In the years after the Great Recession, data on children and families in America showed steady improvement in economic well-being, education and health, although progress in some areas had plateaued, and racial and ethnic disparities persisted. Then the coronavirus hit. The pandemic has claimed more than 281,000 lives as of the first week of December in the United States and millions worldwide, with a devastating toll on communities of color. It has isolated us from loved ones and caused widespread economic damage. Millions of Americans have lost their jobs and, with them, a reliable source of income, health care and a sense of stability. Many have weighed whether to risk their health by going to work to keep food on the table and head off foreclosure or eviction. And with schools going online and child care centers closing, parents have had to balance educating and caring for their children in unprecedented ways.

To read the full report, click the attached document or go to this link.

Click the attachment to read the Executive Order issued on June 24, 2020 concerning the Child Welfare System.

This resource provides thoughts and guidelines for talking about these complex issues of racism and equality in age-appropriate ways with children aged two to five years of age. These are difficult and uncomfortable discussions for which there is no recipe. You will know how to adapt these ideas in a way that reflects your unique situation and the individual needs of your child. You might also find it helpful to seek input from your family and trusted sources like religious and other community leaders. Click to access the resource guide.

We have a collection of adult learning documents that we want to share with you. Click on the title of this segment to see the links to access the documents. 

• Knowle's Adult Learning Theory Infographic
• Conducting Training Evaluation
• Designing and Developing Effective Training Programs
• Developing a Theory of Change
• Five Moments of Need

The COVID-19 pandemic and social distancing requirements have required courts to be flexible and creative in continuing to carry out essential functions. The Children’s Bureau has encouraged, and many courts have adopted, the use of technology to conduct child welfare hearings remotely when they cannot take place in-person. Although there are some challenges to holding a hearing via technology, these hearings are essential to address important issues affecting children and families, to litigate and allow the court to make key decisions impacting safety, permanency and wellbeing, and to ensure due process and access to justice for families. The following guide distills some best practices and other recommendations for remote or “virtual” hearings. Please note that courts across the country are using several programs and platforms for video conferencing. This guide provides general guidance without regard to the specific platform being used.

In a world where “social distancing” has become a necessary practice and the primary preventative measure for reducing the spread of coronavirus, we must remember that children in foster care and their families have already been “distanced” from each other.

Protecting family integrity may seem like an expendable effort – something to be put aside until the world changes. The fact is, every day that goes by with restrictions on family time, reduced availability of treatment or other services for parents and delays in reunification efforts is a threat to family integrity.

When children are removed from their parents, even when necessary for their safety, and artificial visiting arrangements are imposed that prevent parents from being parents and children from being children, they become distanced and that can be harmful to parents and children alike. The effects of such distancing shows up in trauma responses, in hopelessness, in destructive behaviors, in increasing needs for clinical interventions, and in repeated cycles of difficulty within families.

Read the full article by Jerry Milner, Associate Commissioner of the U.S. Children's Bureau and David Kelly, Special Assistant to the Associate Commissioner at the U.S. Children's Bureau. April 6, 2020. Article in Chronicle of Social Change.

The daily changes and constantly updated information on the COVID-19 crisis can be overwhelming. However panic cannot and should not drive our work off course. Children, foster parents and birth parents deal with incredibly challenging personal crises every day. They are the pros and know how to deal with challenges one day at a time. We need this knowledge more than ever. Quality Parenting Initiative sites have to hold onto our values so that all of our decisions continue to support excellent parenting everyday.

Over the next several weeks we will be sharing "Covid-19: The New Normal", a set of QPI based resources created to support parents, birth resource foster and kin, youth and staff, connected to the child welfare system. These will include a weekly webcast and daily online resources distributed to our QPI community via email and social media. This series is particularly focused on meeting the needs of families, who are often hard to reach. We don't want to add to your workload, but we would appreciate your sharing information about the series with families, birth foster and kin in whatever way you can. We will also be grateful for any ideas you have about how to reach this audience. Below is a schedule of webinar topics as part of our QPI-based resource series, COVID-19: The New Normal. As the situation around COVID-19 continues to evolve, please know there is a possibility that the following topics may be subject to change.

• Tuesday, March 31st: The Power of Connection: How Resource Families Can Support Adolescents Through COVID-19 Crisis-Register here<https://ylcqpi.zoom.us/meeting/register/u50rf-ivqDkvABi56HwYxW43qB42gwtSow>
• April 7th and 9th (a two-part series!): Child development specialist on using media effectively with children and virtual visitation. Click here for April 7th and then Click here for April 9th. This is a two part series!
• Week of April 12th: Keeping teens connected to friends and family using tech.
• Week of April 19th: Ensuring youth who receive special education obtain services and maintain educational progress.
• Week of April 26th: Keeping older youth on track for college including SAT, college applications, coursework issues.
• Week of May 3rd: Coordinating with Qualified Legal Services Provider (QSLP) on employment issues and unemployment insurance.
• Week of May 10th: Supporting young children and their families.
• Week of May 17th: Maintaining relationships between children and families over distance

There is a newly updated APP available for Apple and Android devices that was developed by the Louisiana Children's Justice Act Taskforce. This APP has national, state and parish level resources for those who work in the field of child welfare. It also has the state's Safe Haven locations listed by parish. Please share the APP flyer so that more people begin using the APP.