In Los Angeles, California, a social worker sits at his laptop doing digital check-ins with families while writing reports, but he is concerned that some of the children will fall through the cracks. “It’s child abuse and we always have to physically put eyes on our families and kids,” he explained, “There are ways to limit exposure, but it’s so tricky, and no one is really thinking about it.” With the Los Angeles United School District shutting down all of the schools to help slow the spread of COVID-19, many children are now in potentially dangerous situations.
Roughly 4,700 miles away in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Erin is the foster mother to a little 6-year-old boy named Levi. He was regularly able to see his birth mother every Saturday before the outbreak while also being able to bond with his eight siblings. “Unfortunately, with the current COVID-19 crisis, those visits have indefinitely been put on hold,” Erin told in her video submission. As a loving foster parent, Erin knows the importance of a child staying connected to his or her family while in foster care, but there are some challenges they are now facing.
The COVID-19 outbreak has been an epidemic that we have never seen the likes of before. Doctors, nurses and other medical professionals are working non-stop to treat patients and citizens are doing their best to practice social distancing in order to flatten the curve. Although the outbreak is still a major concern for the foreseeable future, the safety and wellbeing of some of America’s children is being unintentionally overlooked. According to the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), there are approximately 443,000 children in foster care on any given day.
Obstacle: Parents are Unable to Meet with Their Children in Foster Care
The goal of a foster care program is to eventually place the children back with their families. Parents are required to make certain life changes as well as make a certain amount of visits that are required by law to be supervised. During a pandemic and mass quarantine like the one we are faced with today, parents cannot visit their children, and foster parents cannot allow the parent to meet with their child for fear of spreading COVID-19. So, how do parents communicate with their children during this time?
“As many of us know in this time of need, what we’ve been doing is reaching out, FaceTiming more than ever, calling family members, and just being able to have that visual contact with each other as much as we can,” said Erin in her video submission. Like many other foster parents around the country, Erin is having to adapt to the current pandemic because a child like Levi’s needs can’t be put on hold even with the current state of the world. While many people are working from home and staying connected digitally, there are many people who lack the necessary resources.
Erin has recently been trying to use social media to encourage the community to help in any way they can. “For Levi’s mom specifically, and I’m sure this is not unique to her, many children and parents don’t have access to a cell phone that’s compatible with FaceTime or Skype,” Erin said. “So, there’s this clear need to continue that bond with families,” she continued, “if any of us could consider donating...so many of us have iPhones or old cell phones just sitting in boxes. The fact that we can rally and support these families, I implore everyone to help out where they can.”
Obstacle: Social Workers Lack Visibility into the Homes of Their Case Work
The social worker we spoke to in Los Angeles county is facing a different set of challenges while trying to check in with children who are potentially victims of child abuse or neglect. “With children being out of school, there are less eyes on children who can be victims of child abuse; whether it be teachers or school counselors,” he told us. And this should be a concern that’s on everybody’s mind. A recent report from DoSomething.org stated that there were nearly 3 million cases of child abuse in the United States.
There’s a current and immediate need to help the sick and prevent the spread of the virus, but we also need to think about the long-lasting effects. That same report from DoSomething.org states “about 80% of 21-year-olds who were abused as children met criteria for at least one psychological disorder.”, but social workers are currently struggling with the resources necessary to properly check in.
“Our job is to make sure we see our children on our caseload to ensure their safety,” said the social worker during our conversation. He continued, “Meeting with them and the parents or potentially relatives/foster parents if a child is placed with them. We can’t really assess or help the families unless we have that face-to-face contact with them,” and this is an important problem that desperately needs a solution. Part of ensuring the safety of children is being able to observe the living situation, which can be difficult even with the use of video calls.
“but not all workers have laptops and most of the typing and reporting aspects of the job can be done that way.”
To help, the Administration for Children and Families alerted local child welfare leaders across the country that in response to the pandemic, federal policy has been amended to allow agencies to immediately conduct routine monthly visits remotely, instead of face-to-face. Under the revised federal policy, social workers can conduct visits via videoconferencing when possible. But we still have to ask if the technology and access to the internet are available to the social workers and families.
Each social work case must be updated in the county’s computer system, but many social workers don’t have the equipment they need outside of the office. “In terms of, office work, yes, telecommuting can be done for those of us who have laptops like I do,” the social worker explained, “but not all workers have laptops and most of the typing and reporting aspects of the job can be done that way.”
The COVID-19 pandemic is impacting all of us, but we must work together to brainstorm solutions to help foster families, social workers, parents, and most importantly the children during this time. We’re in dire need of creative thinkers who can help ensure children are safe and have the opportunity to thrive as we work our way through this global crisis. We must act swiftly so these children and their families have what they need to have the future they deserve.
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