►
From YouTube: COVID-19: Supporting the Child Welfare Workforce
Description
Child welfare caseworkers are essential in investigating maltreatment, providing in-home services, responding to substance abuse crises, coordinating visitation and reunification services, and responding to the social needs of the children they serve. With COVID-19, caseworkers are using new methods to fulfill these responsibilities. In this virtual meeting, NCSL will explore how states are addressing in-person visits with children and families, securing safety equipment to ensure caseworkers can continue to serve vulnerable populations, and otherwise ensuring children’s safety during the pandemic.
A
All
right,
well,
I'm,
gonna,
go
ahead
and
get
us
started.
I
want
to
welcome
everyone
to
NTFS
Cove
it
19
in
child
welfare
series
of
virtual
meetings.
Today's
program
is
the
second
in
a
five-part
series
of
an
interactive
virtual
meeting
series
lasting
now
until
August
and
I
am
Donna,
Wilson
I'm
a
program
director
at
NC
s,
l's
Children,
&,
Families
program
and
I'll-
be
your
host
for
today.
A
We're
also
joined
by
my
colleague,
Nina
Williams
in
baying,
who
is
a
senior
fellow
in
NC
s,
l's
Children
&
Families
program,
and
this
series
will
highlight
state
and
federal
policy
responses
to
kovat
19
in
the
child.
Welfare
system
sessions
will
feature
state
legislators,
but
just
his
legislative
staff,
sorry
I
got
tagged
twisted
NCSL
staff
and
other
experts.
Participants
will
have
the
opportunity
to
hear
what's
happening
in
other
states,
to
ask
questions
and
to
let
NCSL
know
NCSL
know
how
we
can
best
assist
you.
A
During
this
time
we
launched
this
series
on
June
10th,
with
an
overview
of
the
impact
of
the
kovat
19
pandemic
and
the
impact
that
it's
having
on
our
child
welfare
system.
The
archive
of
this
virtual
meeting
is
available
on
our
website
and
the
link
will
be
shared
on
our
NCS
l's
resources
slide
at
the
end
of
today's
presentation.
A
As
I
said
in
the
first
meeting
in
this
series,
we
would
be
remiss
to
have
this
conversation
about
Kovach,
nineteen's
impact
on
children,
youth
and
families
in
the
child
welfare
system,
as
well
as
the
child
welfare
workforce
itself,
and
not
be
mindful
of
whose
safety
and
well-being
we're
talking
about.
Many
of
us
know
that
a
disproportionate
number
of
children
involved
in
the
child
welfare
system,
our
children
of
color
and
these
children
come
from
families
and
communities
that
are
now
being
hit
the
hardest
by
the
Kovac
19
pandemic
and
subsequent
economic
downturn.
A
A
Additionally,
I
want
to
point
out
that
NCSL
has
collected
more
than
60
statements
made
recently
by
legislators
on
the
issues
of
race.
They
offer
guidance
and
insight
into
what
legislative
leaders
are
thinking
and
how
they
are
reflecting
on
issues.
Many
policymakers
believe
need
to
be
addressed.
These
statements
will
also
be
included
in
our
resources,
provided
at
the
end
of
our
session.
A
Today,
we
would
like
to
thank
Casey
family
programs
and
the
Annie
E
casey
Foundation,
for
their
support
for
this
project,
and
today
we're
gonna
do
something
a
little
different,
we're
gonna
start
with
a
video
from
CBS
that
summarizes
some
of
the
issues
the
child
welfare
caseworkers
are
dealing
with
then
you'll
hear
from
our
three
panelists,
we'll
hear
from
you
through
a
polling
question
and
then
we'll
engage
in
a
discussion
with
our
panelists.
At
the
end,
we'll
ask
to
hear
from
you
again
by
having
you
complete
a
short
online
evaluation.
A
So
before
we
get
started
and
before
I
introduced,
our
panelists
I
just
want
to
cover
a
few
housekeeping
items
for
you.
If
any
time
during
this
process
you
require
help.
We
just
ask
that
you
read
refer
to
the
zune
cheat
sheet
that
we
sent
to
you
before.
If
you
happen
to
get
disconnected
from
the
meeting,
you
can
simply
go
back
and
use
the
link
that
we
sent
you
out
or
the
link
you
used
originally
to
join
the
meeting.
A
And
then
I
want
to
point
out
that
we
are
documenting
the
today's
proceedings
by
recording
the
meeting
and
that
recording
will
be
available
on
NCSL
escrow
vat19
Child
Welfare
webpage
following
this
session,
and
we
want
to
hear
from
you
during
this
process
and
so
we're
asking
you
to.
Please
use
the
chat
box.
A
We
are
joined
by
dr.
Mary
McCarthy,
who
is
a
co
principal
investigator
for
the
national
child
welfare
workforce
Institute
at
the
University
of
Albany.
We
affectionately
call
that
organization
Nick
we.
So
if
you
happen
to
hear
that,
that's
what
that
term
is
we're
also
joined
by
representative
Jonathan
singer
from
my
home
state
Colorado.
He
is
the
chair
of
public
health
care
and
Human
Services
Committee,
and
he
was
also
an
NCSL
2018-19
child
welfare.
A
B
B
To
go
on
home
passes
because
some
of
them
actually
don't
have
homes.
We
usually
have
lots
of
toys,
but
right
now
we
have
nothing
in
here
whether
working
from
home.
This
used
to
be
my
kitchen
table.
It's
now
a
desk
and
then
over
here
I've
transformed
a
little
corner
into
where
I
can
take.
