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BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic increased the likelihood of child maltreatment and made already difficult circumstances for children and their families much worse. This increased the significance of the child protection system's role in responding to child maltreatment and ensuring children's rights, including their right to a safe life without violence. Unfortunately, accumulating evidence has indicated that the rates of child maltreatment increased during the pandemic. OBJECTIVE: The current study sought to identify the gaps within child protection responses in various countries during the COVID-19 pandemic and to discover how we can respond to crises in the future while preserving children's rights, including their right to protection from maltreatment. METHOD: Five focus groups with a total of 47 professionals working with children from various countries were conducted via Zoom and analyzed using a thematic approach. RESULTS: Three main themes were identified: 1) gaps in policies, 2) gaps in practice, and 3) professionals' messages to improve policy and practice. CONCLUSIONS: This study emphasizes what was missed in child protection policy and practice, highlighting the continuous neglect of children's needs and voices within policies, practices and guidelines worldwide during the pandemic. Professionals' recommendations for policy and practice are also discussed.
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BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic created new challenges and barriers for the work of child protection professionals (CPPs) and intensified existing hardships for families and children, increasing the risk of child maltreatment. As new restrictions and precautions were implemented by governments worldwide to stop the virus from spreading, CPPs had to adapt to a new reality of working remotely. However, limited research has investigated how remote work impacted CPPs and child protection work and how CPPs handled this alternative work style. OBJECTIVE: This review aims to address gaps in the research to reveal the creative and effective approaches CPPs developed to overcome the challenges presented by COVID-19, defined as the 'positive legacy' of CPPs, particularly in adapting to remote work challenges. METHOD: This review was conducted using a scoping review, followed by two rounds of thematic analysis. The scoping review was conducted in six languages: Hebrew, Arabic, French, Portuguese, Spanish, and English. RESULTS: The first round of thematic analysis found 18 articles relevant to this review. The second round extracted two main themes: 1) the challenges of remote work and 2) overcoming the challenges of no contact. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this review may be used to inform future strategies for child protection during a pandemic. They also provide an opportunity to rethink the relationship child protection work has with technology to systematically reform current and future protection policies and practices, including outside of a pandemic.
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BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic led to numerous challenges for child protection professionals (CPPs). However, limited research has investigated the interwoven concepts of coping, resilience, and mental distress among CPPs during COVID-19 on a global scale. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to explore CPPs' practice, resilience, and mental distress during COVID-19, the relationship between their resilience and mental distress, the global stability of the Multi-System Model of Resilience (MSMR), and how CPPs' resilience varied according to the Human Development Index (HDI). METHODS: Data were collected from 420 CPPs in 57 countries across five continents between July and September 2021. Participants completed an online questionnaire on demographics, resilience, mental distress, coping, and perceptions of child protection during the pandemic in their native languages. The analyses compared the countries grouped according to HDI using means comparisons, correlations, and multiple linear regressions. A two-path analysis was also performed to identify variables associated with behavioral resilience engagement and mental distress. RESULTS: The findings indicated that CPPs' perceptions of COVID-19's impact on child maltreatment varied in correlation with their country's HDI. There were also significant HDI-based differences regarding the perceived opportunity to engage in resilient behavior and its helpfulness. Years of professional experience, internal resilience, and external resilience were shown to be significant predictors of mental distress among CPPs during the pandemic, and resilience mediated how years of experience predicted mental distress. CONCLUSIONS: This study emphasized the importance of experience and internal resilience for CPPs' psychological well-being. It also provides empirical evidence to support the MSMR theory on a global scale. Additionally, it demonstrates how the perceived changes in child maltreatment during COVID-19 may be associated with regional HDI. Lastly, the opportunities CPPs had to engage in resilient behavior and how much this helped them was associated with regional HDI, but not in the way originally predicted. Study results also hold implications for how practice and policy may be altered to help CPPs cope better during times of crisis and generally.
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BACKGROUND: COVID-19 significantly worsened already challenging circumstances for children and their families and globally increased the likelihood of child maltreatment. This risk heightened the urgency of child protection professionals in preventing child maltreatment and defending children's rights. The vast and growing body of research on protecting children from child maltreatment during COVID-19 has emphasized practitioners' tremendous difficulty in this arena. OBJECTIVE: The current international study sought to identify the experiences and responses of child protection professionals to child maltreatment during COVID-19. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: Five real-time, virtual focus groups were conducted among professionals who work with children from countries around the globe. METHOD: Reflexive thematic analysis was employed to analyze the focus group transcripts. RESULTS: The participants identified their experiences and challenges in performing their role of protecting children. Additionally, they shared context-adapted and innovative responses to child maltreatment, while emphasizing self-care and their mental health. CONCLUSIONS: The results highlighted that child protection was significantly more challenging during the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, they underlined the importance of establishing practices and policies for child protection in crisis times as well as ensuring both children's and professionals' well-being and mental health.
