'When Home Isn’t Safe' by Dr. Sky Smith
Even before Minnesota Governor Tim Walz announced a stay-at-home order to “flatten the curve” on the COVID-19 outbreak, families, schools, institutions and businesses were bracing to adapt to this global pandemic. Those of us in the professional world of mental health, trauma, interpersonal violence, child protection, and child abuse—we braced for the worst. We readied for telehealth platforms and trainings, helplessly knowing that many of our clients may not have access to needed technology or the safety to engage families and children.
Understanding that interpersonal violence thrives in secrecy, behind closed doors, we wondered: how can we know that people aren’t safe? Schools—typically our reporting safety nets for children at risk for family violence—are now closed.
Social distancing shrinks and even erases that safety net further with families living in isolation. Many child and family advocacy centers—organizations that provide essential best practice, trauma-informed, child and family centered hubs for abuse investigations—have either closed or moved to “emergencies only” protocols. (National Children’s Alliance, 2020) In the context of interpersonal violence, sexual abuse, and child maltreatment, professionals scramble to determine where to draw the line of emergency and non-emergency.
Families and children are now pushed to their limits. Even under the best of circumstances, families are facing the new challenges of virtual school while working from home—or facing the daily fear of going into work as an essential employee. For people facing extreme economic uncertainty and devastation, these stressors can easily push the limits of safety. Countries all over the world that are impacted by COVID-19 outbreaks have reported unprecedented levels of domestic violence and child maltreatment. In France, there was a reported 30% increase in domestic violence incidents. In regions of China most impacted by the pandemic, domestic violence rates tripled. Brazil reported a rise in family violence cases of 40%-50%. (New York Times, 2020; Sixthtone, 2020; The Guardian, 2020) Here in Minnesota, after only the first day of the Governor’s Stay at Home Orders, Victim Advocates reported a 25% increase in Hotline Calls. (KARE, 2020)
The American Academy of Pediatrics acknowledges, “the financial, emotional, and other stresses that parents face as the number of coronavirus cases rise and many families spend long periods of time isolated at home. Research has found that when families are stressed, children are at an increased risk of being abused.” (American Academy of Pediatrics, 2020) Adding to this, the systems that work to prevent and address safety are now closed or reduced to essential services only. Shelters are focused on social distancing, all while trying to facilitate support through personal connection.
Many of us are struggling to survive the physical and psychosocial symptoms of this pandemic. Most of us are now functioning at the lower 2-3 tiers of Maslow’s Need Hierarchy. Our focus includes food security, physical and mental health, protection from violence, employment, shelter, water, finding connection, and sleep. We wonder how to meet our basic physiological and safety needs and how long we can maintain those efforts. We worry about our parents, grandparents, children, and friends – wondering if and when we will see them again. People already impacted by poverty, disability, lack of access to resources, racism, discrimination, trauma, mental health disorders are likely carrying the burden of this crisis and are far more vulnerable to abuse, neglect, and re-traumatization as a result. Wealth disparities and educational achievement gaps will soon be vast canyons.
My work with Project Legacy includes consultation for mental health support. This includes increased training for staff on topics such as the impact of trauma, documentation, privacy, ethics, and suicide risk assessment. I am assisting in the COVID-19 response and transition to online virtual support as well as adapting to the psychosocial challenges of the pandemic.
In our collective social distancing, please remember to (virtually) reach out to your neighbors, your community. Create awareness of resources available, such as the State of Minnesota Crisis Hotline: 1-800-223-1111 and text 612-399-9995. Create a list of businesses and organizations providing free meals. If you are able, contact a non-profit and ask what you can do to help. Donate financially or volunteer any skills you have. Provide a (delivered) meal to someone who is struggling. Advocate for school systems to adopt socially just and trauma-informed approaches to their COVID-19 distance learning protocols. For those of us in helping professions: keep a routine, stay home, and stay as healthy as you can during this worldwide trauma.
We will need to be ready and willing to address the psychosocial aftermath of COVID-19 when we emerge.