Update Regarding Day Services
May 20th, 2020
Dear Clients, Families, and Caregivers:
We trust that you continue to be healthy and well in managing through the COVID 19 situation. It continues to be a challenging time for us all, though promising as there has been no community spread of COVID 19 on PEI.
Regarding the opening of day services, Community Connections is following the general guidelines and dates in the Renew PEI Together document.
https://www.princeedwardisland.ca/en/topic/renew-pei-together
The document has identified 3 phases / dates:
Phase 1 being May 1st, 2020
Phase 2 being May 22nd, 2020
Phase 3 being June 12th, 2020
As we move forward, some of the above dates may change, or some of the restrictions in the phases may be lifted earlier. At May 1st, Community Connections had started to schedule outdoor activities with clients on an individual basis or in groups of 2 to 3 clients.
Effective Monday May 25th, Community Connections will commence on a gradual basis to support clients within our buildings, keeping in mind that we will follow basic guidelines outlined for Phase 2 as follows:
- During this phase, no more than 5 people are to be in one room or designated client area within the building. Access to other spaces such as washrooms will be monitored.
- Physical distancing of staff and clients will be adhered to as much as possible and when possible.
- Interactions between the different client groups within the building will be limited as client groups will be supported primarily in their program areas. Outdoor activities will be within client groups in this phase.
- We will monitor and stagger drop-off and pick-up times as necessary to reduce the interactions of client groups and avoid interactions between different client groups as much as possible.
- We will monitor and increase personal hygiene practises such as handwashing throughout the day. We will monitor and increase cleaning and disinfection of rooms and frequently touched surfaces throughout the day.
- We will continue to monitor the health of our staff and clients for symptoms related to COVID 19 to maintain a safe environment for all program areas. We ask you as parents to use caution and keep client’s home if they are not feeling well.
Community Connections continue to have weekly discussion with our department (Department of Social Development and Housing) as we work through the above phases. We look forward to the ease of restrictions as we move through the phases and can increase the number of clients that we can support within our buildings for their day services.
Our initial focus with opening day services will be with clients residing with natural families and associate families. We look forward to welcoming our clients back to various programs within our day services operations. We look forward to their connection with their friends and our staff, as well as their participation in their accustomed activities. Our objective is to have our day services programs fully operational on June 15th and have our day services staff redirected back to day services on a full-time basis.
The staff that work with your sons and daughters will continue to stay in touch with you. Should you have any questions, please reach out to our staff. Your communication and comments are important to us. Continue to stay healthy and well. Take good care for now.
Regards,
Frank Costa