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BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic challenged child protection and posed new risks for child maltreatment (CM). Moreover, governmental efforts worldwide prioritized mitigating the spread of the virus over ensuring the welfare and protection of families and children. This neglect caused hardship for many vulnerable children, including those in out-of-home care (OOHC), and challenged the functionality of child protective services (CPS). However, only limited research has investigated the impact of COVID-19 on OOHC and CPS and explored how CPS overcame the challenges of helping children in OOHC. OBJECTIVE: This review aims to address this gap in the research to unveil the 'positive legacy' left by CPS in their work with children in OOHC during COVID-19. METHOD: This review utilized three stages of analysis, including a scoping review followed by two rounds of thematic analysis. The scoping review was carried out in six languages: English, Hebrew, Arabic, French, Portuguese, and Spanish. The first round of thematic analysis found eight relevant articles for this review. The second round of thematic analysis found three themes related to this paper's aim in the context of COVID-19. RESULTS: Three main themes were identified: 1) decision-making and OOHC, 2) difficulties in procedures related to OOHC placement, and 3) handling challenges of OOHC. CONCLUSIONS: The discussion emphasizes the crucial role of preserving children's rights, hearing their voices and needs, and considering their safety and well-being when planning policies and practices to protect them. It also emphasizes society's responsibility to acknowledge contextual factors in child protection.
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BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic triggered new risks for child maltreatment (CM) and exacerbated existing challenges for families and children, elevating the importance of child protection professionals (CPPs) while also adding barriers to their work. During the pandemic, many CPPs experienced increased workloads, a disrupted work environment, and personal pandemic-related hardships. However, the scope of how COVID-19 impacted CPPs globally, as well as their adopted coping strategies, have not been well explored. OBJECTIVE: This study addresses these gaps in the research by conducting an international scoping review to explore and analyze these topics. METHOD: The scoping review was performed in six languages: English, Hebrew, Arabic, French, Spanish, and Portuguese, across 16 databases. Sixteen manuscripts were included in the final thematic analysis of this review. RESULTS: Two main themes were identified: 1) the impact of COVID-19 on CPPs, and 2) the coping and adaptation strategies employed by CPPs during COVID-19. This review revealed and emphasized the importance of CPPs' resilience during COVID-19, underpinned by the theoretical framework of the social ecology of resilience. CONCLUSIONS: This study highlights the responsibility of social ecologies and organizational structures to create readiness for a rapid response in times of crisis as well as valuable evidence to inform how CPPs, children, and families may be better supported in the event of a future crisis.
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BACKGROUND: Alongside deficits in children's wellbeing, the COVID-19 pandemic has created an elevated risk for child maltreatment and challenges for child protective services worldwide. Therefore, some children might be doubly marginalized, as prior inequalities become exacerbated and new risk factors arise. OBJECTIVE: To provide initial insight into international researchers' identification of children who might have been overlooked or excluded from services during the pandemic. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: This study was part of an international collaboration involving researchers from Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Israel, South Africa, Uganda, the UK and the USA. Researchers from each country provided a written narrative in response to the three research questions in focus, which integrated the available data from their countries. METHOD: Three main questions were explored: 1) Who are the children that were doubly marginalized? 2) What possible mechanisms may be at the root? and 3) In what ways were children doubly marginalized? The international scholars provided information regarding the three questions. A thematic analysis was employed using the intersectional theoretical framework to highlight the impact of children's various identities. RESULTS: The analysis yielded three domains: (1) five categories of doubly marginalized children at increased risk of maltreatment, (2) mechanisms of neglect consisting of unplanned, discriminatory and inadequate actions, and (3) children were doubly marginalized through exclusion in policy and practice and the challenges faced by belonging to vulnerable groups. CONCLUSION: The COVID-19 pandemic can be used as a case study to illustrate the protection of children from maltreatment during worldwide crises. Findings generated the understanding that child protective systems worldwide must adhere to an intersectionality framework to protect all children and promote quality child protection services.
