From The Township of South Orange Village Department of Health:
UPDATE ON CORONAVIRUS
March 26, 2020 Update
In partnership with the New Jersey Department of Health, the Township of South Orange Village Department of Health and the Office of Emergency Management continues daily monitoring of communicable diseases within our community, county and state. We are currently monitoring the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) and will continue to provide updates as they become available.
- Governor Phil Murphy signed Executive Order No. 110, directing all child care centers in New Jersey to certify by Friday, March 27, that they will solely serve as emergency child care centers for the children of essential workers. Child care centers that do not certify that they can and will exclusively care for these children of essential workers must close by Wednesday, April 1.
Among the directives, the Governor’s executive order directs:
- The Commissioner of the Department of Children and Families, in consultation with the Commissioners of the Departments of Education, Human Services, and Health, shall implement a plan permitting access to emergency child care services for the children of “essential persons.”
- In order to be designated as an Emergency Child Care Center, any person or organization, requesting permission to stay open or resume operations on or after April 1, 2020, shall submit the certification form to the Commissioner of Children and Families for approval by Friday, March 27, 2020. If the certification form demonstrates that it will provide child care services exclusively to “essential persons” during the school closure period, and that it will follow all applicable emergency child care standards, the Commissioner shall authorize it to remain open or resume operations as an emergency child care center.
- Any child care centers, including those as defined in this executive order, that fail to timely certify shall be closed to the public as of Wednesday, April 1, 2020, and remain closed through the school closure period. Centers shall receive notice of the Commissioner of Children and Families’ certification decision by Monday, March 30, 2020.
- Child care centers, for purposes of this order, include entities providing care on a regular basis for children aged 0-13, including licensed child care centers.
- For purposes of this order, essential persons shall include, but not be limited to:
o Health care workers, including staff working in health care facilities and in community-based services including home health and behavioral health;
o Law enforcement personnel, fire and emergency services personnel, and staff at correctional facilities; o Individuals employed at emergency child care centers operating on or after April 1, 2020;
o Staff working for entities that provide essential social services, including, but not limited to, group home and shelter staff;
o Essential government employees who are unable to work from home, including child protection services workers, child welfare workers, foster care workers, unemployment compensation processing staff, and public health employees;
o Certain critical workers, as defined by the Commissioner of DCF, at essential retail businesses, as defined in Executive Order No. 107 (2020) and subsequent Administrative Orders. The Commissioner of DCF shall have the authority to make changes to this list.
The order will take effect immediately.
For a copy of Executive Order No. 110, click here.
To access the form for Child Care Centers, click here.
