. Use this link to read their Q & A about the virus. The links below are materials teachers can use in their classrooms to promote excellent hygiene. These materials are part of Nemours Kids Health in the Classroom series, which can be handy in the class as well as sharing with parents and children of all ages. 

• K to Grade 2 • Personal Health Series
• Grades 3 to 5 • Personal Health Series
• Grades 6 to 8 • Personal Health Series
• Grades 9 to 12 • Personal Health Series

Our friends at Ready4K are offering its virtual parenting curriculum and family engagement tool, free for the rest of the 2019-2020 school year. Ready4K is an evidence-based whole-child curriculum that provides fun facts and at-home learning activity ideas for children ages 0-9, all delivered via text message. Implementation is quick and easy, so all of your families can start getting activities within a week.

Effective immediately we are implementing several changes to Ready4K to better serve families and partners during this difficult time.

• Additional support messages focused on COVID-19 topics, like hygiene, dealing with pandemic anxiety, and social connection in a virtual world
• Providing a communications system for sharing vital information with your families, including a dedicated messaging number and unlimited messaging through the end of the school year
• Enhanced support for families with more than one child with activities for each child based on age or grade level
• Child Nutrition Pandemic Planning Guidelines

Free Resources for Families and Teachers: 

• Talking Tip Video: Shared reading with infants — talking tip for early childhood teachers!
• Recorded Webinar with Trust for Learning and Highscope: Creating Inclusive and Equitable Classroom Experiences
• Recorded Webinar with Teachstone: Building Classroom Quality Through Language
• Sesame Street in Communities activities and free professional development 
• Recorded Webinar: How Colorado is providing PD for Family Child Care (FCC) providers
• April 14th Webinar: How Mississippi Head Start Association is focusing on early talk in PD
• Engaging resilience blog: How responsive caregiving lays the foundation for children to thrive
• Free Online Events and Activities for Kids at Home
• 25 Amazing Virtual Field Trips for Kids—Spring 2020
• The Devereux Center for Resilient Children (DCRC), focuses on resilience building and social and emotional development. Added July 21, 2020