In many North American jurisdictions, socioeconomically vulnerable families are more likely to be involved with child protection systems and experience ongoing challenges. The current public health response to the COVID-19 pandemic is having a disproportionate impact on these families via unemployment, “essential” work, isolation, and closures of childcare and schools, with negative implications for children’s developmental wellbeing. Experts warn that while child protection referrals have gone down, children who are at risk of maltreatment are less exposed to typical reporters (e.g., school professionals). At the same time, physical distancing measures are prompting many human service settings to shift toward virtual intervention with children and families. In this commentary, we suggest that a focus on short-term risk in the response to COVID-19 may obscure support for children’s long-term outcomes. We propose two policy considerations: (1) in the immediate term, that child protection workers be deemed “essential”; and (2) in the longer term, that permanent, universal basic income guarantees be implemented to support a baseline of predictability both in families’ material wellbeing and in fiscal budgets in the case of a future crisis. As we write, it is impossible to predict the longevity of these closures nor the extent of their impact on children and families. However, the present article mirrors commentary following previous crises noting the importance of going beyond immediate health risk mitigation to consider wellbeing with regard to children’s development and families’ socioeconomic needs in the long term.

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Socio-environmental factors such as poverty, psychosocial services, and social services spending all could influence the challenges faced by vulnerable families. This paper examines the extent to which socioeconomic vulnerability, psychosocial service consultations, and preventative social services spending impacts the reunification for children placed in out-of-home care. This study uses a multilevel longitudinal research design that draws data from three sources: (1) longitudinal administrative data from Quebec’s child protection agencies; (2) 2006 and 2011 Canadian Census data; and, (3) intra-province health and social services data. The final data set included all children (N = 39,882) placed in out-of-home care for the first time between 1 April 2002 and 31 March 2013, and followed from their initial out-of-home placement. Multilevel hazard results indicate that socioeconomic vulnerability, controlling for psychosocial services and social services spending, contributes to the decreased likelihood of reunification. Specifically, socioeconomic vulnerability, psychosocial services, and social services spending account for 24.0% of the variation in jurisdictional reunification for younger children less than 5 years of age, 12.5% for children age 5 to 11 years and 21.4% for older children age 12 to 17 years. These findings have implications for decision makers, funding agencies, and child protection agencies to improve jurisdictional resources to reduce the socioeconomic vulnerabilities of reunifying families.

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