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This article from the Conversation puts a spotlight on the situation of young people aging out of the child welfare system in Ontario, Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic. "For most of these young people, turning 18 coincides with an abrupt withdrawal of their social supports as they simultaneously have to secure affordable housing, manage finances and finish high school," says the article. "Youth exiting the child welfare system are …
This opinion piece from The Hill discusses the "the rising wave of children who will enter the foster system" as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdowns put in place to curb its spread. "Critical institutions, like schools, social services and community programs, that served as some kids’ only safety net no longer have the ability to catch them. And thousands of children locked at home with abusive, neglectful or unstable caregivers will invariably end up swept into the system," says the author.
"The increased stress we're seeing in families due to the virus can increase children's risk of abuse at the hands of their loved ones," says this article from CNN. Furthermore, "children who are being abused or neglected are more likely to go unnoticed without teachers and others to help them." The article offers advice for talking with children, coping with stress, and reaching out and maintaining community.
In this piece for the Chronicle of Social Change, Fred Wulczyn - a senior research fellow at Chapin Hall and the director of its Center for State Child Welfare Data - discusses the potential long-term impacts of the COVID-19 crisis on the U.S. child welfare system. "The list of concerns starts with mortality, and whether children lose one or both of their parents. More pernicious over the longer term is the economic impact the virus is having, and the strain those changes induce in already fragile families," says Wulczyn. The piece also explores "how we prepare…
In this opinion piece for The Hill, Susan N. Dreyfus, president and CEO of the Alliance for Strong Families and Communities, calls on the U.S. government to provide support to the nation's child welfare system, "which has the critical responsibility of keeping our families strong and intact so that parents can care for their children safely at home."