San Francisco's Recreation and Park Department will expand its free emergency child care hours, which provides child care for low-income families affected by the novel coronavirus, in order to support health care workers, city leaders said Friday.
The expanded hours start on Monday at all 35 Recreation and Park Department sites from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. and are meant to assist healthcare workers who need childcare during the statewide shelter-in-place order but typically work 12-hour shifts.
In addition to the expanded hours, the city will also begin providing childcare to children of Disaster Service Workers, essential Department of Public Health employees, and San Francisco Community Clinic Consortium.
"Front line health care and essential employees like doctors and nurses need to have childcare that they can rely on as they focus on responding to COVID-19," Mayor London Breed said in a statement.
"Essential workers, including disaster service workers are employees at our city's clinics, need to be able to respond to this public health emergency without worrying about accessing and paying for childcare. I want to thank the Recreation and Park Department and the Department of Children, Youth, and their Families for coming together to provide this service for our city," she said.