My
virtual
sessions.
B
Just
finished
up
a
forensic
interview
with
a
child
and
now
I'm
going
to
disinfect
this
entire
room
sanitize
every
surface
that
I
can
before
I
bring
another
child.
In
here
for
a
forensic
interview,
cinch
:
19
we've
had
to
come
up
with
unique
ways
to
forensic.
We
interview,
kids,
we
drilled
a
hole
through
the
wall,
ran
Ethernet
to
our
rooms.
We
have
things
jerry-rigged
so
that
we
can
set
up
a
safe
process
where
interviewer
sits
and
the
child
sits
and
they
communicate
via
a
video
conferencing.
It's
a
challenge.
B
You
know
we're
doing
the
best
we
can
with
talking
to
kids
about
their
abuse
experiences
via
video
conferencing.
It's
really
hard
to
try
to
talk
about
sexual
abuse
and
extreme
physical
violence
and
watching
a
parent
get
murdered.
I
can
no
longer
guarantee
that
what
they
say
is
going
to
remain
confidential
and
oftentimes
they're
sharing
about
the
abuse
that
they
endured
in
the
space
where
they
were
abused.
That's
hard.
A
To
start
you
all
off
with
that
short
video,
just
to
really
frame
some
of
the
the
issues
that
we're
going
to
talk
about
today.
So
we
will
make
sure
that
we
send
you
the
link.
So
you
can
view
that
full
video
at
the
conclusion
of
our
presentation
you'll,
want
to
go
and
check
it
out.
It's
really
rich
with
diary
testimonies
from
these
caseworkers
about
new
issues
and
challenges
they're
facing
amongst
Kovac
19
pandemic.
So,
as
many
of
you
already
know,
child
welfare
caseworkers
are
first
responders.
A
They
ensure
the
safety,
stability
and
well-being
of
vulnerable
children
and
families,
as
demonstrated
in
that
short
clip
that
you
just
saw,
and
this
already
challenging
job
is
now
being
further
complicated
by
the
kovat
19
pandemic
and
with
many
jurisdictions,
implementing
social
distancing
mandates,
the
operating
environment
for
child
welfare
caseworker
session,
and
so
I
want
to
turn
it
over
now.
For
you
all
to
hear
from
dr.
A
Mary
McCarthy
and
as
she
begins
to
share
some
information
with
you,
I
just
want
you
to
keep
in
mind
to
you
know,
please
put
any
questions
that
come
up
as
you're
listening
from
any
of
our
panelists
along
the
way,
because
we
will
use
those
during
our
panel
discussion.
So
dr.
McCarthy,
it
is
all
yours,
Donna.
E
Today,
I
will
briefly
cover
issues
that
the
child
welfare
workforce
faced
and
innovations
that
emerge,
which
is
dominated
by
uncertainty.
In
spite
of
the
challenges,
child
welfare
workers
showed
up
every
day
to
do
their
best
to
serve
children
and
families
and
offer
us
important
tips
and
strategies
for
how
to
continue
navigating
the
current
pandemic,
including
necessary
preparations
to
ensure
their
ability
to
work
effectively
into
the
future.
E
But
I
ask
us
all
to
keep
in
mind
in
a
time
with
no
precedent
is
the
need
to
stay
humble
and
recognize
some
important
guiding
principles
around
decision
making
in
leadership.
We
do
not
know
what
the
right
way
is
to
do.
Child
welfare
work
in
the
context
of
a
pandemic
leaders
need
to
be
flexible
and
most
of
all,
compassionate
towards
their
workforce
in
families
leaders
we
work
with
our
finding
when
they
lead
with
these
principles.
The
workers
feel
supported
and
capable
of
getting
up
each
day
to
engage
with
the
work
ahead.
E
Visors
and
managers
must
have
the
flexibility
to
think
on
their
feet
and
make
decisions
to
support
workers
and
keep
families
and
children
safe
legislators
can
be
there
to
provide
recognition
and
support
for
this
heroic
work.
You
must
be
partners
in
the
long
term
work
to
make
sure
the
child
welfare
agencies
have
what
they
need
to
continue.
This
work
into
the
future.
E
As
Donna
said
many
states
and
jurisdictions,
along
with
the
Children's
Bureau,
quickly
sent
out
guidance
to
staff
about
how
to
care
investigations,
maintain
safety
and
oversee
visitation
of
placements,
as
they
moved
rapidly
to
working
from
home.
Despite
guidance,
there
was
still
a
great
deal
of
confusion,
uncertainty
and
fear.
E
Workers
and
families
from
the
workers
themselves
is
that
many
of
them
put
fear
aside
to
do
their
jobs
with
the
uncertainty
regarding
what
it
would
mean
for
their
own
families.
There
are
so
many
aspects
of
child
welfare
work
that
required
attention,
some
of
which
are
topics
for
this
series.
I
will
focus
on
the
following
workforce
issues,
technology
supervision,
family
connections
and
safety,
and
future
planning
many
jurisdictions
were
quickly
able
to
provide
laptops,
tablets
and
smartphones
that
could
access
record-keeping
systems,
so
staff
had
connectivity
to
the
agency
and
connection
with
each
other.
E
E
Login
to
a
secure
network
workers
may
have
been
using
personal
phones
without
privacy
settings
or
appropriate
security
workers
that
had
tablets
or
laptops
had
to
fund
their
Wi-Fi
when
working
from
home.
These
are
critical
infrastructure
issues
for
states
and
jurisdictions
that
must
be
attended
to
access
to
virtual
platforms,
for
videoconferencing
was
another
area.
