Experiences and responses of child protection professionals during COVID-19: Lessons learned from professionals around the globe

Carmit Katz; Afnan Attrash-Najjar; Kathryn Maguire-Jack; Natalia Varela; Sidnei Rinaldo Priolo-Filho; Annie Bérubé; Olivia D Chang; Delphine Collin-Vézina; Ansie Fouché; Ma'ayan Jacobson; David Kaawa-Mafigiri; Nadia Massarweh; Pablo Munoz; George M Tarabulsy; Ashwini Tiwari; Hayley Walker-Williams; Christine Werkele

doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2024.106688

Experiences and responses of child protection professionals during COVID-19: Lessons learned from professionals around the globe

Child Abuse Negl. 2024 Feb 13:106688. doi: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2024.106688. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Carmit Katz¹, Afnan Attrash-Najjar², Kathryn Maguire-Jack³, Natalia Varela⁴, Sidnei Rinaldo Priolo-Filho⁵, Annie Bérubé⁶, Olivia D Chang⁷, Delphine Collin-Vézina⁸, Ansie Fouché⁹, Ma'ayan Jacobson¹⁰, David Kaawa-Mafigiri¹¹, Nadia Massarweh¹², Pablo Munoz¹³, George M Tarabulsy¹⁴, Ashwini Tiwari¹⁵, Hayley Walker-Williams¹⁶, Christine Werkele¹⁷

Affiliations

¹ Bob Shapell School of Social Work, Tel Aviv University, Chaim Levanon 30, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel. Electronic address: [email protected].
² Bob Shapell School of Social Work, Tel Aviv University, Chaim Levanon 30, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel. Electronic address: [email protected].
³ School of Social Work, University of Michigan, 1080 S. University Ave., Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA. Electronic address: [email protected].
⁴ Faculty of Social and Human Sciences, Externado University, Calle 12 No. 1-17 Este, Bogotá, Colombia. Electronic address: [email protected].
⁵ Laboratório de Pesquisa, Prevenção e Intervenção em Psicologia Forense - Universidade Tuiuti do Paraná, Brazil.
⁶ The Department of Psychoeducation and Psychology, Université du Québec en Outaouais, Canada. Electronic address: [email protected].
⁷ School of Social Work, University of Michigan, 1080 S. University Ave., Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA. Electronic address: [email protected].
⁸ The Centre for Research on Children and Families, McGill University, Suite 106, Wilson Hall, 3506 University Street, Montreal, Quebec H3A 2A7, Canada. Electronic address: [email protected].
⁹ Department of Social Wellbeing, United Arab Emirates University, P.O. Box 15551, Al Ain, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates; North-West University, Vanderbijlpark Campus, COMPRES research entity, Gauteng, South Africa. Electronic address: [email protected].
¹⁰ Haruv Institute, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Mount Scopus, Jerusalem, Israel. Electronic address: [email protected].
¹¹ Department of Social Work and Social Administration, Makerere University, Uganda.
¹² The Al-Qasemi Academic College of Education, P.O. Box 124, Baqa-El-Gharbia 3010000, Israel.
¹³ Departamento de Psicología, Nacional Universidad de Colombia, Building 205 - Of. 117, Bogota, DC, Colombia. Electronic address: [email protected].
¹⁴ Faculty of Social Sciences, Pavillon Charles-De Koninck 1030, Avenue des Sciences-Humaines Suite 3456, Laval University, Quebec, Quebec G1V 0A6, Canada. Electronic address: [email protected].
¹⁵ The Institute of Public and Preventive Health, Augusta University, 1120 15th St, Augusta, GA 30912, USA. Electronic address: [email protected].
¹⁶ North-West University, Vanderbijlpark Campus, COMPRES research entity, Gauteng, South Africa. Electronic address: [email protected].
¹⁷ The Offord Centre for Child Studies, McMaster University, 1280 Main St. W. - MIP 201A, Hamilton, ON L8S 4K1, Canada. Electronic address: [email protected].

PMID: 38355365
DOI: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2024.106688

Abstract

Background: COVID-19 significantly worsened already challenging circumstances for children and their families and globally increased the likelihood of child maltreatment. This risk heightened the urgency of child protection professionals in preventing child maltreatment and defending children's rights. The vast and growing body of research on protecting children from child maltreatment during COVID-19 has emphasized practitioners' tremendous difficulty in this arena.

Objective: The current international study sought to identify the experiences and responses of child protection professionals to child maltreatment during COVID-19.

Participants and setting: Five real-time, virtual focus groups were conducted among professionals who work with children from countries around the globe.

Method: Reflexive thematic analysis was employed to analyze the focus group transcripts.

Results: The participants identified their experiences and challenges in performing their role of protecting children. Additionally, they shared context-adapted and innovative responses to child maltreatment, while emphasizing self-care and their mental health.

Conclusions: The results highlighted that child protection was significantly more challenging during the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, they underlined the importance of establishing practices and policies for child protection in crisis times as well as ensuring both children's and professionals' well-being and mental health.

Keywords: COVID-19; Child protection professionals; Children's rights; Responses to child maltreatment.