As a parent—or aspiring parent—you’re already dealing with uncertainty every day. The last thing you needed was to have caseworkers become more difficult to reach or to have the routines you’ve worked so hard to establish unravel as schools close and providers become overwhelmed.
It’s an ever-changing landscape, but the reality is that wherever you are in your adoption journey, everything is most likely going to take longer as workers and resources are focused on keeping kids safe. Patience has always been an important quality in people who foster and adopt, and that is doubly true today.
We value the trust you’ve placed in AdoptUSKids. We’ll do our best to be a resource and keep you informed about changes that are affecting state child welfare systems and resources to help you build your family and support the children in your care.
We’re talking with child welfare workers, collecting information from families, and working with trusted national and local organizations to bring you resources as we have them. To start, here are a few that we think might be of interest:
- For the latest information about COVID-19: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the National Institutes for Health, and your local health department are where you should turn.
- Parent/Caregiver Guide to Helping Families Cope With the Coronavirus Disease, from the National Child Traumatic Stress Network
Tips for talking with children about COVID-19 from both the CDC and the New York Times. - A psychologist’s tips for staying clear-headed from the University of California at San Francisco.
- “Downloadable Resources & Strategies to Get You Through the Pandemic Panic” from Boystown, including home-learning resources and a list of educational videos for when you allow screen time.
- A comprehensive roundup of resources and recommendations for supporting children’s well-being during the pandemic from Child Trends.
- Think of Us offers the “COVID-19 Command Center,” library of practical information to help youth in foster care and agencies who serve them.
We’d love to hear from you!
If you have questions or suggestions to share about how you are coping, send us an email: updates@adoptuskids.org.
