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In this opinion piece, Anne Smith, Global Director of Changing the Way We Care, calls for an increase in funding for international humanitarian and development assistance in order to support children who have lost a parent to COVID-19 to stay with their families. "We cannot let a generation of children be pushed out of families and into residential care because it's a quick fix for worsening poverty or because their primary caregivers are dying from disease. The lives of millions of children hang in the balance," says Smith. "When families experience a crisis, we find ways to keep them…
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 …
"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. "The latest volume of reports from the Child Care Law Reporting Project contains a number of reports detailing the impact of the pandemic on them."
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.
"As an autistic care leaver, the hardest part of dealing with the Covid pandemic has been the neglect and lack of support I have experienced at my accommodation," writes Kerrie Portman in the Guardian. "When lockdown began, nearly all my university classmates went back to live with their families. But I don’t have the emotional support or safety net of a family. I didn’t see anyone I knew for 13 weeks."
Portman described becoming ill while staying in accommodation. "Though I told staff at my accommodation and my local authority, nobody got in touch to see if I needed anything. I had…
In this blog post for the Parents, Families & Allies Network (PFAN), Andy Bilson emeritus professor of social work and Taliah Drayak, parent with lived experience of child protection and parent advocate and founder of Scots Mums Guide to Safeguarding and Child Protection, write that "the current approach of children’s social care is too often to individualise problems and to search for blame through child protection investigations." The article argues that "we can't afford child protection" - there is a need for a fundamental shift, particularly in light of the COVID-…
"The Covid-19 pandemic and the resulting restrictions have had a particularly heavy impact on vulnerable and marginalised children, none more so than those who require the protection of the State through the child care courts," says the Irish Times in this opinion piece. The article describes the impact of the crisis on vulnerable children and their families, including the impact on face-to-face contact between children in care and their parents, the strain on parents already struggling with addiction or mental health issues, and the delivery of services for families.
"The State…
In this opinion piece for the Scotsman, Lorraine Moore, Manager of the Edinburgh-based HUB for SUCCESS, expressed concern over the implications of COVID-19 on children in care and care-experienced young people. "I worry that the pandemic could create a lost generation by reducing vulnerable youngsters’ contact with the teachers who so often inspire them to consider further and higher education as a passport to a different life," writes Moore.
Of the HUB for SUCCESS program, which addresses the poor educational outcomes for care-experienced people, Moore writes: "I believe the…
This article from Child Rights International Network (CRIN) outlines some of the risks faced by children in residential care institutions during the COVID-19 pandemic and how governments should be responding during – and after – this pandemic. It explores how the pandemic might lead to greater vulnerability for children and risk of family separation and institutionalization of children due to the death of a parent or increased poverty, poor health, family stress, domestic violence, and other reasons.
The article also argues that this crisis could present a "a unique…
In this joint statement, Karin Hulshof, UNICEF Regional Director East Asia and Pacific and Maalla M'jid, Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children express their support for the Joint Statement of the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Social Welfare and Development – Mitigating impacts of COVID-19 on vulnerable groups in ASEAN, which highlights the vulnerability of children, the need to reach them with both social…