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COVID-19 , Maltrato a los Niños , COVID-19/epidemiología , Niño , Maltrato a los Niños/prevención & control , Servicios de Protección Infantil , Humanos , Internacionalidad , Pandemias/prevención & controlRESUMEN
BACKGROUND: A year has passed since COVID-19 began disrupting systems. Although children are not considered a risk population for the virus, there is accumulating knowledge regarding children's escalating risk for maltreatment during the pandemic. OBJECTIVE: The current study is part of a larger initiative using an international platform to examine child maltreatment (CM) reports and child protective service (CPS) responses in various countries. The first data collection, which included a comparison between eight countries after the pandemic's first wave (March-June 2020), illustrated a worrisome picture regarding children's wellbeing. The current study presents the second wave of data across 12 regions via population data (Australia [New South Wales], Brazil, United States [California, Pennsylvania], Colombia, England, Germany, Israel, Japan, Canada [Ontario, Quebec], South Africa). METHOD: Regional information was gathered, including demographics, economic situation, and CPS responses to COVID-19. A descriptive analysis was conducted to provide an overview of the phenomenon. RESULTS: Across all of the countries, COVID-19 had a substantial negative impact on the operation of CPSs and the children and families they serve by disrupting in-person services. One year into the COVID-19 pandemic, new reports of CM varied across the regions.1 In some, the impact of COVID-19 on CPS was low to moderate, while in others, more significant changes created multiple challenges for CPS services. CONCLUSIONS: COVID-19 created a barrier for CPS to access and protect children. The dramatic variance between the regions demonstrated how social, economic and structural contexts impact both CM reports and CPS responses.
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COVID-19 , Maltrato a los Niños , COVID-19/epidemiología , Niño , Servicios de Protección Infantil , Protección a la Infancia , Humanos , Ontario , Pandemias , Estados UnidosRESUMEN
BACKGROUND: COVID-19 has become a worldwide pandemic impacting child protection services (CPSs) in many countries. With quarantine and social distancing restrictions, school closures, and recreational venues suspended or providing reduced access, the social safety net for violence prevention has been disrupted significantly. Impacts include the concerns of underreporting and increased risk of child abuse and neglect, as well as challenges in operating CPSs and keeping their workforce safe. OBJECTIVE: The current discussion paper explored the impact of COVID-19 on child maltreatment reports and CPS responses by comparing countries using available population data. METHOD: Information was gathered from researchers in eight countries, including contextual information about the country's demographics and economic situation, key elements of the CPS, and the CPS response to COVID-19. Where available, information about other factors affecting children was also collected. These data informed a discussion about between-country similarities and differences. RESULTS: COVID-19 had significant impact on the operation of every CPS, whether in high- income or low-income countries. Most systems encountered some degree of service disruption or change. Risk factors for children appeared to increase while there were often substantial deficits in CPS responses, and in most countries there was at a temporary decrease in CM reports despite the increased risks to children. CONCLUSIONS: The initial data presented and discussed among the international teams pointed to the way COVID-19 has hampered CPS responses and the protection of children more generally in most jurisdictions, highlighting that children appear to have been at greater risk for maltreatment during COVID-19.
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COVID-19 , Maltrato a los Niños , Servicios de Protección Infantil , Adulto , Australia , Brasil , COVID-19/psicología , Canadá , Niño , Maltrato a los Niños/prevención & control , Maltrato a los Niños/estadística & datos numéricos , Servicios de Protección Infantil/estadística & datos numéricos , Colombia , Femenino , Alemania , Humanos , Renta , Israel , Masculino , Pobreza , Factores de Riesgo , SARS-CoV-2 , SudáfricaRESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Child protection is and will be drastically impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Comprehending this new reality and identifying research, practice and policy paths are urgent needs. OBJECTIVE: The current paper aims to suggest a framework for risk and protective factors that need to be considered in child protection in its various domains of research, policy, and practice during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. STRATEGY: From an international collaboration involving researchers and child protection professionals from eight countries, the current paper examines various factors that were identified as playing an important role in the child protection system. THE INITIAL SUGGESTED FRAMEWORK: Through the use of an ecological framework, the current paper points to risk and protective factors that need further exploration. Key conclusions point to the urgent need to address the protection of children in this time of a worldwide pandemic. Discussion of risk and protective factors is significantly influenced by the societal context of various countries, which emphasizes the importance of international collaboration in protecting children, especially in the time of a worldwide pandemic. CONCLUSION: The COVID-19 pandemic has stressed the urgent need to advance both theory and practice in order to ensure children's rights to safety and security during any pandemic. The suggested framework has the potential to advance these efforts so that children will be better protected from maltreatment amidst a pandemic in the future.
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COVID-19 , Maltrato a los Niños , Adulto , Investigación Biomédica , Niño , Servicios de Protección Infantil , Femenino , Salud Global , Política de Salud , Humanos , Masculino , Pandemias , SARS-CoV-2RESUMEN
AIM: Premature birth is an extremely stressful experience. In 2013 to 2014, we explored the physiological stress responses of fathers during their first skin-to-skin contact (SSC) with their new baby. METHODS: We recruited 49 fathers whose partners had given birth to a premature baby of up to 33 weeks and three days. The study, in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) of a Quebec hospital, measured the physiological stress responses of the fathers before and after they first experienced SSC with their new baby. Cortisol levels and blood pressure were measured, and a generalised estimating equation was used for the data analysis. RESULTS: The fathers' cortisol levels decreased from 10.55 nmol/L, with a 95% confidence interval (95% CI) of 9.61-11.59 at the beginning of the experiment to 8.26 nmol/L (95% CI: 7.51-9.07) after 75 minutes. Meanwhile, their systolic blood pressure decreased from 135.16 mmHg (95% CI: 130-140) to 125.25 mmHg (95% CI: 121-129). CONCLUSION: Fathers who held their baby in SSC for the first time showed a significant reduction in physiological stress responses. Our findings support hospital practices that enable fathers to experience their first intimate contact with their newborn infant in the NICU.
