With schools closed and employers allowing remote work, many of us don't require child care to ensure our kids are safe because we are at home with them. (Keeping them entertained is another story, especially if you're trying to work and help them learn and stay busy. We've got some resources  here and  here and  here and more to come.)

But others with essential jobs - working in hospitals, clinics, grocery stores, drug stores and in law enforcement - must leave the house to go to work everyday. Some of them need child care for their kids, but many child care centers are shut down because of the pandemic.

Child Care Services Association, a North Carolina-based group that works to ensure affordable, accessible, high quality child care for all, is here to help.

It has two resources for families - a toll free number that will link them up to specialists who can help them find child care that's available in their area.

It's also launched on Monday a scholarship fund to help child care programs and families.

"We're saying to families, if you don't have to go to work and you can work from home, stay home with your child," said Marsha Basloe, the association's president. "But if you are a parent who really provides a necessary service and you've got to be at work ... we have a database."

Here are the details via the association:

If you are a parent who provides necessary services to, or cares for, members of our communities and your child care has fallen through or is unavailable because of COVID-19 closures, call 888-600-1685 to be connected with the right fit for you and your child.

At this time, representatives are available to assist families from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., weekdays. Care options are for parents whose typical child care arrangements are unavailable due to school or child care closings and who cannot access other care. Options are available for infants up to children age 12.

Basloe said the phone line has been busy. The specialists, who are working from home, are linking families up with licensed child care and family child care programs across North Carolina.

"North Carolina is known for having licensed care, and we want health and safety regulations followed," she said. "And right now, we really want health and safety regulations followed."

The specialists are working with families based on their specific needs for location and cost. They include families who may receive a child care subsidy.

"We're trying to match programs with people," Basloe said.

An order for people to "stay at home" goes into effect on Thursday morning in Charlotte as well as other municipalities and the unincorporated areas of Mecklenburg County, officials announced Tuesday afternoon.

The "stay at home" order - prompted by the spread of COVID-19 locally - is similar to the "shelter in place" orders issued in other jurisdictions. Mecklenburg County's order will be in effect for the next three weeks, starting 8 a.m., March 26, County Manager Dena Diorio said.

Public and private gatherings of more than 10 people are banned under Mecklenburg's order, superseding a prior directive that limited gatherings to 50 individuals. Certain businesses - grocery stores and pharmacies, for example - are permitted to stay open. The proclamation permits "leaving the home for essential activities," which includes seeking medical care or going to care for a friend or loved one.

As we all come to terms with the new reality of social distancing and a global pandemic, the potential health risks for youth and staff in secure custody settings is cause for concern. Staff in a New York City juvenile detention center have already  tested positive for COVID-19. The North Carolina Department of Public Safety has  s uspended visitation and volunteer activities at all juvenile justice facilities. Currently legal visits for juveniles in secure custody are still allowed. 

These heightened concerns about secure confinement of youth raise questions about whether and how ongoing secure custody hearings can happen in our current environment and what alternatives exist to both preserve public safety and prevent use of the congregate juvenile detention setting as much as possible.  This blog will discuss when hearings on continued secure custody must be held, even in light of the emergency directive; important considerations if those hearings are conducted remotely; and the range of release options available to the court.

Hearings on Continued Secure Custody Should Be Held Unless Waived by the Juvenile

  Emergency Directive 1 ordered by Chief Justice Beasley on March 13, 2020 and effective March 16th requires rescheduling of district court proceedings unless, among other things, the proceeding is necessary to preserve the right to due process of law. Hearings on the need for continued secure custody are critical for the preservation of due process of law. 

The North Carolina Court of Appeals has clearly held that "[a]lthough juvenile proceedings are not criminal prosecutions, due process rights attach when the violation complained of places the juvenile in danger of confinement,"  In the Matter of Reginald Lee Wade, Juvenile 67 N.C.App. 708 (1984). The decision to continue a juvenile in secure custody is precisely about the loss of liberty resulting in confinement. These hearings are therefore necessary to preserve the right to due process of law as required by the emergency directive.....