I hope when COVID is<\/em> behind us we will continue to use these practices to make our child welfare system better than ever.<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Certainly this is what I\u2019ve learned in talking with people in North Carolina\u2019s child welfare system. In the midst of a crisis, resource parents, social workers, and others across the state have made amazing adaptations. I want to share some of these with you now in the hope that when COVID is behind us we will continue to use these practices to make our child welfare system better than ever.<\/p>\n Telehealth<\/strong>. COVID has taught many of us how useful telehealth can be. For example, prior to the pandemic, Crossnore School and Children\u2019s Home made no use of telehealth. By July, 67% of their outpatient therapy was provided via telehealth or telephone.<\/p>\n \u201cTelehealth is not appropriate for everyone,\u201d says Meredith Martin, Crossnore\u2019s director of program excellence. \u201cBut we have seen better results for some. Personally, I have seen increased vulnerability within the therapy space. Some of my adolescent clients appear more comfortable relating to me using telehealth. While we all look forward to life without COVID-19, I believe telehealth will always be a part of our future practice.\u201d<\/p>\n Supporting Parents<\/strong>. More agencies are using virtual trainings and support groups to increase their support for foster, adoptive, and kinship caregivers. Many parents love these platforms because they don\u2019t require travel, childcare, or other barriers associated with in-person events.<\/p>\n \u201cWe found zoom to be a blessing,\u201d Rowan County foster parent Denise Russell told me. \u201cWe were headed home from our summer vacation and were still able to participate. It has been very helpful for our busy lives.\u201d<\/p>\n Recruiting, Training, and Licensing<\/strong>. Agencies are also using technology creatively so they can continue to recruit, train, and license new foster families. Rowan County DSS, for example, uses Zoom to hold information meetings for prospective resource parents. Social work supervisor Nadean Quarterman says this actually expanded their reach. \u201cWe found we could reach more people. One couple actually sat in on a meeting while sitting in the car on their date night!\u201d<\/p>\n Rowan is also approaching foster parent pre-service training differently. \u201cWe are now facilitating Deciding Together<\/em> and TIPS-MAPP<\/em> trainings twice a day at different times to ensure social distancing,\u201d says Quarterman. \u201cI am hopeful we will continue to use online training post-COVID. We are able to reach more people due to the convenience of not leaving home.\u201d<\/p>\n Chatham County DSS made a similar pivot. When the pandemic hit, they quickly moved from in-person delivery of TIPS-MAPP to online offerings of Deciding Together<\/em>. They even brought in contract trainers to support the shift. According to Chatham\u2019s Katelynn Cannizarro, this enabled the agency to train over 20 families in 12 weeks\u2014more than usual. In addition, the number of families interested in fostering doubled and more are waiting to be trained. Chatham\u2019s training team believes offering Deciding Together<\/em> virtually helps them get to know families better, which may make licensing faster. Chatham County DSS is actively tracking that data as a part of their Diligent Recruitment and Retention Plan.<\/p>\n Licensing Kin<\/strong>. Children\u2019s Home Society of NC has discovered that the virtual preservice trainings for kinship families they\u2019ve been holding since the pandemic began are broadening their geographic reach. Jamaica Pfister, their Director of Business Development and Advocacy, says offering a virtual Caring for Our Own<\/em> training for kinship families allows them to serve kin in counties where they wouldn\u2019t necessarily have the resources to provide an in-person class. \u201cFor example,\u201d she says, \u201ctwo families in Avery County will be attending the upcoming training.\u201d<\/p>\n Family Time\/Visitation<\/strong>. For health and safety reasons, Phase 1 of quarantine limited face-to-face visits between children in foster care and their families. Families missed seeing each other in-person, but many agencies found video conferencing actually led to more frequent contact between young people and their families. Once COVID is behind us, agencies may wish to use both video conferencing and in-person visitation. This could lead to stronger connections between children and their families, more shared parenting between birth and resource families, and more visiting time overall.<\/p>\n Engaging Families<\/strong>. Using virtual and telephonic mediums to meet, provide interventions, and engage in discussions regarding permanency may also increase engagement of families involved with child welfare. \u201cAs a facilitator of Permanency Planning Review Meetings,\u201d explains Chatham County DSS supervisor Wilder Horner, \u201cI\u2019ve noticed an increase in participation and attendance by parents, their support people, kinship providers, and parent attorneys.\u201d<\/p>\n A number of social workers told me they want to add telephone and video conferencing to their face-to-face contacts with families and children after COVID-19. Why? Because they feel it could increase relationship building, make contact with families more frequent, and improve families\u2019 access to social workers.<\/p>\n
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