Agencies
are
struggling,
which
conferencing
software
will
we
use?
Are
there
firewall
challenges
that
prevent
the
interface
with
the
software?
E
How
prepared
our
electronic
systems
to
maintain
security
and
allow
for
use
of
video
conferencing
technology
their
work
with
families
or
to
provide
supervision
in
connection
with
our
staff,
when
a
visits
recorded
workers
need
to
get
consent
and
have
a
plan
for
securing
these
videos
stored
on
a
secure
agency
server
on
the
laptop?
What
if
workers
use
their
personal
cell
phones
with
limited
security
agencies
will
be
called
upon
to
engage
with
workers
to
create
the
necessary
security
structures,
ongoing
virtual
work?
What
do
privacy
agreements
look
like
what
platforms
can
be
used
for?
E
B
E
One
of
the
issues
we
heard
about
consistently
from
workers
across
the
country
is
broadband
access.
It
doesn't
matter
if
you
have
all
the
right
hardware
and
software
that
meets
all
of
the
requirements
for
confidentiality
and
access
to
records.
If
there
is
no
Wi-Fi.
This
challenge
creates
the
hard
stop
to
the
work
and
requires
infrastructure
investments.
E
Innovations
related
to
this
include
school
districts,
sending
buses
out
to
different
communities
as
mobile
hotspots.
The
district
would
notify
the
communities
as
to
when
the
bus
would
be
in
their
area,
so
families
and
workers
and
teachers
could
log
in
another.
Innovation
was
libraries
opening
up
their
parking
lot,
so
families
could
park
and
use
their
Wi-Fi
for
a
virtual
family
visit
legislators
are
the
prime
movers
for
assessing
capacity
and
equipment,
readiness
for
their
state.
Every
child
welfare
system
in
the
country
should
be
doing
a
business.
Did
over
the
past
five
years
schedule
a
work
from
home.
E
It's
the
system
capacity
under
real
time,
non-emergency
conditions
and
develop
a
plan
to
remedy
any
system
or
business
can
be
maintained
in
a
crisis,
supervision
and
connection
with
staff.
We
heard
from
staff
and
child
welfare
leaders
across
the
country.
They
were
actually
more
in
touch
with
each
other.
Once
they
went
to
remote
directors
and
managers
held
regular,
all
staff
meetings
or
regional
meetings,
a
person.
E
To
continue
these
virtuous
have
conversations,
we
heard
the
same
from
supervisors
who
used
meeting
times
to
encourage
and
support
rules
were
tossed
out
and
we
were
operating
in
a
new
environment.
Anna
Jers
and
supervisors
were
able
to
ask
themselves
what
makes
sense
for
going
forward
and
leaders
supported
their
staff
in
making
these
decisions.
E
Flexibility
and
compassion
some
examples
of
innovations
include
focusing
on
self-care
and
resiliency
every
day,
having
virtual
morning
coffee
to
connect
for
the
day
and
then
working
together
as
a
team
to
think
about
best
approaches
for
client
contact
planned
for
that
day,
inviting
workers
to
suggest
effective
schedules.
Remember
many
workers
were
also
homeschooling.
Their
children
encouraging
people
to
take
5
to
10
minutes
in
between
cases
away
from
the
computer
for
a
quick
break.
E
Everyone
needs
time
to
disconnect.
This
is
a
crisis
for
everyone,
including
our
workers.
One
gap
identified
by
workers
who
had
to
go
into
the
field:
childcare
access
for
their
own
children
when
designated
as
first
responders
or
essential
workforces
childcare
was
very
challenging
in
many
communities,
safety
and
family
connections.
Safety
is
intricately
tied
to
our
ability
to
work
with
families.
Workers
and
supervisors
must
be
up-to-date
on
the
safety
guidelines
and
center.
E
Agencies
implement
a
daily
case
conferencing
to
support
efforts
to
maintain
family-centered
practice.
Workers
and
supervisors
work
together
to
develop
a
script
for
visits
that
would
help
normalize
that
visit.
Remember.
Workers
are
juggling
all
the
requirements
of
an
investigation
or
foster
care
handling
technology
assessing
it.
Whether
anyone
in
the
house
is
sick
wearing
a
mask
themselves
and
making
sure
they
all,
while
they're
trying
to
gather
accurate
information
to
assess
with
the
reduction
in
reports.
Workers
talked
about
having
more
time
to
really
talk
with
and
listen
to,
families,
because
everyone
was
in
a
new
environment.
E
B
E
Support
thoughtful
decision-making
on
a
daily
basis.
Recent
discussions
about
race
and
racism
in
America
has
opened
new
dialog
among
staff
and
with
families
as
well.
More
dialogue
about
the
ways.
Racism
and
discrimination
impacts,
families
in
the
child
welfare
system,
a
new,
important
openness
to
listening
to
each
other.
Many
agencies
are
looking
at
ways
to
continue
virtual
visitation
as
a
supplement
to
in-person
visits
when
they
resume
the
virtual
visits
create
opportunities
for
increased
connection
between
families
and
children
that
can
be
better
aligned
with
children's
developmental
stage
across
the
country.
E
There
was
a
parallel
process
going
on
centering
the
family
and
the
worker.
How
to
deliver
services
safely
in
this
want
to
maintain
this
core
value
in
the
work
going
forward,
vigilance
and
attention
to
safety
measures
like
the
order
of
the
year,
never
to
determine
how
best
to
carry
out
child
welfare
into
the
foreseeable
future.
