Coronavirus Update #7

Dear Angels Families,

Here are some additional updates/guidance for Resource Parents in response to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. I have added in bold anything that is new from my last update. Please make sure to read the sections about Home Visits and Parent/Family Visitations as there is new important information there and several links to our updated policies and procedures. We have also created a website you can access to see previous updates if you missed anything. Here is the link: www.angelsfoster.org/COVID-19. Again, the situation is so fluid that you will likely continue to receive updates pretty regularly as we are informed of new information. As an extension/contractor of child welfare, we (Angels and Resource/Foster Families) fall under the category of “essential services” and therefore are exempt from some of the government orders in order to perform the necessary services we provide. Please note that this extends to possibly supervising in-person parent visitation in some cases. Having said that, we will take every measure possible to keep ourselves and others safe and healthy while still working to support our children and families.

Emergency Reporting Requirements

• If anyone in your household tests positive for COVID-19 or if you have been exposed to someone who has tested positive for COVID-19 please let your CCM know right away. We have additional reporting requirements on our end if this is the case.
• Please update your Emergency Disaster Plans to include contingencies for providing care to children in the event that you or your family member is impacted by an outbreak of illness.
• If you are in a new location, have a new bedroom sharing arrangement, or there is a change to the number of children/adults in your home temporarily as a result of the pandemic, please let your CCM know about this. There may be a waiver provided for your current living situation.

Home Visits

• We will be resuming in-person home visits beginning next week (the week of 4/20). Not everyone will necessarily be seen in-person that first week, but likely in the next couple weeks. In-person home visits will not yet occur weekly and will continue to be supplemented by weekly virtual visits. We have provided some guidelines for when these visits will be done and how they will be performed which you can find here.
• The County has been mostly continuing to do in-person visits monthly, and will likely continue to do so. The need for a county social worker to do an in-person visit may depend on the FFA’s ability to do some of these, and vice versa, possibly meaning that we may be able to stagger visits with the county social worker so the visits/exposure are minimal. Decisions about frequency of visits will be made on a case by case basis and in collaboration with the county social worker.
• The County has informed us that in regards to child abuse referrals, staff will still be expected to make unannounced visits for investigatory purposes, as these services/investigations are also considered “essential”.

Parent/Family Visitation

• The court order currently in place “suspending” visits between children and their biological parents/families has become the "standing order" for the foreseeable future, however, the language about "suspending" visits has been removed. What this means is that visits will continue to happen and be required for all cases, but the manner in which these visits can be done is flexible (in-person, virtual, phone call, etc) and the decision about how visits occur will be based on the County Social Worker’s determination about safety for all involved.
• We have begun to see more county social workers request that in-person visits occur. We understand that this may be a tough thing to do in current circumstances and may come with a lot of anxiety. Our hope is that the county is able to have thoughtful and open communication with the Resource Parent, CCM, and biological parents/family to determine if in-person visits can, in fact, be done safely. If in-person visits do happen, we have provided guidance on the safety policies/procedures for these visits which you can access here. Please read this thoroughly as this document contains guidance that will reduce the risk of exposure and ensure in-person visits are done safely and based on county guidance.
• Communication is key to making this work. Communication with your CCM and the parents you visit with. Talk to parents about your concerns about exposure and risk and listen to their concerns. If someone in your family is part of a more at-risk group, let the county social worker know as this information will help inform decisions about risk and safety. Also please feel confident in enforcing strict adherence to in-person visit policies/procedures. Look at the policies/procedures as a safety net and if visitors are not following them, they are not being safe and the visit must end and/or be done in a different manner (virtual).
• For unsupervised visits that are occurring or resuming, obviously, we have a bit less control over what that unsupervised time looks like. But hopefully, at this point in time, there is a bit more trust/relationship built and parents are at a better place in terms of making safe/healthy decisions at this point in their case. Again, communication is still key. You can find policies/procedures for unsupervised visits here.
• If in-person visits are not happening, please continue to provide visits via video whenever possible. A suggestion that has been helpful for some families and children is to do more frequent but shorter video visits in place of a longer in-person visit.
• The county has opened up some visitation space at various offices around San Diego on an appointment basis. Please talk to your CCM or county social worker if you would like to use this space. This seems to currently be the best-supervised visit option if an outdoor space can't be found.
• The Angels office is not yet open for visitations. I apologize for offering this up as an option and if you’ve been trying to schedule a visit there and we haven’t been able to accommodate you. It was always our intention to keep this space available if needed, but it became apparent with constantly changes requirements and regulations that we need updated policies/procedures in place for these office visits and we are working hard to put this together so we can accommodate these visits at our office safely for our families, kids, and staff. We are hoping to open up this space for a limited number of visits towards the end of April. If you are interested in using our office space for an in-person visit in the future, please talk to your CCM about this so we can assess the need better.
• This court order also specifies that a county social worker may assess and determine on a case by case basis if it’s better during this time for youth to stay with biological parents for an extended visit or begin a 60-day trial. I imagine this decision might be made in situations where a parent is close to reunifying.
• The county has also provided a pretty good resource for us/caregivers which is a FAQ. You might find some of the information pertinent and helpful. Here is the link for that.

