"There are calls for foster carers to be prioritised for vaccines as more families are needed to take emergency foster children during the pandemic," says this article from Sky News.

"The pandemic has had an adverse impact on all children. That has been more severe for those with special needs but an almost forgotten group of especially vulnerable children are those who experience abuse and neglect," says this Irish Times in this editorial. 

"As the COVID-19 pandemic surges into its second year, advocates and experts say children with special needs and their families are seeing some of the toughest impacts," says this article from Global News.

The COVID-19 pandemic "has heightened challenges for multigenerational caregivers, many of whom are vulnerable to the virus while taking care of children," says this article from USA Today. "One in four children living with grandparents are Black, according to Annie E. Casey Foundation KidsCount data using U.S. Census figures."

During the COVID-19 pandemic, life in residential facilities for people with disabilities in South Korea has become even more precarious, if not deadly, said Lee Jung-ha, who heads the advocacy group Padosan, in an interview for this article from Hankyoreh.

"The Supreme Court [of India] on Tuesday directed for repatriation of children lodged in Children Protection Homes in eight states back to their families to take place as per provisions of the Juvenile Justice Act," says this article from LiveLaw.

According to this article from the Times of India, the NGO Childline has reported that the number of cases of violence against children in the district of Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu, India have gone up, which advocates attribute to the lockdown measures put in place to reduce the spread of the Coronavirus.

This article from ABC News describes some of the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on children in foster care in the United States.

According to Northern Ireland's health minister, there has been an increase in the number of children referred to social services since last year, as well as an increase in children on the child protection register and more children in care, says this article from BBC News.

In this article for the Guardian, Krish Kandiah argues that "any young person ready to make the step to leave home needs the safety net of a family they belong to" and calls for greater supports for young people aging out of care, particularly in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdown restrictions put in place.