US Child Welfare Practice During the COVID Pandemic: An Exploratory Study of Working Conditions, Practice Experiences, and Concerns

This paper addresses the experiences of US child welfare professionals during the COVID pandemic. Using an online survey, we report on a convenience sample of 444 child welfare workers. The majority reported receiving adequate guidance on staying safe; 86.3% were given access to face masks. Workers...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of public child welfare 2024-05, Vol.18 (3), p.580-606
Main Authors: Douglas, Emily, Gushwa, Melinda, Hernandez, Ana, Ammerman, Marguerite
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
child maltreatment
child safety
Child welfare
child welfare workforce
Children
COVID
COVID-19
pandemic
Pandemics
Risk
Workers
Working conditions
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Summary:This paper addresses the experiences of US child welfare professionals during the COVID pandemic. Using an online survey, we report on a convenience sample of 444 child welfare workers. The majority reported receiving adequate guidance on staying safe; 86.3% were given access to face masks. Workers reported 75.8% of clients used masks; 10.7% reported contracting COVID through work. About 80% worried that child clients were more at-risk. Workers who felt the most supported and least at-risk were those with stay-at-home orders. Results are discussed in terms of supporting child welfare professionals during periods of crisis.
ISSN:1554-8732
1554-8740
DOI:10.1080/15548732.2023.2225427