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Child Welfare in the Midst of the Coronavirus Pandemic - Emerging evidence from Germany

Focusing on Germany, this article aims to explore some of the effects of the COVID-19 measures on children and families. Furthermore, it examines a number of key challenges for child protection practitioners. These include identifying potential cases of child maltreatment without the support normally provided by teachers and child carers; and establishing and maintaining contact with clients under physical distancing rules.

Under COVID-19, the child welfare system faces unprecedented challenges and uncertainty (e.g. (partial) loss of cooperation opportunities with key partners) whilst showing signs of remarkable resilience (e.g. child protection workers’ ability to adjust to new conditions). While the potential of digitalising work processes in child protection has become apparent in the pandemic, the proven continuous face-to-face contact between practitioners and their clients is neither dispensable nor replaceable.

Author(s): 
Birgit Jentsch, Brigitte Schnock
Year of Publication: 
2020
Program themes: 
Geographic location: 
Resource Type: 
Journal article - abstract only
Language: 
English
Section: 
Resource Database