Addressing the Long-Term Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Children and Families (2023) / Chapter Skim
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1 Introduction
1 Introduction
Pages 12-32
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From page 12... ...
Chronic exposure to poverty and prolonged periods of limited resources are additional risk factors that have been intensified by the ongoing pandemic and so have increased the risk of adverse childhood experiences. The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on children and families may be felt for years to come: for example, research on the 1918 influenza pandemic found long-term physical and mental effects for those who were children or in utero during it (Beach et al., 2022)
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From page 13... ...
The committee will focus specifically on the physical and mental health of children and their caregivers. Information and data will be collected from a broad set of sources and may include a virtual public information-gathering session, input from those collecting real-time data on the health and mental health impacts of the virus (e.g., RAPID-EC)
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From page 14... ...
. In addition to deliberating on the available scientific literature and evolving information related to the COVID-19 pandemic, the committee also drew on presentations and discussions from information-gathering sessions with key groups of stakeholders: adolescents, early care and education professionals, K–12 educators and administrators, juvenile justice and child welfare professionals, and Native American tribal leaders to guide its process.
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From page 15... ...
In undertaking its task, the committee was also asked to focus on "children and families in high-risk communities." While all people were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in some way, the definition of "high risk" was informed by conversations with the sponsors and data on the disproportionate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on children and families with low incomes and Black, Latino, 3 and Native American 4 families with children. 5 In this report, these groups are referred to as "individuals who have been racially and ethnically minoritized" and "individuals who have low incomes," rather than "high-risk individuals." While data on case rates, hospitalizations, and deaths continue to evolve as the pandemic unfolds, and while there are other individuals outside of these groups who have faced pandemic-related challenges, these groups were disproportionately affected and the underlying structural inequities that placed people of color at increased risk at the outset of the pandemic remain.
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From page 16... ...
Three years into the COVID-19 pandemic, the scientific community has amassed a great deal of information about the virus and its transmission, as well as the immediate responses, such as school closures and social distancing, on children and families. However, the pandemic remains dynamic, with the emergence of new waves and variants; long-term effects continuing to unfold; and shifting responses at the local, state, tribal, and national levels.
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From page 17... ...
The figure also shows large disparities in COVID-19 hospitalizations for Black, Latino, and Native American people in comparison with White people. The higher rates of infection among low-income and racially and ethnically minoritized families likely reflect increased exposure risk due to working, living, and transportation conditions; these populations are more likely to work in jobs that cannot be done remotely, live in larger households, and rely on public transportation (Lopez et al., 2021)
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From page 18... ...
, Kaiser Family Foundation, using data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-datatracker/#demographicsovertime Prepublication copy, uncorrected proofs 18
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From page 19... ...
. 8 The burden of this loss was disproportionately borne by communities of color, with Black, Latino, and Native American children experiencing the loss of a caregiver at rates significantly higher than White children: as of mid-2021, the death of a caregiver had affected one in 753 White children, one in 412 Latino children, one in 310 Black 7 See https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#mis-national-surveillance 8 See https://imperialcollegelondon.github.io/orphanhood_calculator/#/country/United%20States%20of%20America Prepublication copy, uncorrected proofs 19
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From page 20... ...
The severity of the virus and the widespread risk of hospitalization and death, especially before the development of effective vaccines, prompted a wide-scale public health response and mitigation measures across the globe. After COVID-19 was declared a global pandemic and a national emergency in March 2020, travel restrictions and lockdowns were implemented, and schools began to close and shift to distance learning.
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From page 21... ...
For example, after the initial widespread school closures in spring 2020, continued remote learning was more common in schools that served low-income and racially and ethnically minoritized children than those that served other children (Lee & Parolin, 2021)
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From page 22... ...
ANNEX PERSPECTIVES ON THE PANDEMIC As noted above, the committee's information gathering included listening sessions to understand experiences of the pandemic among adolescents, parents, early child care and education professionals, K–12 educators and administrators, juvenile justice and child welfare professionals, and Native Americans. Two of these listening sessions were conducted during open public meetings and four were done in private with a group of committee members.
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From page 23... ...
They noted that they lacked the emotional support that they had previously had at school through relationships with counselors and engagement in extracurricular activities. They expressed a need for additional mental health resources and a more robust social and emotional safety net at school.
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From page 24... ...
Early Childhood Educators A group of parents, Early Head Start program home visitors, home-based child care providers, center-based child care providers, and Early Head Start/Head Start educators and administrators from California shared their perspectives with the committee on the pandemic's impact on the children and families they serve. They also discussed what they need both immediately and long term to mitigate the negative effects of the pandemic on the health and well-being of the children and families and child care professionals caring for these children.
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From page 25... ...
" Teachers and administrators wound up having to deal with quarantining, contact tracing, and a myriad of things they had no experience with, all while learning to transition to a remote learning environment along with their students. Participants noted changes in social interactions among their students during the pandemic.
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From page 26... ...
Practitioners Serving Children Involved in the Child Welfare System Health care professionals serving children involved in the child welfare system in Cincinnati shared insights with the committee on the impact of the pandemic on the children involved with this system. Participants stated that the pandemic revealed existing, systemic issues faced by children in the child welfare system.
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From page 27... ...
Native American Tribal Leaders Participants in this public information-gathering session included the director of early childhood education and for the Port Gamble S'Klallam tribe, the director of the National American Indian and Alaska Native Head Start Collaboration Office, the vice president of the Oglala Sioux tribe, and the director of the Center for American Indian Health at Johns Hopkins. Participants expressed concerns that deaths among the elderly in tribal communities may have a significant impact on the passing down of cultural traditions.
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From page 28... ...
Tribal leaders operated emergency centers to provide testing and to distribute shots when they became available. Leaders got the first vaccines to show that they were safe and effective for their communities.
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From page 29... ...
There was a general communal orientation to the pandemic that was often missing from the national narrative regarding protective measures. Finding ways to connect to families safely, either by reconnecting to nature with exercise, or outdoor communitybased activities, the central mentality often prioritized taking care of each other with an understanding that the individual thrived only when the community did.
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From page 30... ...
. Child development during the COVID-19 pandemic through a life course theory lens.
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From page 31... ...
. The care burden during COVID-19: A national database of child care closures in the United States.
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From page 32... ...
. Contact tracing and the challenges of health equity in vulnerable Latino and Native American communities: Proceedings of a workshop -- In brief.
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