{"id":9585,"date":"2020-04-06T21:45:32","date_gmt":"2020-04-07T04:45:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/?p=9585"},"modified":"2020-04-07T06:00:05","modified_gmt":"2020-04-07T13:00:05","slug":"post3-71","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/?p=9585","title":{"rendered":"“While coronavirus has children home and families strained, abuse and neglect could rise”, Rockland\/Westchester Journal News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sophie Grosserode, USA Today Network,\u00a0<\/span>April 6, 2020,\u00a0April 6, 2020<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The coronavirus pandemic has left 3 million New York children home from school, with untold numbers cared for by adults facing rising job,\u00a0health and food insecurities, all within the close quarters required for\u00a0social distancing.<\/p>\n

One expected result, experts say, will be child neglect and abuse.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere’s real worry about child safety and well being,\u201d said Danielle Weisberg, director of child welfare at the Westchester Institute for Human Development in Valhalla.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe families that come to the attention of the child welfare system are already vulnerable on a good day,” she said. “Given that economic instability is a significant contributing factor for child abuse and child neglect … we’re bound to see an increase in cases of child abuse.\u201d<\/p>\n

Child welfare advocates fear that a potential crisis will be hidden from public view.<\/p>\n

Vulnerable children are isolated at home, and cut off from teachers, after-school workers and others who are trained to spot and report signs of abuse. So the number of reported cases is already dropping, including in Westchester and Rockland counties, even as the social conditions that lead to abuse are intensifying.<\/p>\n

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EDUCATION: <\/a><\/strong>How are schools teaching kids who can’t get online?<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

FAMILIES:<\/a><\/strong> Coronavirus sends adult children back ‘home’<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

DINING:<\/a><\/strong> Coronavirus changes how people will celebrate Passover<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf we don’t have schools to report\u00a0the kids who show up with belt marks and slap marks … they’re not going to\u00a0come to the attention of Child Protective Services,” said Dr. Nina Agrawal, a pediatrician who specializes in child abuse and\u00a0practices in New York. “They’re not going to go to the doctors.\u201d<\/p>\n

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When schools eventually reopen and children return to public view, experts fear that a dark reality may come to light, requiring the swift intervention of educators, therapists and the child welfare system.<\/p>\n

Main reporters aren’t\u00a0in school now<\/h2>\n