Child protective services during COVID-19 and doubly marginalized children: International perspectives.

BACKGROUND: Alongside deficits in children's wellbeing, the COVID-19 pandemic has created an elevated risk for child maltreatment and challenges for child protective services worldwide. Therefore, some children might be doubly marginalized, as prior inequalities become exacerbated and new risk factors arise. OBJECTIVE: To provide initial insight into international researchers' identification of children who might have been overlooked or excluded from services during the pandemic. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: This study was part of an international collaboration involving researchers from Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Israel, South Africa, Uganda, the UK and the USA. Researchers from each country provided a written narrative in response to the three research questions in focus, which integrated the available data from their countries. METHOD: Three main questions were explored: 1) Who are the children that were doubly marginalized? 2) What possible mechanisms may be at the root? and 3) In what ways were children doubly marginalized? The international scholars provided information regarding the three questions. A thematic analysis was employed using the intersectional theoretical framework to highlight the impact of children's various identities. RESULTS: The analysis yielded three domains: (1) five categories of doubly marginalized children at increased risk of maltreatment, (2) mechanisms of neglect consisting of unplanned, discriminatory and inadequate actions, and (3) children were doubly marginalized through exclusion in policy and practice and the challenges faced by belonging to vulnerable groups. CONCLUSION: The COVID-19 pandemic can be used as a case study to illustrate the protection of children from maltreatment during worldwide crises. Findings generated the understanding that child protective systems worldwide must adhere to an intersectionality framework to protect all children and promote quality child protection services.

'When will I be free': Lessons from COVID-19 for Child Protection in South Africa.

BACKGROUND: COVID-19 has highlighted and amplified structural inequalities; drawing attention to issues of racism, poverty, xenophobia as well as arguably ineffective government policies and procedures. In South Africa, the pandemic and the resultant national lockdown have highlighted the shortcomings in the protection and care of children. Children in alternative care are particularly at risk as a result of disrupted and uncoordinated service delivery. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to explore the experiences and impact of the pandemic and the resulting social isolation on the wellbeing and protection of children living in a residential care facility. METHODS AND PARTICIPANTS: We used qualitative, participatory approaches - specifically draw-and-write methods - to engage with 32 children (average age = 13.5 years) living in a residential care facility in Gauteng. FINDINGS: Children in care demonstrated an awareness of the socio-economic difficulties facing communities in South Africa, and shared deep concerns about the safety, well-being and welfare of parents and siblings. Although they expressed frustration at the lack of contact with family members, they acknowledged the resources they had access to in a residential care facility, which enabled them to cope and which ensured their safety. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: We focus our discussion on the necessity of a systemic response to child welfare, including a coordinated approach by policy makers, government departments and child welfare systems to address the structural factors at the root of inequality and inadequate, unacceptable care. This response is essential not only during COVID-19 but also in pre- and post-pandemic context.

Child safety, protection, and safeguarding in the time of COVID-19 in Great Britain: Proposing a conceptual framework.

BACKGROUND: Great Britain has the highest coronavirus death rate in Europe. While the pandemic clearly poses a risk to the lives and wellbeing of vulnerable groups, necessary public health measures taken to delay or limit the spread of the virus have led to distinctive challenges for prevention, family support, court processes, placement and alternative care. The pandemic has also come about at a time when statutory changes to partnerships have led to a reduction in the importance of educational professional representation in the new formulation in England and Wales. OBJECTIVES: In this discussion paper, we propose a novel and pragmatic conceptual framework during this challenging time. PARTICIPANTS: We consulted with 8 education professionals and 4 field-based student social workers. SETTING: Bodies responsible for safeguarding have been working quickly to develop new approaches to fulfilling their responsibilities, for example through online home visits and case conferences. However, some communities have been highlighted as experiencing particular challenges because of the pandemic and its impacts. Protection of vulnerable children is increasingly dependent on individualised - and often pathologising - practice with a lack of emphasis on the importance of the social. Holistic consideration of the child is side-lined. RESULTS: Our framework comprises two phases: pandemic and aspirational. CONCLUSION: The framework illuminates the importance of interconnected sectors and multi-agency working, the need for resilient and adaptable support systems, and the need to promote the importance of children's rights and voices to be heard above the noise of the pandemic.