key: cord-0062516-cekbb0pu
authors: Dombo, Eileen A; Sosa, Leticia Villarreal; Sabatino, Christine
title: When a Crisis Becomes the New Normal: Supporting Children, Families, and Schools during and after COVID-19
date: 2021-04-16
journal: Child Sch
DOI: 10.1093/cs/cdab004
sha: cd57dfd8a91418935ac140764e5c5fe6b0153d7a
doc_id: 62516
cord_uid: cekbb0pu

nan

I n March 2020, as transmission of the novel coronavirus increased in the United States and schools shifted to distance learning, we began to think lessons would be learned that would be of value to school social workers in the future. At the time, we thoughtor perhaps hoped-that this would be a short-term adjustment. We thought that this disruption would be more in line with those related to natural and human-made disasters.

What we have learned, however, is that COVID-19 has challenged our schools and practitioners in unprecedented ways. It has caused us to consider pandemic preparedness and to reconsider crisis response and trauma-informed practices in the context of the pervasive and insidious inequities in our communities that have been exacerbated by both the pandemic and the inadequate or failed response (Basset & Linos, 2020) . Significant areas of concern, many of which are the focus of articles in this issue, relate to educational disparities, racism, white supremacy, mental health and traumatic reactions, distance learning and the digital divide, and ethics and leadership. Although we naively hoped the pandemic would be over by publication of this issue, we are now acutely aware that we are continuing to practice in the midst of the pandemic while also addressing the effects on schools, children, and families.

The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed just how much society relies on schools to address needs that are not solely educational but also social and emotional in nature (Haynes, 2002; Long, 2020) . It is also clear that schools are not given sufficient resources to address those needs (Trujillo & Renee, 2012) . In addition, the pandemic has put a clearer spotlight on racial inequalities that affect access to both basic needs and technological resources to support remote learning. Research by McKinsey & Company has revealed that students of color were three to five months behind the expected levels of learning, and Black and Latinx students were less likely to have access to the devices and Internet service necessary for remote learning (Dorn, Hancock, Sarakatsannis, & Viruleg, 2020) . As a result, a national dialogue has evolved with regard to how we get back to in-person school and what school will look like when we get there (Harris, 2020) . This dialogue includes debates about who should be among the first to receive vaccines (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC] , 2021), when and how schools should reopen, and when it will be safe for children and teachers to be back in the classroom every day (CDC, 2020; Turner, 2021) . If schools are considered essential, shouldn't teachers be at the front of the line for vaccines?

The debate about in-person education has pitted teachers against families across the country (Manno, 2020) . Teachers' unions have been outspoken about the protection of teachers in this situation (Bellware & Reiss, 2021) . Many parents want schools to reopen, and many teachers feel that the need to consider their safety is being overlooked, let alone their own child and family obligations. This quandary pits employees against administrations and, in many cases, creates a hostile work environment that is not conducive to safe learning for children. One wonders what past experience can teach us about the present moment.

The arc of education in the United States has been interesting to track. Changes in laws regarding education of children have been greatly influenced by child labor laws, child protection efforts, special education laws, and initiatives to improve literacy rates. Although there are still exceptions for homeschooling cultural norms, it is true that, in most states, educational neglect is a serious issue that can warrant the intervention of Child Protective Services. Schools provide much more than a focus on reading, writing, and arithmetic. Schools have become a safe haven for many children and adolescents who need nutrition, supervision, and social and emotional interventions. In the only other worldwide pandemic of 1918, the United States did not have mandatory school attendance, and equal access to technology was certainly not a consideration. Now, schools are central community institutions, and we have no models from past pandemics from which to learn.

The function of educational institutions has expanded in the United States, and many families have relied on before-and after-school care to fill in child care gaps. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we have seen the largest decrease in the number of women in the workforce, and this decrease is largely attributed to the need to supervise at-home learning as well as a lack of child care (Bateman & Ross, 2020) . This shift is predicted to have long-term ripple effects on gender equality, family economic health, and the labor market in general. The lack of in-person school has called greater attention to the lack of affordable and available child care in the United States. Although school is not day care, it has unofficially been relied on as such for decades. This reality has brought forth a larger call for attention to how society treats those who care for children, in both early education and the schoolage years. As a result, it is clear that the newly installed Biden administration must attend to these concerns. We call on them to develop an Office of Equity, Family and Community Partnerships, and Social Supports that has a school social worker as deputy secretary who can serve as a federal point person to address these concerns. Namely, this leader could address concerns related to all pupil personnel-in COVID times and beyond. School social workers and other pupil personnel fill vital roles in times of crisis by assisting families with resources, addressing mental health concerns, providing trauma-informed supports and training, and assuming leadership to promote equity and support for minoritized students (Lucio, Krough, Stalnecker, & Villarreal Sosa, 2020) . Attention to how these workers are overstretched and lack adequate support as well as how to fill those gaps is sorely needed (Karp, 2020; Kelly, McCoy, & Ochocki, 2020) . We need a champion at the federal level to focus attention on racial inequalities in education, the school-to-prison pipeline, traumainformed schools, and the myriad of social and emotional issues facing our youths if we are to figure a way out that puts children ahead and not behind.

School social workers are poised to assume leadership in this arena, and we are proud to present the articles in this special issue as a platform for the voices of those on the frontlines to offer us a road map for the way forward. We strive to understand all that is needed-and to find a holistic view and picture of how to serve children and schools for the reality we live in as well as the future we hope to achieve.

Trump gave up on fighting the virus. Now we are paying for his laziness: The federal government never did the work to prepare for a safe reopening

Why has COVID-19 been especially harmful for working women?

Chicago teachers deadlocked with school district over reopening plans

COVID-19 and learning loss-Disparities grow and students need help

How will COVID-19 change our schools in the long run?

Addressing students' social and emotional needs: The role of mental health teams in schools

From the race to the top to the plunge to the bottom: The pandemic and federal education policy

SSWAA response to COVID-19 health crisis and the role of school social workers

How community schools were better prepared for COVID-19 crisis. NEA News

The impact of school social workers during the COVID-19 crisis

Here's what parents really think about reopening school buildings

Democratic school turnarounds: Pursuing equity and learning from evidence. Boulder, CO: National Education Policy Center

Where is it safe to reopen schools? New research offers answers

Leticia Villarreal Sosa, PhD, is professor

AND SABATINO / When a Crisis Becomes the New Normal