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Presión Sanguínea , Padre , Hidrocortisona/sangre , Adulto , Humanos , Recién Nacido , Recien Nacido Prematuro , Masculino , Apego a Objetos , Relaciones Padres-Hijo , Quebec , Estrés Fisiológico , Factores de TiempoRESUMEN
Evaluar si la administración de glucosa,paracetamol o EMLA, disminuyen individualmente el dolor en recién nacidos, provocado por punción de talón,en un ambiente ambulatorio.
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DolorRESUMEN
INTRODUCTION: Every newborn infant is screened for hypothyroidism and phenylketonuria by blood sampling, during the first week of life, but there is not a simple and efficient method to reduce pain during the procedure. OBJECTIVES: Prospective randomised trial, to assess if the administration of oral glucose, paracetamol or EMLA, given individually, can reduce the pain caused in newborns by heel prick, in an outpatient setting. METHODS: Double-blind study in which seventy six healthy newborns at term were randomly assigned to receive placebo, oral glucose, EMLA in the heel, or oral paracetamol. Heel prick was performed to get a blood sample, and pain was measured by two independent observers, using two scales (NIPS and PIPP). RESULTS: NIPS <4: placebo (9/19= 47%), glucose (16/19= 84%), paracetamol (8/19= 42%) and EMLA (12/19= 63%); PIPP <8: placebo (9/19= 47%), oral glucose (12/19= 63%), paracetamol (5/19= 26%) and EMLA (8/19= 42%). With the use of oral glucose we found RAR: 0.37 (IC 95% 0.09-0.64), RRR: 44% (IC 95% 6-67%), NNT: 2.7 (IC 95% 1.5-11). CONCLUSIONS: The best results were obtained with the use of oral glucose, being statistically significant with only one of the scales. The administration of paracetamol or EMLA did not reduce pain. Other complementary and/or combined methods, added to oral glucose, should be considered daily to diminish this painful experience in thousands of children.
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Analgesia/métodos , Recolección de Muestras de Sangre/efectos adversos , Dolor/etiología , Dolor/prevención & control , Método Doble Ciego , Femenino , Humanos , Recién Nacido , Masculino , Estudios Prospectivos , Nacimiento a TérminoRESUMEN
Por norma legal, a todos los reciénnacidos se les debe extraer sangre durante los primerosdías de vida, para la pesquisa neonatal dehipotiroidismo congénito y fenilcetonuria. El procedimientode extracción supone cierto dolor parael neonato y aún no existe un método sencillo yeficaz para disminuirlo.Objetivos. Evaluar si la administración de glucosa,paracetamol o EMLA, disminuyen individualmenteel dolor en recién nacidos, provocado porpunción de talón, en un ambiente ambulatorio.Material y métodos. Estudio prospectivo y aleatorizado,a doble ciego, en el cual setenta y seis reciénnacidos de término y sanos fueron asignados arecibir placebo, glucosa por vía oral, EMLA en talóno paracetamol por vía oral. Se realizó punción detalón para extraer sangre y dos observadores independientesmidieron el dolor con dos escalas (NIPSy PIPP).La variable de resultado fue la cantidad de niñoscon valores de dolor por debajo de las cifras consideradasdolor moderado en cada grupo.Resultados. NIPS < 4: placebo (9/19= 47 por ciento), glucosa(16/19= 84 por ciento), paracetamol (8/19= 42%) y EMLA(12/19= 63%).PIPP < 8: placebo (9/19= 47 por ciento), glucosa (12/19=63 por ciento), paracetamol (5/19= 26 por ciento) y EMLA (8/19=42 por ciento).Con el uso de glucosa oral, encontramos: RAR: 0,37(IC 95 por ciento: 0,09-0,64), RRR: 44 por ciento (IC 95 por ciento: 6-67), NNT:2,7 (IC 95 por ciento 1,5-11).Conclusiones. Con el uso de la solución glucosadapor vía oral se obtuvieron los mejores resultados.Sólo con una de las escalas utilizadas fueron estadísticamentesignificativos.Con paracetamol y EMLA, no observamos disminucióndel dolor.Deberán considerarse otros métodos complementariosy combinados, junto con la glucosa, paraaliviar esta experiencia dolorosa a miles de niñosdiariamente