As the novel coronavirus continued to spread across the D.C. region in early spring, social workers at the district’s child protective services agency began to panic: Their bosses appeared oblivious to the toll this would take on their workforce. Dozens of sick or symptomatic employees, knockoff N95 masks, and COVID-19-positive foster children staying overnight at agency headquarters — in violation of a court order — would be just the beginning for the agency.
Writing for Washington City Paper, FIJ grantee Morgan Baskin investigated the Child and Family Services Agency’s reaction to the threat the pandemic posed. She found the agency delayed or never implemented critical interventions that could have made vulnerable staff and children safer.
Read Baskin’s full report, here.