In this article, Chapin Hall’s Fred Wulczyn predicts demand for child protection and foster care will surge following the pandemic.
Wulczyn assumes resources won’t keep pace, and urges child welfare leaders to develop policies for difficult ethical decisions that will likely arise — for example when to leave children in dangerous situations versus screen them into an overburdened system — and not force workers to make them alone.
Medical ethics provides useful reference points, such as these guidelines developed for rationing scarce resources during World War II and Hurricane Katrina.
However, utilitarian healthcare principles like prioritizing patients with the highest potential survival rates don’t translate easily to child welfare.
Child welfare leaders should fight for funding that matches the need, but also develop ethical guidance to support workers should difficult decisions become necessary.
Following the pandemic, how do you think our world will change, and how might those changes impact children and families?