Displaying 1 - 10 of 16
Abstract
Background and objectives
There is widespread concern that the COVID-19 pandemic has increased the incidence of child maltreatment. However, reports in the scientific literature documenting rates of child maltreatment during this period are scarce. This study was designed to explore whether the incidence of child maltreatment among patients presenting to a pediatric emergency department has increased during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Methods
We conducted a retrospective review of patients of all ages presenting to a pediatric Emergency Department trauma center, who also had a…
This paper asks the questions: What can we learn from the pandemic—and federal, state, and local governmental responses— about the cracks in the child welfare system? What lessons can be carried forward post-pandemic? It presents recommendations for protecting children through the pandemic and beyond.
Abstract
Background
Job loss resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic presents significant risk for child abuse. Protective factors, such as reframing coping, may mitigate the risk of job loss on child maltreatment.
Objective
The current study investigated factors associated with child maltreatment during the COVID-19 pandemic, including parental job loss, and whether cognitive reframing moderated associations between job loss and child maltreatment.
Method
A community sample of 342 parents (62% mothers) of 4- to 10-year-olds (M = 7.38, SD = 2.01…
Abstract
The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic brings new worries about the welfare of children, particularly those of families living in poverty and impacted other risk factors. These children will struggle more during the pandemic because of financial pressures and stress placed on parents, as well as their limited access to services and systems of support. In this commentary, we explain how current circumstances reinforce the need for systemic change within statutory child welfare systems and the benefits that would accrue by implementing a continuum of services that combine universal…
Abstract
Background
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2; COVID-19) has created an urgent need to identify child abuse and neglect (CAN) and efficiently allocate resources to improve the coordination of responses during a public health crisis.
Objective
To provide unique insights into the spatial and temporal distribution of CAN in relation to COVID-19 outcomes and identify areas where CAN has increased or decreased during the pandemic.
Participants
Children under 18 years old reported to the Los Angeles Police Department for CAN.
Setting
CAN…
Abstract
Background
Stress and compromised parenting often place children at risk of abuse and neglect. Child maltreatment has generally been viewed as a highly individualistic problem by focusing on stressors and parenting behaviors that impact individual families. However, because of the global coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), families across the world are experiencing a new range of stressors that threaten their health, safety, and economic well-being.
Objective
This study examined the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic in relation to parental perceived stress and child abuse…
Abstract
To combat the spread of COVID-19, many primary and secondary schools in the United States canceled classes and moved instruction online. This study examines an unexplored consequence of COVID-19 school closures: the broken link between child maltreatment victims and the number one source of reported maltreatment allegations—school personnel. Using current, county-level data from Florida, we estimate a counterfactual distribution of child maltreatment allegations for March and April 2020, the first two months in which Florida schools closed. While one would expect the financial,…
Abstract
Background
Training for new and existing child protection system (CPS) caseworkers is critical to developing and maintaining a competent workforce that effectively works towards safety, permanency, and wellbeing outcomes for children in the system. The COVID-19 pandemic required a shift to virtual training to continue training CPS professionals safely.
Objective
The purpose of our project was to determine if there were differences in learning outcomes between learners who completed training in the usual delivery methods (Pre-COVID) and the fully virtual delivery methods (…
Although COVID-19 mercifully seems to affect children less severely than adults, children are far from immune from the impacts of the virus. Public health orders closing schools and businesses, cancelling events, and keeping children at home have been disruptive and distressing to many children and families. But for children who rely on government entities for protection, care, custody, and services, the effects of the public health orders can be devastating. COVID-19 and the response to it has serious implications for the safety, well-being, and development of these vulnerable children…
This article from the World Economic Forum describes the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on children in immigration detention in the United States. It calls on the US government to take the following six immediate actions to stop the violence against migrant children and families and to protect them from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
1. The current administration must immediately release all migrants, including children and families, detained in US custody to safe and sanitary housing.
2. Children and family members who are released…