University of Guyana

Department of Social Science

Sheldeena Morrison-1034327

Selina Fraser- 1037222

Jasmin Odle- 1034803

Odesa Fraser -1038242

Tomera Scott -1033477

Social Administration

(DSW2205)

Ms. Audrey Benn

 Introduction

The central argument by Sarah in What Lessons Can the Child Welfare System Take from the
COVID-19 Pandemic? is to raise concerns on the awareness of child maltreatment so that
measures can be put into place to better the child welfare system so that these challenges could
be properly dealt with during the ongoing pandemic. the article seeks to initiate a discussion on
how the covid 19- pandemic has created catastrophic problems within the child welfare system
specifically in the United States, and the profound impact of child abuse and maltreatment.  In
particular, she claims that covid-19 and subsequent government responses introduced new
barriers to detection and responding to child maltreatment and achieving permanency for
children in foster care. She stresses those new strategies and better use of existing technologies
are needed to detect child maltreatment for children unseen by school personnel, improved use of
virtual technology could improve family court processes and family treatment options during and
after the pandemic.

The article's overall goal is to put new tactics into place that the child welfare system can use to
enhance services during the COVID-19 pandemic. Since learning has moved to a virtual
platform, services like identifying child abuse outside of schools. Since caseworkers are not
considered essential employees and in-home visits are not permitted, active cases are being
monitored. There should be a development of stronger bonds between foster parents and
biological parents as well as more regular communication between children, their biological
parents, siblings, and other family members. The Child Welfare System can improve by
implementing the various suggestions made in this article.

The author's view was not biased, and her evidence was highly pertinent. Her justification
included a comprehensive analysis of the challenges that need to be.

In this paper the researchers seek to provide a critical analysis on the article. This will provide
readers with an in-depth & clear understanding of the article and the author’s intentions.
 This article was written For a large audience inclusive of the child welfare system, the
government and the community since the authors main purpose of the article was to draw greater
attention to the plight of neglect and abuse happening to children during the Covid-19 pandemic
and how difficult it was to detect these issues due to restrictions . The author  then went on to
make a few recommendations of new strategies that can improve the welfare system during the
Covid-19 pandemic .

This article was written in 2021 during the most chaotic and isolating era of society, when
countries around the globe were hit with the most horrific pandemic in over a decade.Persons
were forced to quarantine themselves to protect themselves and others from the deadly
coronavirus, most work forces moved from physical contact to a virtual platform except for
persons labeled as essential workers that were allowed to be in a physical work
environment.Major problems such as child maltreatment and abuse had  a decrease in the
number of reported cases since most children were isolated at home and engaged in virtual
learning and case workers were not allowed to do home visits in order to protect themselves as
well as clients from the deadly virus.

The article was written at the said time because the entire world was battling one main problem
which is the Covid-19 pandemic and some of the strategies that were put in place to handle
serious matters such as child maltreatment etc. were not as effective.

The writer’s main argument is for the concern of children during the pandemic and the child
welfare system. The responses of the pandemic towards children when it comes to child
maltreatment. The implementing of new barriers and technology to foster the detection of child
maltreatment in the home, school and community, while finding new ways to remove children
from foster care.  During the pandemic the writer stated that with fewer cases being detected
when it come to child maltreatment, they could not observe whether it was on the increase or not.
They saw changes in visitation and bonding between parents and children, which affects them
economically and their safety is at risk, where they are fewer cases of neglect in court. The writer
also stated that some CWS cases are not being investigated in the pandemic. Caseworker should
be monitoring CWS cases instead of other practitioners. Whereby they will be able to build
rapport and analyze nonverbal cues through interviews. However virtual hearing has been a
success, and it can become a new norm. children can interact frequently with family, person who
are hospitalized and incarcerated, since the pandemic has put a paused-on face-to-face
interaction in many institutions. Because of the covid19 pandemic the recruitment and retention
has had some challenges and the pandemic has highlighted ways in which government contract
and licensing for foster parents has differ. He also argued that agencies should be incentive to
collect and report information on recruitment, retention and placement outcomes, not only
investigating child maltreatment but provided resources for the protection of children.
Communities’ agencies can monitor families outside of CWS which would protect and safeguard
there wellbeing, rather than remove them from their home. Outreach and voluntary programs
should be in place for high-risk families, even though it will be hard to detect such case.

