In California and other states across the country, the COVID-19 pandemic is hampering the child welfare system. A patchwork of new rules and guidelines meant to slow the spread of the virus has relaxed requirements for face-to-face meetings between caseworkers investigating abuse and children, leaving vulnerable children out of sight and caseworkers stuck at home.
In their story, published in the New York Times, reporters at the University of California, Berkeley, Graduate School of Journalism, with a grant from FIJ, reveal the crisis in our child welfare system, which has left scores of investigations into allegations of child abuse or neglect sharply curtailed.