The Invisible Children of the COVID-19 Pandemic

By: Caitlin Cooke

April is Child Abuse Prevention Month. This is a time for reflection and a time to educate one another about the signs of child abuse and how to prevent it. Parents, educators, and advocates come together across the nation to support families and children with outreach programs and activities that offer tools for identifying abuse and neglect and techniques for how to mitigate stressors that may lead to child abuse. This year it is incredibly important for communities to come together to raise awareness as child abuse will steadily increase because of the COVID-19 Global Pandemic.

Calls to Child Abuse Hotlines are Rapidly Declining

In the days following school shutdowns and “Stay-At-Home” Orders, states across the nation from Pennsylvania to Texas have seen sharp decreases in the number of suspected cases of child abuse being reported to the states’ abuse hotlines. On the surface these statistics appear to suggest that the abuse of children has drastically decreased the months following the onset of the pandemic and the stay-at-home suggestions. However, advocates for children welfare warn that this surface change in statistics does not actually reflect a decrease in the number of children being neglected or abused following the societal reeling from the deadly viral pandemic; in fact, the opposite is likely true. “Right now, we have a lot of invisible kids that are at great risk,” said Scott Hollander, Executive Director of KidsVoice, a Pittsburgh-based nonprofit that represents nearly 3,000 children involved in the child welfare system. The decrease in reporting suggest that children who are being abused are not being ignored rather than protected by a lack of access people who are most likely to take action in a case of abuse.

“This is a dangerous time for children,” Cathleen Palm, Founder and Executive Director of the Center for Children’s Justice in Berks County.

COVID-19 “social distancing” guidelines are inadvertently causing vulnerable children to go unseen by mandated reporters such as teachers and children welfare agency caseworkers.

In Pennsylvania alone, nearly 84% of child abuse reports made to the statewide child abuse hotline, ChildLine, came from mandated reporters in the year 2018. School employees made the bulk of these reports followed by caseworkers and employees in health-care facilities. While caseworkers can still conduct meetings with children virtually, many signs of abuse will likely fall under the radar in a virtual environment. Accordingly, a child who feels that they will be overheard by a family member will not share the full truth of what is happening in their home to their caseworker, and there is no way to ensure privacy for children when their abusers are what gives them access to technology. At the most basic level, it is difficult to see physical signs of abuse over a small laptop camera projection.  It goes without saying that these video calls do not offer the full picture when it comes to the condition of the home.

“There are no alternate methods for child abuse investigations – you have to see the child, and if the child is verbal, ask him or her questions,” said Patrick Crimmins, Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. Caseworkers deciding whether to risk exposure to COVID-19 in order to conduct an in person family visit should “balance the safety of children while simultaneously taking efforts to reduce possible health risks to those children, their families and caretakers, and themselves,” according to guidance from the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. This goes along with the potential risk of passing on a possible COVID-19 infection to the family if the case worker is infected in an invisible way.

Although this drop in reported cases is concerning, it is not something that child welfare workers are seeing for the first time. The trend in reduced reporting of incidents go up during the summer when schools are out as well as during school days when there are fewer teachers and day care workers watching over these children. Consequently, and quite unfortunately, the Child welfare workers are preparing themselves for a large influx of cases when social distancing guidelines are lifted. Likely, the influx will be even larger than what they encounter after the schools come back into session due to the unprecedented length of time that the children are isolated with their neglecters and abusers.

Child Abuse Will Increase During Times of Isolation and Quarantines

Another statistical foreshadowing is that the instances of child abuse will actually rise during this period of isolation, economic instability, and international anxiety.

Social distancing orders are necessary in order to flatten the curve of COVID-19 and preserve medical equipment, but the isolation comes with a “ripple effect not directly related to medical illness,” said Laurie Carter, M.D., Pediatric Hospitalist at Community Children’s in Missoula. The nation is seeing unprecedented increases in unemployment, food and financial insecurity, and deteriorating physical and mental health. “If past experience can predict the future, this will likely be followed by an increase in child abuse.”

So now not only will their abuse will go unreported, children will be imprisoned in a home where their abusers have access to them at all times and use this time to vent their own societal troubles caused by COVID-19.

We’re going to see some deaths in our caseloads,” a Florida social worker who wrote of her developmentally disabled clients.

During the recession that lasted from 2007 to 2009, the rate of abusive head trauma (“shaken baby syndrome”) increased by 65% in the three years during economic downturn versus the three years before the recession. Already in states that have been hit the hardest by COVID-19 there has been a noted increase in child abuse directly related to the stress of social distancing and unemployment. On March 20, 2020 Cook Children’s Medical Center in Fort Worth Texas reported seven cases of severe child abuse, with two deaths in one week. Cook Children’s Medical Center would normally see these many cases over the course of a month and a total of six deaths a year from child abuse.

Families are feeling as if everything is out of their control and the pressure is continuing to rise. There is currently no definitive end to the social distancing guidelines and the uncertainty they bring. “This does not bode well for our children, and we are seeing severe cases as a result,” said Tammy King, Executive Director for the Children’s Advocacy Center of Johnson County.

What Can We Do?

Although many of us are feeling helpless and overwhelmed there are ways in which we can help protect these vulnerable children. If you hear crying or screaming, or if you see marks or injuries that seem out of the ordinary, contact your local child abuse hotline or any agency working with children immediately. Additionally, child welfare advocates suggest that people go online and become mandated reporters of child abuse. This is something very easy for anyone to do at home and has the potential to save countless children.

Further, this is a time for all of us as a nation to come together and support one another in new and creative ways. Check in with your friends and neighbors and offer a listening ear. If you are in a position to do so, support your communities’ food scarcity and financial security by donating to local charities and food banks. This might not be a direct way to protect the children of our society but it is a way to ensure that the troubles that come with COVID-19 will end sooner and have a lesser impact on our communities than it would otherwise. The sooner we can go back to what has been normal to us, the sooner we can begin to once again protect the children.

Finally, If you are a parent struggling because of the COVID-19 pandemic, know that you are not alone, and it is valid to feel overwhelmed. If you feel at a loss, The American Academy of Pediatrics has published parenting tips in their HealthyChildren.org website to encourage making positive and healthy relations with your children during this unprecedented time.

Sources:

DHS Concerned About Drop in Child Abuse Calls, Still Investigating During COVID-1

Child Abuse May Rise Due to COVID-19 Quarantine

Spike in Child Abuse Seen Amid COVID-19 Crisis

Adults Stressed by Coronavirus Assaulted Six Children, Fort Worth Hospital Says

Vulnerable Children at Greater Risk of Abuse, Neglect as Coronavirus Isolates Families

Domestic Violence and Child Abuse Will Rise During Quarantines. So Will Neglect of At-Risk People, Social Workers Say.

Out of Sight, Child Abuse in Texas Thought to be on the Rise

NATIONAL CHILD ABUSE PREVENTION MONTH – APRIL

Calls to Pa.’s Child-abuse Hotline Fell Sharply During First Weeks of the Coronavirus. Here’s Why that’s Bad News.

Doctor Warns of Child Abuse Risks During Pandemic, Economic Downturn

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Childwelfare.gov

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