It’s unpresented. Completely unfamiliar terrain. It’s a pandemic. The Corona virus or COVID-19 has done the unthinkable. It has shut down the country.
Lost in the wave are the worlds of foster care and adoption.
In a new world where only workers deemed essential are absolved of the stay at home, an argument can be made that workers on the frontline of foster care are some of the most essential workers in the nation. Caseworkers, judges, CASAs, lawyers, foster parents, biological parents and most importantly, the kids, have all been impacted by the fast spreading virus.
The aim of my Editor takeover Is simply to list the different services and people impacted and give you some real-world examples of what it is doing to foster care in this country. I don’t profess to be a virus expert, nor am I an oracle with the clairvoyance to predict what will happen next. Just a concerned member of the foster care community who would like to keep you in the loop as to what’s happening out there. With that in mind, let’s take a look at all the areas feeling the pressure of COVID-19. You should know that the news isn’t all bleak. Much like the kids who populate the system, the system adapts and adjusts to the changing world around it.
The obvious place to start is the start for most kids in care; the introduction to care. When a child enters care, be it by neglect or abuse, the first responders or frontline caseworkers become a child’s guide into the system. With the virus running rapid in some places, these people risk their health on every call. Reports have been that there was no stall in their activity. Thousands of workers and officers continued their duty, putting themselves in harms way.
Next is the court and placement systems. Working with skeleton crews or shut down completely, this area of care is responsible for placing a youth in a traditional foster home, group home or detention center. Hindering progress even further, many foster homes, out of concern for the health of their homes, aren’t taking new placements.
Many family courts are shuttered. Visitations suspended. Adoptions waiting in limbo.
Foster families scramble to adjust to the new normal. A foster parent’s primary responsibility is the health and safety of the children in their care. COVID-19 is testing the limits of that responsibility. Foster parents and the like should be commended for their efforts during this unprecedented pandemic.
This whole situation is complicated, unpredictable. It seems bleak, like there is no end in sight. But the foster care system continues to adapt. There are bright spots.
Adoptions have started being finalized via the internet. New York has far fewer kids in care than ever before, this has eased the strain of agencies in the city with more COVID-19 cases than anywhere else. Cases of the viruses are beginning to show signs of a decrease in number.
On a personal note: I’d like to think of this as an opportunity, an opportunity for the brightest minds among us to get to work. These brilliant advocates and decision makers find themselves with something they haven’t had in years; time to think. My hope is that these folks will have some time to brainstorm new ideas to take foster care through the next era of the system. Here’s to hoping this virus runs its course or a vaccine is created to end this national nightmare. Stay safe, stay home if you can, stay protected if you have to be out there.
There’s no telling how much longer the system will have to endure this strain. With so many dysfunctional families stuck together for so long, there’s a real possibility that there could be an influx of new abuse cases leading to more kids in care. Further inundating a system fighting to stay streamlined.
Hard to stay positive in times like this. I try to remind myself that the foster care system is made of people. Most are well intentioned individual with a life’s mission to care for America’s children. They will stay focused on addressing issues as they arise. They will continue to find innovative ways to do their jobs.
Owner/Editor - Chris Chmielewski