"They Were There to Help": Shifting Roles of Childcare Providers throughout the Pandemic

Background. The COVID-19 pandemic ushered in unprecedented economic and public health crises but also led to policy innovations designed to curb the spread of the pandemic and support vulnerable families. Through the CARES Act and American Rescue Plan, the federal government funded the out-of-school time (OST) sector to support remote learning, redress pandemic-related learning loss, and meet students’ emerging socio-emotional needs. The pandemic also revealed new material needs of caregivers and communities—prompting a shift in the role and scope of OST supports (school-aged childcare, summer programs, and youth development programs). Given these shifts, the present study asks, how parent caregivers experienced the pandemic and various supports from out-of-school time programs and school-aged childcare during this crisis? What role did the OST sector play in mediating families’ connections to community resources and public assistance programs? How did OST providers ease administrative burdens for families seeking resources?

Method. We draw on in-depth interviews with a sample of 49 parent caregivers of school-aged children across four cities between November 2022 and September 2023. Participants were recruited through out-of-school time coordinating entities and school-aged childcare programs. They responded to emails and social media flyers about the study. Interviews were an hour long on average and interviewees received gift cards for participating in the study. Interview questions probed how parent caregivers handled childcare throughout the pandemic and the extent to which they experienced economic hardship and food insecurity. They described the kinds of resources they received and burdens involved in accessing resources from the OST sector, school system, and social service agencies during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Results. Interviewees described the COVID-19 pandemic as a life-altering disruptor that shifted work, work schedules, household resources, and care needs. Many caregivers reported financial hardship during the pandemic due to job loss, reduced work hours, or job changes and they reported food insecurity and new material needs. Interviewees also highlighted the new ways school-aged childcare providers directly supported their families and served as important connectors to new resources. This included shifting roles to provide meals to families and reducing the learning and compliance cost of participation in nutrition assistance programs and other community resources that helped to simplify families’ access and participation in government and nongovernment programs.

Conclusions and Implications. Findings from this study illustrate how shifts in the roles of OST sector and new access to funding and services during the pandemic shaped what caregivers experienced during a time of economic, social, and personal crisis. In addition to highlighting the emergent post-pandemic needs of parent caregivers and helping to clarify the role that school-aged childcare programs played in supporting families during the crisis, the paper elaborates on how service access can be enhanced through easing program requirements and empowering community actors to serve as mediators of access.