You're
now,
building
the
roadmap
for
how
to
structure
investigations,
visitation
court
hearings
and
family
support
services
and
legislators
are
at
the
center
of
the
work.
A
few
areas
that
we
see
for
priority
attention
include
infrastructure.
E
E
To
train
staff
and
troubleshoot
have
access
to
Wi-Fi
for
all
communities
and
develop
practice.
Guidelines
for
courts
and
agencies
that
recognizes
legislators
must
look
at
laws
that
limit
the
ability
of
Child
Welfare.
Braden's
funding
must
support
this
critical
infrastructure
need,
which
is
likely
to
be
a
big
challenge.
We're
hearing
from
workers
that
there
is
strong
interest
in
blending
work
from
home
in
the
office
with
access
to
appropriate
technology
into
the
future
safety
protocols
must
be
in
place
to
protect
workers
and
families.
E
E
How
are
we
balancing
our
social
responsibility
for
reasonable
resources
that
allow
parents
to
keep
children
safe
families
and
communities
need
support
more
than
ever
in
areas
like
income,
employment,
childcare,
access
to
health
care,
domestic
violence,
services
and
diversion?
So
let
me
talk
for
a
minute
about
neglect,
statutes
and
reporting
a
lot
of
work
and
unstable
housing.
Few
resources.
E
How
will
we
respond
to
reports
of
neglect
this
crisis,
the
opportunity
for
reevaluating
child
neglect
statutes
in
our
state's
well?
There
are
some
commonalities
across
all
states
and
their
statutes
worthy
divergences.
It
advice.
It
invites
us
to
ask
ourselves
some
questions
like
to
poverty
interventions
and
related
prevention
supports
by
families.
What
are
the
essential
prevention
supports
needed
to
be
successful
at
parenting?
There
are
many
programs
that
have
demonstrated
the
effectiveness
of
these
interventions
from
the
basis
for
a
retooling,
our
service
array
to
divert
families
from
a
CPS
investigation,
significant.
B
B
E
For
neglect,
reports
of
neglect
statutes
nationally,
we
shared
with
NCSL
and
published
soon
they're
working
to
compile
the
innovations
that
we
heard
from
across
the
country,
and
these
we're
also
finalizing
the
analysis
of
a
survey
on
cove
in
1974
excellent
sites.
The
summary
of
the
findings
will
be
sent
to
NCSL
and
they
should
be
out
very
soon.
Our
webinar
series
supporting
the
virtual
workforce
was
attended
by
more
than
17,000
people
and
is
available
for
viewing
on
our
website.
E
E
A
You,
dr.
McCarthy
there
there
are
some
times
where
your
voice
sort
of
went
in
and
out,
but
you
know
we're
hoping
that
you
know
because
this
has
been
recorded.
If,
if
we
need
to
go
back
and
ask
you
for
any
specific
bullet
points,
we'll
definitely
do
that,
but
the
information
that
you
provided
was
was
rich
and
vast,
and
I
can't
wait
to
dig
into
some
of
those
things
that
you
shared
during
the
panel
discussion.
A
D
Thank
you
and
thank
you
all
I
didn't
know.
I
could
fit
all
of
you
in
my
backyard.
This
is
pretty
amazing
and
and
I'm
putting
on
the
headset,
because
I'm
always
conscious
of
not
wanting
to
expose
my
neighbors
to
all
this
policy
work
that
I
love
to
nerd
out
on.
But
may
you
know,
cause
other
people
a
little
bit
of
concern
so
before
I
start
I
just
wanted
to
I'm
term-limited.
This
is
my
last
year
at
the
legislature.
D
This
is
the
most
exciting
nonpartisan
work
you
can
do
and,
as
one
of
my
the
vice
chair
of
the
my
vice
chair
of
the
Human
Services
Committee
puts
it
kids
in
foster
care
are
our
children.
When
we
talk
a
lot
about
this
in
politics
right,
you
know
who
are
you
know
we're
doing
this
for
our
children?
Well,
who
are
really
our
children?
It's
the
kids
that
we've
decided
are
no
longer
safe
with
their
parents
for
whatever
period
of
time.
D
That's
our
responsibility
and
if
we
don't
treat
those
kids
like
our
own,
we're
failing,
and
so
this
is
a
so
I
want
to
say
thank
you
to
NCSL
for
what
they've
done,
and
and
thank
you
for
sharing
that
link.
I'm
gonna,
do
a
quick
question
for
everyone
and
I
know
we're
gonna.
Do
polls
later,
but
I
always
like
to
get
folks
a
little
involved.
D
So,
if
anyone
who
wants
to,
if
you
click
on
the
participants
button,
you'll
have
the
opportunity,
if
you
click
on
participants,
there's
a
on
the
bottom
right-hand
corner
once
you
click
on
that
there's
a
thumbs
up,
there's
a
thumbs
down,
and
then
there's
clapping
and
some
other
images
I'm
just
curious.
How
many
people
on
this
on
the
zoom
conference
are
either
legislators
or
aides
in
the
legislative
branch?
If
you
want
to
give
me
a
up
for
that,
because
we
all
love
government
here
right,
I'll
give
folks
a
second
I'm.
D
D
And
you
can
do
thumbs
up
for
that.
You
don't
have
to
give
thumbs
down,
even
though
we
know
as
legislators,
the
real
enemy
is
the
executive
branch.
So
alright,
so
thank
you.
That's
always
just
helpful.
