The “Addressing the Long-Term Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Children and Families” ad-hoc committee of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) released a report on the long-term effects of COVID-19 on children living in high-risk communities, with consequences and solutions presented by the committee. CDE affiliate & Associate Professor of Social Work Marci Ybarra serves on this NASEM committee, which presented six recommendations in their recent report:
- Prioritizing the immediate and short-term effects—
direct and indirect—of the pandemic on children and
their families. - Mitigating potential shifts in the life-course trajectories
of children and families who have experienced the
pandemic. - Preparing schools and early childhood providers for
the next pandemic (“pandemic proofing”). - Addressing physical and mental health needs
- Addressing economic and social policy to expand key
safety-net programs. - Collecting and quickly responding to comprehensive,
child- and family-focused data to help understand the
pandemic’s ongoing effects on children and families.
“Our report found that those who struggled before the pandemic were also the hardest hit in its aftermath. Our recommendations to bolster the safety net and invest in education reflect these findings. My hope is that local, state, and federal governments seriously consider these recommendations not only in the near term but also over time to mitigate the pandemics lingering effects.” Ybarra shared.
NASEM has developed helpful resources to accompany the report, including an issue brief for educators and an interactive webpage summary of the report.