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 17-40
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The far-reaching effects of the pandemic -- coupled with racial trauma and violence and historic inequities rooted in structural racism -- are likely to have lasting adverse effects on children's physical, mental, and social and emotional development. During the pandemic, many children were separated from stabilizing routines, school-based mental health resources, peer interactions, and programs that typically support their well-being.
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. These impacts have been felt disproportionately by children and families facing economic hardship and by people in racially and ethnically minoritized communities, and the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted existing inequities and the challenges that are faced by those communities.
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To carry out its work, the committee organized a wide range of information-gathering activities. The committee conducted an extensive critical review of the existing research literature in a wide range of disciplines, including neuroscience,
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While the listening sessions were not designed to be representative and do not reflect the full range of perspectives or experiences of children and families during the pandemic, they provided the committee with important contextual and key narratives for understanding the lived experience of the pandemic. During these sessions, parents, youth, caregivers, and child- and youth-serving practitioners and organization leaders discussed the effects of the pandemic and potentially promising approaches for responding to it: these discussions served as a backdrop for the committee's review and assessment of the available empirical literature, as well as a reminder of the real-life stories and experiences behind the data.
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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 American4 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 3 The term "Latino" is being used in this report as an ethnonym of "Hispanic" and is refer ring collectively to the inhabitants of the United States who are of Spanish or Latin American ancestry. 4 The term "Native American" is being used to be inclusive of Indigenous populations in the United States, including Alaska Natives.
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The committee acknowledges that, given the scope of this study and the time allotted for the committee to produce its report, important topics related to children and families and the pandemic were necessarily left out. For example, this report does not examine in depth how the pandemic affected youth involved in the child welfare or juvenile justice system.
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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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These analyses are based on case and death rates that have not been adjusted for age, meaning they are likely underestimates of racial disparities, particularly for deaths, since the White population tends to be older and COVID-19 death rates have been higher among older individuals. During periods in which the virus has surged, disparities have generally widened, while they have narrowed when overall infection rates fell (Hill & Artiga, 2022)
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, Kaiser Family Foundation, using data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-datatracker/#demographicsovertime
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As of September 2022, it was estimated that more than 265,000 children in the United States had lost a parent, custodial grandparent, or grandparent caregiver because of COVID-19 (Hillis et al., 2021) .9 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 children, and one in 168 Native American children (Hillis et al., 2021)
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. Policies regarding face coverings also varied by state, with some states requiring people to wear masks indoors or when unable to socially distance, and other states taking the opposite approach of actually prohibiting local municipalities or schools from mandating masks (Hubbard, 2022)
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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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The appendix provides biographical sketches of committee members and staff. 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, and juvenile justice and child welfare.
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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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Early Childhood Educators A group of parents, Early Head Start program home visitors, homebased 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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Participants noted that early childhood professionals need training that extends beyond academic teaching to meet additional needs of children experiencing increasing anxiety as a result of the pandemic. [It is very]
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In addition, technology and social media exposed kids to new behaviors and new ideas that they carried to school that often lacked context and needed explaining, especially in the early childhood space when "iPad parenting" was the norm. Participants also said that students felt the impact of the pandemic beyond academic outcomes, such as the loss of social events like school dances and extracurricular activities.
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One strategy that we found effective was creating small cohorts of students in our home room classes where they could practice interacting with each other again. 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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Participants noted that delays in court proceedings occurred during the pandemic, with direct effect on children in the juvenile justice system. Our court was delayed -- we had a significant backlog, literally for years.
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The trauma associated with the high death rates among all tribal mem bers are added to the historical trauma already faced by our communi ties. Participants noted that prepandemic, tribal communities struggled to receive federal support.
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. Child development during the COVID-19 pandemic through a life course theory lens. Child Development Perspectives, 14(4)
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. The care burden during COVID-19: A national database of child care closures in the United States.
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. No equity without data equity: Data reporting gaps for Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders as structural racism. Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law, 47(2)
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40 ADDRESSING THE LONG-TERM EFFECTS OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC Shah, K., Mann, S., Singh, R., Bangar, R., & Kulkarni, R
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