Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announces Frontline Child Care portal
AUSTIN - Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced the state's new Frontline Child Care portal to connect essential workers with child care.
Essential workers like doctors, nurses, and grocery store employees who do not have other options during the COVID-19 pandemic will be able to go to the online portal to find child care and other options.
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The website offers information for frontline employees like eligibility for financial assistance to cover child care costs; employers whose employees need child care; and child care providers who would like to offer child care to frontline workers.
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The new site, which integrates a mapping portal, was built by the Texas Frontline Child Care Task Force led by Elaine Mendoza of the Supply Chain Strike Force, the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC), the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC), the Texas Education Agency (TEA), and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB).
More information is available on the state's new Frontline Child Care website, https://frontlinechildcare.texas.gov/.
"We have a duty to support Texas health care workers and other essential employees as they work on the front lines of the COVID-19 response," said Gov. Abbott. "For essential workers with young children who don’t have other options, that means providing safe, regulated, and accessible child care. The Frontline Child Care Website will strengthen our child care capacity across the state, allowing our essential workers to continue their work to keep us safe and provide the critical services that Texans depend on. There is nothing more powerful than Texans helping Texans, and I want to thank child care workers across the state for stepping up to support our essential workers during these challenging times."
Following the announcement of the portal, Stephanie Rubin, CEO of Texans Care for Children and a member of the Governor's Frontline Child Care Task Force, issued the following statement: "We appreciate the efforts by the Governor, the staff of the Texas Workforce Commission, and other Texas officials and stakeholders who worked so hard to launch this project on such a short timeline. While it's best for children to stay home during this pandemic if possible, we encourage nurses, H-E-B cashiers, and other frontline Texans to take advantage of the new website if they do not have a reliable option for their children during their workday."