To
get
a
little
perspective
of
things,
we
had
a
series
of
questions
that
were
asked
of
us
and
the
Colorado
Department
of
Human
Services
helped
me
answer
some
of
those
questions,
but
I'm
going
to
talk
a
little
bit
about
the
process
that
got
us
to
some
of
these
questions.
So
you
know
the
first
one.
You
know
we
were
looking
at.
D
You
know
caseworker
burnout
and
the
fact
that
we
know
that
about
every
two
and
a
half
to
three
and
a
half
years.
We
see
caseworker
turnover
that
costs
our
state
sometimes
upwards,
in
the
neighborhood
of
300
to
$700,000
a
year
every
year
in
new
workforce
training
on
a
state
supervised,
County
administered
system,
where
we
are
a
low
tax
state
that
has
to
constitutionally
balance
our
budget,
that's
a
real
strain.
We
also
know
that
we
did
some
research.
D
We
work
together
on
these
issues,
and
so
I'm
gonna
put
that
in
the
chat
section
right
now
and
and
just
talk
a
little
and
it's
gonna
start
out
with
a
workload
study,
and
it's
just
a
fact
sheet
that
you'll
see
it's
a
one-page
fact
sheet,
and
you
can
look
at
that
instead
of
my
face,
which
is
always
a
step
up.
So
what
this?
What
this
was
and
I
encourage
your
state
to
do.
D
Each
of
those
are
one
case,
but
one
does
not
equal
one.
So
what
we
did
in
2014
is
we
created
a
workload
study
where
we
did
a
point-in-time
study
for
four
weeks
in
54
of
the
64
counties.
We
have
in
the
state
of
Colorado
to
really
look
at
what
are
our
keys
workers
doing
what's
taking
the
most
amount
of
time?
And
what
can
we
do
about
that
in
rural
areas?
A
lot
of
times
it
had
to
do
with
travel
in
more
urban
areas
that
might
have
been
dealing
with
documentation
in
our
statewide
child
protection
database.
D
D
The
governor
at
the
time
said:
I
can't
buy
seven
hundred
caseworkers,
but
I
will
get
you
a
hundred
caseworkers
per
year
for
as
many
years
as
I'm
in
office,
so
remarkable
first
step
and
first
start
this
year
was
the
only
budget
year.
We
didn't
add
new
caseworkers
and
that's
because
of
our
Kovach
budget
crunch
frankly.
But
what
we
did
accomplish
it
was.
D
We
have
now
a
footnote
sitting
in
our
budget
so
next
year,
when
we
are
examining
our
budget
again,
we
understand
that
we're
still
about
two
hundred
and
fifty
four
caseworkers
short
of
where
we
needed
to
be
six
years
ago.
So
take
a
look
at
that
workload.
Study
I,
really
encourage
you
in
different
states
to
find
ways
to
reproduce
that
workload,
study
and
use
even
this
Kovac
crisis
as
a
guide,
because,
while
caseworker
caseloads
may
be
going
down,
the
work
may
not
be.
There
were
also
some
questions
about
resiliency
in
our
workforce.
D
How
do
we
invest
in
that?
So
we
passed
a
bill
in
2017.
Once
again,
it
was
a
bipartisan
bill
that
is
vote
that
created
a
task
force
of
frontline
caseworkers
administrators,
County
Commissioners,
all
coming
together,
saying
what's
going
on
that,
caseworkers
are
turning
over.
Is
it
low
pay
or
what
or
is
it
something
else?
D
Angry
parents,
stalking,
stalking,
caseworkers,
sending
caseworkers
pictures
of
the
their
own
caseworkers
family
members,
and
what
we
did
is
we
said
just
like
das,
and
judges
can
keep
their
names
off
of
public
record.
We're
gonna
extend
that
same
ability
to
our
child
welfare
caseworkers.
We
did
that
2019
and
then
we
actually
took
it
a
step
further
in
2020,
because
child
support
workers
came
to
the
table
and
other
folks
and
said
you
know
what
we
were
getting
the
same
level
of
death
threats,
we're
seeing
the
same
level
and
they
go
look.
D
Because
this
is
a
great
segue,
so
these
these
are
all
the
opportunities
that
I
would
suggest
in
terms
of
hard
takeaways
that
that
you
can
do
to
implement
these
things
in
your
state
in
your
way,
through
legislation
through
executive
order
through
rulemaking,
you
name
it,
but
this
is
your
opportunity
to
do
that
and
I
look
forward
to
seeing
what
other
questions
you
have.
The
last
thing
I'll
mention
actually
that
I
completely
forgot
about
is
we
have
a
Child
Protection
Ombudsman's
office.
D
They
are
a
separate
third
party
outside
of
the
executive
branch
and
they
were
the
ones
that
actually
got
us
the
PPE
to
begin
with,
and
now
we're
making
use
of
Chafee
funds,
and
so
I'll
leave
a
link
in
the
chat
section
for
that.
But
please
just
thank
you
for
your
attention
and
I
look
forward
to
seeing
where
the
conversation
goes.
Nast
thank.
A
You
so
much
I'm
not
sure
how
this
happened,
but
somehow
we
managed
to
get
just
a
little
bit
behind
on
our
agenda,
but
that's
okay!
Thank
you!
So
much
representative
singer
for
for
sharing
all
the
efforts
that
come
in
regards
to
workforce
response
to
comb
at
19,
we'll
have
some
additional
questions
for
you
during
the
panel
I'm
going
to
turn
it
over
now,
though,
to
representative
Tara,
hello
from
Pennsylvania,
so
we'll
turn
it
over
to
you.
Thank
you.
