The pandemic and our children: how COVID-19 affected kids across NC

The pandemic has disrupted almost every aspect of our lives, with varied speculation about the levels of financial, economic and social impacts. In order to address the most significant of these impacts, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is hearing from communities and partnering with them to fuel local recovery.

"The Carolina Across 100 initiative involves local leaders in different sectors, talking about issues their communities are facing since COVID-19. Many issues have been exacerbated by the pandemic," said licensed attorney Sara DePasquale, an associate professor for the UNC School of Government who specializes in child welfare law in North Carolina.

Youth are some of the people most impacted by COVID, according to Carolina Across 100's data. Many saw their daily routines upended when childcare facilities closed abruptly. At the same time, the stress level of parents rose as they struggled to keep working while caring for children.

While many childcare centers have reopened, some have not and a significant number have reduced capacity due to understaffing. The data make clear that ripple effects from these reductions are having an impact on children as well as their parents and local economies.

There are many factors impacting childcare access.

"Staffing is hard in childcare," said Mary Sonnenberg, president of the Partnership for Children of Cumberland County. "We do not pay childcare providers adequately. The average pay is $10 to $12 per hour."

Many people in the state are looking for answers to this challenge. However, the challenge of not being able to access childcare is the tip of the iceberg. 

More than 20% of respondents of the Carolina Across 100 survey indicate that the issue of child abuse has gotten worse during the COVID-19 pandemic.

With teachers and childcare providers not having traditional access to children, it has been difficult for them and other caregivers to recognize problems as quickly as they used to.

"Children weren't in school and childcare centers were closed. We simply weren't seeing the children," said Sonnenberg.

The information from Carolina Across 100 survey results will help fill knowledge gaps about the impacts of the pandemic on children and families, said Sonnenberg. This data goes beyond the issues and offers insights from residents of every county about the challenges they face and ways that the University can aid community response.

"Having that information and being able to look at the gaps in the community is something we have been trying to do with our countywide plan," said Sonnenberg. "Any strengthening of that data will help provide more of the services people need."

Perhaps surprisingly, the age at the first report of abuse overwhelmingly occurs before age five highlighting the need for services targeted to families with young children.

"Child abuse and neglect statistics are collected by the county departments of social services and are provided to North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services," said DePasquale.

The drop likely underscores the lack of reporting from teachers and caregivers having face-to-face contact with their students during the pandemic.

"We know that during the pandemic, that's been a real need," Sonnenberg said. "Having children home and parents trying to work, as well as children being virtual, has created stress and a number of mental health problems as a result."