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During the first four months of the fall 2020 semester, Kansas s child welfare agency received almost 5,000 fewer reports of child abuse and neglect than during the same period in 2019 almost a 20% decline.
The raging COVID-19 pandemic forced many school districts to adopt remote or hybrid learning models, but for vulnerable children suffering abuse at home, the stay home, stay safe mantra rang hollow. The reason that teachers are such important bulwarks against child abuse is because they are probably the adults outside of the family that establish the deepest rapport with children, said Blake Warenik, communications director for the National Children s Alliance, which oversees 900 child advocacy centers around the country.