F
F
Unfortunately,
I
know
many
of
you
as
legislators
are
pulled
in
a
lot
of
different
directions
and
we
have
to
be
a
jack-of-all-trades,
and
so
it's
unfortunate
that
representative
singer
is
term
limited,
because
that
that
not
that
he
has
that
historical
knowledge
that,
from
his
time
as
a
caseworker
is,
is
just
very
apparent
and
the
great
strides
that
he's
made
so
I.
Thank
him
for
that.
I
took
copious
notes
on
what
he
was
talking
about.
So
I
can
see
if
we
can
implement
some
of
those
items
here
in
Pennsylvania.
F
As
we
all
know,
koban
19
has
greatly
disrupted
childhood
here
in
Pennsylvania,
we
have
had
about
a
50%
reduction
in
child
abuse
reporting,
and
that
is
probably
the
same
in
many
of
your
states.
Here
we
have.
Educators
are
the
number
one
reporters
of
child
abuse
and
neglect
of
suspected
childhood,
suspected
abuse
and
neglect
and
health
care
workers,
including
doctors
and
pediatricians.
F
Those
health
care
professionals
are
the
number
two
reporter.
So
we
have
children
largely
disconnected
with
the
child
care
providers,
teachers,
school
nurses,
clergy-
and
this
is
going
to
continue
now
that
we
have
we're
looking
at
two
more
months
of
this
vacation
of
this
shelter
at
home,
two
months
now
of
school
vacation
and
then
the
problem
of
how
children
are
going
to
be
back
in
the
classroom
in
the
fall
and
for
how
long
that
lasts.
F
So
we
hear
that
a
lot
of
this
is
still
going
undetected
due
to
the
limited
amount
of
children
are
in
the
general
public
on
April
16th,
the
United,
the
United
Nations
secretary-general
did
a
statement
elevating
aware
and
talking
about
family
stress
levels,
rising
and
children
as
being
victims
and
witnesses
of
the
growing
domestic
violence
and
abuse,
and
also
the
children
are
more
vulnerable
to
online
exploitation.
Right
now,
during
this
period
and
grooming,
as
well
as
a
lot
of
cyberbullying
and
violent
content,
exposure
and
and
those
are
items
that
the
caseworkers
are
going
to
be
seeing.
F
Maybe
a
growth
in
error,
like
representative
singer
pennsylvania,
is
state
supervised
only
and
county
administered.
So
the
complaint
that
we've
had
from
caseworkers
is
that
this
supervisory
role
of
the
state-
that's
more
hands-off
handing
down
guidance
and
less
boots
on
the
ground
involved
that
that
has
really
disrupted
our
state
from
being
able
to
properly
address,
and
you
know,
work
quickly
during
this
pandemic.
So
we
already
had
a
system
that
was,
you
know,
broken
and
had
a
lot
of
you
know
many
systemic
issues,
and
now
the
pandemic
has
added
to
that.
We
had.
F
F
People
are
hesitant
to
come
forward
as
foster
parents,
open
their
homes,
risk
exposure,
there's
still
a
lot
of
fear
associated
associated
with
kovat
19
exposure
and
having
people
in
your
home
and
having
taking
in
children
or
even
getting
approved
as
a
foster
parent.
We're
short
on
caseworkers
and
a
lot
of
them
are
vastly
underpaid,
and
I
have
a
bill.
Donna
is
going
to
make
the
links
available.
F
F
We
just
got
an
ombudsman
in
Pennsylvania
State
child
advocate
and
that's
something
that
I'm
going
to
be
exploring,
as
well
as
the
designation
of
caseworkers
as
frontline
responders,
and
we
have
one
of
our
items
here
in
Pennsylvania
we
had-
and
many
of
you
would
have
this
issue
as
well-
is
children
that
are
in
foster
care
that
are
these
older
transitional
youth
aging
out
during
the
pandemic?
So
if
you
have
a
family
support
system,
you
were
able
to
come
home
from
college
to
your
family,
lose
your
job
and
and
come
back
to
a
family.
F
That
would
say
yes
live
with
us
and
and
we'll
help
you
we'll
help.
You
fill
out
pandemic
unemployment
assistance.
You
know,
come
and
live
with
us.
It's
okay,
that
you
don't
have
a
job
and
older
foster.
Youth
do
not
have
that
support
system,
especially
if
they're
transitioning
is
supposed
to
be
transitioning
out
during
this
time.
So
we
had
65
percent
of
these
older
transition,
youth
who
lost
employment
and
half
of
them.
F
We
had
65
percent
that
were
working
before
the
pandemic,
lose
their
on
him,
lose
their
employment
and
half
of
those
who
applied
did
not
receive
assistance.
We
also
had
nearly
one
in
five
of
those
older
youth
had
run
out
of
food
when
we
surveyed
them.
We
also
had
23
percent
of
young
people
reported
that
they
were
forced
to
move
or
fear
that
they
would
be
forced
to
move
out
of
their
current
living
situation.
F
So
we've
been
working
with
our
colleges
about
regarding
housing,
any
housing
they
might
have
available
during
the
summer
months
now
and
37
percent
reported
having
a
family
member,
they
could
rely
on
one
in
five
of
those
youth
said
that
they
were
completely
on
their
own,
so
other
states
had
past
executive
orders
in
order
to
cover
these
youth
and
I
have
a
House
bill.
Donna
Wilson
I
sent
it
to
you,
I'm,
not
good,
at
screen
sharing.
So.
A
F
A
perfect
Thank
You
Donna,
so
we,
interestingly
our
our
governor
in
Pennsylvania.
