OGDENSBURG -- U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand visited Ogdensburg Friday Aug. 7 to meet with local child care providers and call for critical support for the child care industry.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, nearly half of all childcare providers have had to shut their doors.

The industry faces a potential loss of more than 4 million child care slots, which would leave millions of families without access to essential child care services when normal work and life schedules resume.

Now, with communities across the state reopening, providers are struggling to implement unclear CDC guidelines.

Gillibrand stood with local leaders, including Ogdensburg Mayor Jeffrey M. Skelly and St. Lawrence Child Care Center Executive Director Bruce Stewart, to urge the CDC to work directly with state and local health departments and child care stakeholders to inform and implement critical guidance that will keep children, staff, and families safe.

Gillibrand also renewed her call for $50 billion in federal funding to stabilize child care providers and support their efforts to safely reopen.