Emergency care in daycare centres and after-school care centres from next week

Following the resolution of the Fourth Civil Protection Act (amendment to the Infection Protection Act), child daycare facilities, child daycare and after-school care at primary schools in the city of Chemnitz will be closed from Monday, 26 April 2021.

The legal requirements of the federal law prohibit the operation of child daycare facilities with an incidence of over 165 for three consecutive days from the day after next. Emergency care can be organised.

If the incidence is below 165 , crèches and kindergartens, including curative day care centres, can remain open in restricted regular operation with fixed groups and caregivers. The same applies to after-school care centres. Day care centres will operate as normal.

The City of Chemnitz has made the following stipulations for the implementation of emergency care in child daycare facilities, child daycare and after-school care centres from 26 April 2021:

Emergency care will only be provided if

1. both legal guardians or the sole legal guardian or, in cases of contact arrangements, the legal guardian currently making the application is working in system-relevant occupational groups (case group 1, see link to SMK) and is prevented from caring for the child due to work or business reasons.

2. only one of the legal guardians works in system-relevant occupational groups (case group 2, see link to SMK) in accordance with Appendix 2 and is prevented from caring for the child for work or business reasons and care cannot be provided by another legal guardian, or

3. the youth welfare office determines the need for emergency care due to an otherwise imminent risk to the child's welfare.

The comprehensive overview of the system-relevant professions and the required form for emergency care can be found at www.coronavirus.sachsen.de/eltern-lehrkraefte-erzieher-schueler.

(The child day care facility must keep the original form until the end of 6 September 2021 and then destroy it immediately).

The forms already available in the facilities from the period of emergency care from 29 March 2021 to 1 April 2021 for eligibility remain valid, provided that the information is still correct.

Specifications for emergency care:

• Children are cared for in fixed groups in their daycare centres during normal opening hours. The separation of crèche and kindergarten age care is cancelled. The management of the centre decides on the group composition.
  
• Holidays, illness, working from home, etc. of parents do not mean that the emergency care for the child may not be used.
  
• Restrictions on opening hours are to be avoided wherever possible in order to enable the group of people entitled to the service to carry out their professional activities without restriction.
  
• Children are cared for in the daycare centres during normal opening hours if there is an entitlement to emergency care.
  
• Emergency care in the day care centre takes place during regular day care hours.
  
• Due to the small class sizes at special schools, there is generally no need for alternating lessons and therefore no need for emergency care; instead, continuous lessons can be offered even if the incidence exceeds 165.
  
• During the emergency care period, all children are looked after in the after-school care centre of the primary school they attend.
  
• Parents can indicate the required care time by means of a change notification and pay the corresponding parental contribution for the period of emergency care. Any excess parental contributions paid will be offset.
  
• The facilities organise the drop-off and pick-up situation according to the spatial requirements. Meetings between parents/authorised representatives are to be avoided. Parents/authorised representatives must wear a face mask when dropping off and picking up children.
  
• When in the day-care centre and on the outside grounds, all persons outside the centre must wear a face covering. Supervised children are generally exempt from wearing a face covering. Educational staff are obliged to wear a face covering when the minimum distance between educators and persons from outside the daycare centre is not observed.
  
• New children can only be acclimatised if they are entitled to emergency care.
  
• The infection protection measures in the facilities will be maintained. Daycare centres and schools may only be entered by persons who present proof from a body responsible for taking the test or a qualified self-declaration confirming that they are not infected. This proof must not be older than 72 hours. This does not apply to children of nursery and kindergarten age. Accompanying persons who bring or collect the children from the outdoor area of the centre are also not required to provide proof.
  
• The composition of the groups must be documented daily so that contact tracing can be presented to the public health department immediately.
  
• If a positive case (child or carer) becomes known, the head of the facility will ban the parents from entering the facility and ensure that the children are collected. The use of public transport should be avoided.
  
• If a positive case of a child attending school and after-school care centre becomes known, coordination between the school and after-school care centre management is mandatory.
  
• Children from primary schools who only attend emergency after-school care and not school must be tested at the after-school care centre. For this purpose, the test kits must be handed over to the after-school care centres by the school and the parents must hand in the consent forms at the after-school care centre.
  
• Only the health authority decides on the closure of facilities or partial closure of facilities. If the operation of a facility is jeopardised due to a lack of staff, the youth welfare office/daycare centre department must be informed immediately.
  
• The centre shall ensure that parents are informed of the measures taken (closure, partial closure, opening of the centre). If positive cases occur or quarantine measures are established, transparent information will be provided in compliance with data protection regulations.
  
• The parental contribution for children in emergency care is charged for the entire month, regardless of the actual utilisation of all care days.
  
• The parental contribution for children who are not allowed to use emergency care is waived for the period of emergency care.
  
• Should parents withdraw their entitlement to emergency childcare, they must notify the Parental Fees Department at the Youth Welfare Office.