The article was written during the covid19 pandemic, which focuses on the child welfare system,
schools and families, especially children. The idea of this article is to highlight the issues faced

The article seeks to bring to the intended audience, how children were maltreated and abused at
the hands of their caregivers and even their parents. Many were even subjected to remain in
detention during the pandemic. The reason is case workers were fearful of putting themselves at
risk. It is good to note that the case worker’s main function was meeting with clients and trying
to understand their needs. In addition, they were to process paperwork, respond to clients’
emergencies, and be client advocates to government and public interest groups. Liaising with
community services providers to coordinate support services,

Hence, the author argues that due to the COVID-19 pandemic many caseworkers were not
executing their responsibilities effectively. As a result, most cases of maltreatment and abuse fail
to be recorded. Cases such as sexual and physical abuse, and neglect had increased alarmingly.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a significant decline in health care visits for children
with insurance coverage. The author highlighted the fact that many children were missing from
virtual schooling, this was a result that caseworkers could not get law enforcement to reinforce
the laws governing the rights of the child or children. They were concerned about the high risk of
serious crimes; however, caseworkers were declined from following up on recently closed cases.

How can caseworkers use a pandemic to allow a build-up of court cases? What about the use of
technology and the virtual space to carry on such cases? But then again we have to look at the
dynamics, how many persons had access to technology much less the internet.
This author used the expository approach to connect with her readers her purpose was seen in the
way she wrote about the topic.The author was able to get each point out there to her audience
and also make them think further on the topic . The author also gained the attention of the
persons that are able to help implement these new strategies therefore achieving her  main goal
with the article.

The Article was clear, understandable, persuasive, informative, original, exciting also well-
written. In the article the author brought out his understandability and persuasiveness by using
basic effective words to get his points out there and also stated facts from credited sources
throughout the article. The author also provided as much information as they could from each
point of view throughout the entire article for example, the seven recommendations that were
made Such as “Develop strategies for child maltreatment detection outside of schools”,
“Designate CWS caseworkers as essential workers and require timely in-person investigations
and monitoring of open cases” , which speaks from the case workers side “ During and after the
pandemic, permit virtual participation in court hearings by biological parents, children, and
foster parents as a standard option” with this point the author also spoke for the biological
parents, “ Require that court hearings and other requirements for moving children toward
permanency con- tinue without delay” the author cared for the child’s wellbeing with this
recommendation which is the main focus. “Where appropriate, agencies should facilitate virtual
visitation to increase the frequency of contact between children and their biological parents,
siblings, and others and build better working relation- ships between foster and biological
parents”, “Encourage innovation in foster home recruitment and support services by providing
current and prospective foster families informed choices” the author also viewed the situation
through the foster parent’s frame of mind. “Rely on community partnerships to address non-
maltreatment concerns of families referred to CWS” Last but not least the author looked at other
minor situations that may be overlooked and may eventually lead to a major problem such as
child maltreatment.

The Author continuously asked rhetorical questions that made the article exciting since it made
the audience think further and come up with different views. The article was well focused and at
no time did the author stray away from the main ideas of the article, the author recommended
multiple points from all aspects such as the child’s view, the biological parents, foster parents,
child welfare system, the government and also the community. Overall this article was well
written and the author did a great job in getting his points and views to his targeted audience.

This document was well directed at the appropriate audience this can be seen from the very first
paragraph of the article where the writer talked about some of the issues children are facing
during the COVID-19 pandemic, she then went on to make recommendations to resolve these
issues making the article quite informative.
 Conclusion

In conclusion, the author seeks to highlight Lessons the Child Welfare System can take from the
events during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Some of the strategies put in place to handle serious matters such as child maltreatment were not
as effective. The writer's main argument is for the concern of children during the pandemic and
the child welfare system. Caseworker should be monitoring CWS cases instead of other
practitioners. Outreach and voluntary programs should be in place for high-risk families, even
though it will be hard to detect such cases.

Communities' agencies can monitor families outside of CWS which would protect and safeguard
their wellbeing. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a significant decline in health care
visits for children with insurance coverage. Many children were missing from virtual schooling,
this was a result that caseworkers could not get law enforcement to reinforce the laws governing
the rights of the child or children. The Article was clear, understandable, persuasive, original,
exciting also well-written. The author provided as much information as they could from each
point of view throughout the article.

It was suggested that agencies should facilitate virtual visitation to increase the frequency of
contact between children and their biological parents. The author recommended multiple points
from all aspects such as the child's view, the biological parents, foster parents, child welfare
system, the government and also the community. Overall, this article was informative and well
directed at the appropriate audience.

You must read this article as it is very informative and highlights many issues needed to be
addresses sooner rather than later by the child welfare system. It also includes detailed
suggestions and in-depth evidence to support their claims.