He
did
many
executive
orders,
many
that
have
been
arguably
over
reaching,
but
we
asked
him
to
do
an
executive
order
for
a
moratorium
on
aging
out
of
foster
care
during
a
pandemic,
and
he
has
has
declined
to
do
this
executive
order.
So
we
do
have
a
piece
of
legislation:
Ohio
Alaska,
California,
Rhode
Island.
They
did
executive
orders
and
if
your
state
has
not
addressed
this,
you
may
want
to
and
I'll
help
you.
F
A
You
so
much
representative
to
Hill
I
mean
you
all
shared
some
really
rich
content
and
I'm
gonna
turn
it
over
to
Nina,
really
quick
to
do
a
quick
poll
of
of
our
participants
and
then
we're
gonna
dig
right
in
I.
Apologize
I,
don't
know
how
we
got
behind
time,
but
it's
going
to
limit
the
amount
of
questions
that
were
able
to
have
you
all
dialogue
on,
but
we're
gonna
we're
gonna
do
that
quickly,
so
Nina
I'm
gonna
turn
it
over
to
you
to
do
this
poll
and
then
we're
gonna
go
quickly
into
our
panel
discussion.
A
C
A
Thank
You
Nina
for
gathering
that
information
and
I'm
actually
just
going
to
start
with
a
question
that
talks
about
that
for
our
panels
and
for
our
panelists.
So
the
question
is:
how
can
legislators
assist
with
providing
caseworkers
the
necessary
PPE?
I
think
you
all
have
mentioned
this.
This
isn't
the
end
of
code
at
19.
You
know,
although
states
are
you
know,
starting
to
open
slowly,
there's
still
a
need
for
our
workforce
to
be
equipped
with
equipment
and
also
to
be
protected,
and
so
how
the
states
pay
for
this.
In
this
tight
budget
time.
D
Can
I
jump
in
real,
quick,
absolutely
all
right
so
in
so
this
is
what
I
know
so.
The
Children's
Bureau
released
new
guidance
recently
allowing
for
the
use
of
title
4b
and
I
mentioned
before
Chafee
funds
to
assist
with
purchasing
of
cell
phones
cell
phone
plans
to
facilitate
maintain
family
contacts
and
court
contact.
Also
purchasing
PPP
excuse
me
PPE
as
an
allowable
cost
and
so
and
then
I
shared
a
link
about
what
the
office
of
the
child
protection
Ombudsman
did
to
just
get
out
of
the
gate
on
this
as
well.
D
A
You
so
much
anyone
else
on
the
panel
want
to
add
anything
additional
or
can
I
move
on
to
another
question:
okay
heads
nod.
So
how
has
your
state
representative
till
you
bring
this
up
and
dr.
McCarthy?
You
also
talked
a
little
bit
about
this
as
well
in
terms
of
the
decrease
of
child
abuse
and
neglect
reporting
right
now.
A
You
know
all
three
of
you
really
I
want
to
hear
your
thoughts
on
how
we
either
dispel
this
myth
or
respond
to
this
notion
of
this
increase.
I
know
dr.
McCarthy,
you
talked
a
little
bit
about.
You
know
warm
lines
that
sort
of
thing
so
I'm
gonna
pass
hope
you
got
that
question
and
see
what
your
thoughts
are
on
that
this.
F
Is
Tara
I
can
address
a
little
bit
of
it
with
what
we've
done
in
Pennsylvania.
We
actually
have
a
lot
of
different
lines
that
you
can
call
our
Secretary
of
Health
and
the
governor.
They
were
doing
daily
briefings,
so
we
asked
them
to
just
tack
on
a
public
service
announcement
and
try
to
do
public
service
announcements
that
were
helpful
since
they
had.
You
know
mass
view
of
viewership
going
on
that.
Even
talking
about
you
know
how
to
calm
a
crying
baby
shaken
baby
we've
seen
a
lot
of
those
cases.
F
You
know
calling
the
warm
line.
We
have
a
warm
line
and
information
line
and
the
warm
line
is
supposed
to
be
confidential.
There
are
some
issues,
I
guess
with
it.
If
there's
something
really
abuse
related
that
and
that
would
end
up
getting
used
against
the
caller,
but
people
aren't
really
aware
of
that
and
talking
about
child
line
all
the
time
we
have.
It's
called
child
line
for
us
when
what
you
call
in
for
that
really
just
public
service
announcements,
so
there
should
be
so
much
more.
F
Most
of
it
is
organic,
like
a
county,
doing
zoom
support
groups
or
at-risk
families
or
nonprofits
doing
support
groups.
But,
oh
you
know
RESP,
it's
making
rest
that's
available,
especially
grandparents
that
are
out
there
raising
grandchildren
that
they
have
six
grandchildren
in
a
house,
I
mean
we
have
some
really
tough
situations
that
families
are
not
getting
breaks
from,
or
assistance
assistance
with.
So
just
trying
to
push
those
and
I
think
we
really
need
to
have
a
call
to
action
over
the
next
60
days.
If
we're
gonna
be
home.
E
Like
to
add
that
I
think
in
many
states,
April,
May
and
June
were
are
usually
the
months
when
teachers
file
a
lot
of
reports
when
school
districts
file
a
lot
of
reports,
a
school
is
ending
particularly
related
to
attendance.
So
if
you
look
at
patterns
over
ten
years,
we
see
that
pattern
anyway.
So
I
think
the
reduced
reports
in
the
summer
is
not
as
unusual,
but
what
it
does
is
we
know
that
teachers,
if
all
the
mandated
reporters,
are
the
largest
group
of
reporters
that
there
are
and
so
I
think
we
have
to
ask.