Medical appointments/Injury reporting

• Some families are expressing that they are concerned about taking children to the doctor for regular WCC or other scheduled appointments. Others are trying to make appointments but are being told that children are not able to be seen unless the visit is “essential”. Please continue to try to have your children seen for their regular appointments if possible. Since most of our children are young with frequent WCC and some with medical issues, it’s important that they are still seen for these if possible. If you aren’t able to have your child seen then document this information so we can report it back to the county.
• It may be possible to be seen by the child's pediatrician or other healthcare provider via telehealth which would be acceptable at this time.
• The same applies to injury reporting/required medical appointments. Do your best to follow the policy and document all your attempts if you are not able to be seen for routine injuries. Continue to report injuries to your CCM/on-call line so we can continue to write incident reports and follow our reporting requirements to the county/state.

Service Providers

• Many service providers for our kids are moving to virtual support.
• FFAST and CASAS both informed us that their services would be provided to children/families virtually in upcoming days/weeks.

Juvenile Court/attorneys

• Currently, the juvenile courts are closed to any hearings/trials other than detention hearings (those hearings that determine whether or not a child can be brought into care) or other urgent matters that need court intervention. All hearings/trials that were scheduled through April 30^th will be continued. This may or may not be extended as well.
• Court hearings/trials being continued tend to delay cases even under normal circumstances, so I would definitely expect these continuances to affect the timelines of some cases and even adoptions. Hopefully, we will have a better idea of how court will operate towards the end of this month.
• Minor’s attorneys are working remotely and may check in with youth placed with Resource families virtually, and are available to reach out to if we need to advocate for youth in any way. If this is the case, talk with your CCM about ways to do this.

Support for our Families

• We are moving support groups and trainings for our families to a virtual platform (through Microsoft Teams). You should have seen this in my monthly updates sent out at the beginning of April. We have already had one successful support group and any feedback is welcome!

Need for Resource Homes

• Thank you to all those who have reached out about being willing to help out in whatever way you can. Our families are so incredible, I have no words to describe it. We at Angels are so grateful for your time, commitment, and continued efforts during this time.
• I don’t know what the future holds for child removals in the current climate, but so far we have still been getting daily referrals for kids that need homes. I know there is some risk associated with taking placements of children at this point, but the need is still present.
• The County has asked us to query our families to see who may be willing to serve as a quarantine/isolation home to care for children who have tested positive for the virus, been exposed to a person who has tested positive for the virus or their status is unknown. These homes would need to have the space required to isolate/quarantine a child if needed. If anyone is open to this idea, please let me know. The county is still in the early stages of developing their plan and are trying to determine if capacity even exists to do this, and may possibly provide additional compensation.
• You are all supporting this need by continuing to care for children placed in your home. So THANK YOU so much. If you feel like you can help in other ways (being open for placement, helping with emergency respite/child care if needed, etc) please talk with your CCM or let me know.

Words of positivity:

As I said above, I can’t thank you all enough for how well you’ve handled this crisis and all the changes that continue to be implemented. And for how much additional help many of you continue to want to provide.

We have been collecting a lot of resources and I’m sure you are receiving many resources as well (tips to help stay calm, busy, help with kids, etc.) Should you need any additional support or guidance for these things, please don’t hesitate to reach out to your CCM. There are also additional resources we’ve posted on our updates page. (Link is in the first paragraph of this update).

At this time of isolation, it’s even more important that you remain in phone/video communication with people in your support network and your CCM. Thank you for doing your best to bear with us, follow guidelines and safety requirements, and continue to take wonderful care of your children.

Again, if you need anything, please always check in with your CCM or me and we will see what we can do to help. We have quite a few families/parents/others connected with Angels who have volunteered to help out in any way they can so if you have any child care needs or need help with supplies or something similar, we may be able to link you with helpers.

Please stay healthy and safe! Thanks, everyone.