COVID-19 Resources for Child Welfare, Justice, & Adult Protection

July 24, 2020 | NCCD

Person on cell phone

During COVID-19 and physical distancing, NCCD is providing practical guidance for navigating the rapidly changing challenges faced by child welfare, justice, and adult protection agencies. We will be adding more resources on an ongoing basis.
 

Survey on Agency Response to COVID-19

NCCD’s survey of agency responses to the pandemic was open for eight weeks beginning in March. With half of the responses coming from probation and parole agencies and 38% from child welfare agencies, the survey collected information about the biggest challenges to their work during the current health crisis.

Child Welfare and Justice Agencies Report Challenges in Context of COVID-19 (blog post)

Survey Results: How Child Welfare and Justice Agencies Are Responding to COVID-19 (PDF)
 

Webinars

Physical Distancing and Social Work Best Practices

A recent webinar hosted by NCCD and the American Public Human Services Association is now available as an audio recording. Listen to four child welfare experts from across the country answer questions from the moderators and attendees about how their work to keep children safe has evolved since the COVID-19 pandemic—and physical distancing—began. Learn more and listen to the recording here.
 

Adult Protection

Because older adults are at highest risk of contracting COVID-19, those working in the APS field need to take special care with their clients—70% of whom are over age 60. NCCD’s APS team has a new resource for agencies and workers that includes tips and links to more help.

Resources for Adult Protective Services During Physical Distancing (PDF)
 

Child Welfare

With physical distancing, child welfare practitioners are being forced to adapt as they continue the essential work of partnering with families and communities to ensure child safety. NCCD developed the following resources to help.

Juvenile and Adult Justice

Justice Fees and Fines in the COVID-19 Era

Justice fees and fines have been a key area of justice reform in recent years. Fees and fines have been criticized as both predatory and discriminatory and have been shown to have a much greater negative impact on families and communities of color. The COVID-19 pandemic provides an opportunity to try new and different approaches that do not force low-income people and people of color further into debt. Read our blog post on the subject here.

NCCD Guidance on Community Supervision During COVID-19

As COVID-19 continues to impact how justice systems operate across the United States, supervision of people who are on probation or parole is changing. Some shifts include:

  • In-person check-ins with probation and parole officers have been widely curtailed and replaced with phone calls and video conferences.
  • Drug testing has been dramatically cut back.   
  • At least one state is decreasing the number of people placed on electronic monitoring.
  • Some law enforcement agencies have halted most arrests for probation violations.

NCCD has released guidance to help community corrections agencies accommodate the influx of people being released from institutions due to the pandemic. Read it here and reach out if you would like to talk with us.

#SendOurKidsHome and #YouthJustice

If you missed the Twitter chat with @NCCDtweets, the National Juvenile Justice Network (@NJJNetwork) and the Coalition on Juvenile Justice (@4juvjustice) about the impact of COVID-19 on justice-involved youth and steps jurisdictions are taking to keep youth safe, you can still catch up. Search #SendOurKidsHome and #YouthJustice on Twitter to see all the content.

Justice and COVID-19 Resources Page

Visit our COVID-19 and the Justice System page for detailed information on how justice systems across the country are responding to COVID-19.