E
The
question
is
how
how
are
we
working
better
as
communities
with
schools
and
families
to
really
provide
the
kinds
of
supports
that
families
need
to
parent
effectively,
and
some
of
that
could
be
economic
supports
warm
lines.
I
think
are
another
great
example.
What
we're
hearing
from
parent
advocates
now
is
that
families
are
actually
coming
together
and
helping
each
other.
So
will
we
see
this
increase
in
reports?
We
don't
know
if
the
pattern
continues
and
teachers
continue,
how
welfare
is
the
place
where
they
call.
There
aren't
other
service
opportunities
available.
B
E
Us
reset
and
ask
ourselves
our
neglect
statutes.
The
way
we
want
them.
Are
they
really
bringing
in
to
child
welfare?
The
kinds
of
cases
that
should
be
average
neglect
reports
across
the
country
are
sixty
point.
Eight
percent
of
all
reports
we
think,
is
child
welfare.
The
place
where
neglect
reports
belong
not
its
original
intent
and
the
original
legislation.
E
A
Really
good
and
I
actually
want
I
want
a
segue
off
of
the
last
thing
that
you
just
said,
dr.
McCarthy
and
just
really
allow
you
each
one
minute
to
just
answer
this
final
question,
which
is:
how
does
the
pandemic
provide
an
opportunity
for
us
to
build
back
the
child
welfare
system
better
and
you're,
already
unmuted,
dr.
McCarthy
Saul?
Let
you
start
us
and
then
I'll
hand
it
off
into
the
order.
You
all
spoke
if
that
makes
sense.
Oh
my.
E
Gosh
I
can
think
of
so
many
things
and
I
have
a
minute,
but
one
of
the
things
was
connection.
We
heard
across
the
board
that
meters
in
child
welfare
felt
more
connected
to
their
workforce
than
ever
before.
What
a
beautiful
thing
right
people
were
talking
to
each
other,
instead
of
just
passing
each
other
in
the
hall
or
running
into
the
bathroom
to
catch
in
up
with
each
other.
They
were
having
real
conversations.
E
So
that
would
be
one
thing:
let's
maintain
those
connections
between
our
leadership
and
our
frontline
workers,
and
then
the
other
thing
is:
is
our
child,
who
needs
to
be
in
Child
Protective
Services?
What
should
the
main
focus
of
an
investigatory
child
safety
and
risk
assessment
system
be
with
families
that
just
need
a
little
extra
help,
a
little
extra
resource?
E
D
Well,
this
is
an
easy
one
to
answer
in
a
minute:
it's
right
up
there
with
figuring
out
world
peace.
So
you
know
what
I
would
say
is
even
the
families
first
prevention
services
Act
has
provided
us
with
a
new
opportunity
to
look
at
prevention
measures
and
figure
out
what
those
look
like
for
each
of
our
states.
Colorado
has
historically
had
some
of
the
highest
child
care
rates
in
the
nation.
F
You
just
to
piggyback
off
of
the
family
first
prevention
services
act:
Pennsylvania
has
actually
delayed
their
application
for
that
now,
for
it's
gonna
be
almost
three
years
that
we
keep
extending
the
deadline.
So
a
special
seminar
on
that
I
think
would
be
really
helpful
for
states
to
properly
target
what
we
want
to
fund
and
the
type
of
services
like
nurse
Family,
Partnership
and
partnerships
specialized
child
care.
F
There's
so
many
things
we
could
be
doing
to
keep
families
together,
rather
than
throwing
them
into
the
child
welfare
system
as
a
whole,
as
Mary
was
talking
about
so
I
think
the
that's
part
of
it.
The
proper
diagnosis
when
you,
when
you
get
these
cases
of
whether
a
family
falls
into
a
child
protection
bucket
or
a
general
or
general
services,
and
and
so
many
families.
You
know
if
you
have
mental
health
and
poverty.
F
There's
the
animal
abuse
cases
that
things
that
are
overlooked
are
allowing
police
to
better
identify
child
abuse
and
just
following
through
on
it,
so
there's
so
much
work
to
be
done
and
I
do
think.
The
pandemic
has
really
brought
a
lot
of
that
to
light
that
different
ways
that
we
could
be
working
and
tackling
these
problems.
Thank.
A
C
I
want
to
thank
all
of
our
wonderful
panelists
for
discussing
the
challenges
that
the
child
welfare
workforce
is
currently
facing
and
providing
information
on
how
lawmakers
can
support
the
workforce
during
and
past
the
pandemic.
You
see
here
all
of
our
resources,
our
general
NCSL
co19,
webpage,
others
Human
Services.
We
have
child
welfare
resources
related
to
public
19,
online
information
on
the
family,
first
prevention
services,
Act
lawmakers
comments
on
racism
and
legislature.
C
Statements
on
racism
as
well
and
I
want
to
remind
you
all
of
our
next
virtual
meeting
and
I'll,
get
back
to
we've
got
mom
sorry,
there's
more
resources
here
from
the
national
child.
Welfare
work
course
institute,
including
their
weapon,
a
webinar
hosted
by
the
Quality
Improvement
Center
information
on
workforce
by
the
travel
for
information
gateway
and
the
Children's
Bureau
of
combat
19
resources
and
coming
up
Wednesday
July
15th
at
2:00
p.m.
Eastern
is
our
next
zoom
virtual
meeting
understanding
the
needs
of
Foster
and
kinship
caregivers
in
child
welfare.