Thread by @TexasTribune

1/ A consequence of the new coronavirus: Child abuse is likely on the rise.

Families are stuck at home, confronting stress and fear.

And schools and day care centers are closed, so child welfare workers can't rely on teachers to help detect abuse.

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2/ Between late February and mid-March, hotline tips to @TexasDFPS fell from 11,179 a week to 9,344.

But child welfare advocates say that decline belies a grim reality: more Texas children are likely suffering from unreported abuse.
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3/ Under the stress of #COVID19, abusers are more prone to violence. But it's harder to spot injured children with schools closed.

So Texas' child welfare workers are forced to decide: Risk a child’s safety and cancel in-person visits, or risk their own?
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4/ Workers are still doing in person visits in critical cases, but more and more work is being shifted online.

“The safety of our most vulnerable children should be first and foremost — this situation just puts them more at risk,” a child advocate said.
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5/ The outbreak has also disrupted other critical family services — like in-person substance abuse meetings for parents.

Advocates are also worried that the number of people willing to foster may decline as well.
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6/ The status of meetings between kids who are currently separated from their biological families also varies.

Some courts are requiring a judge’s permission for in-person visits, while others continued them, causing concern about #COVID19 spreading.
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7/7 When her foster daughter met with her biological mother, a sibling and a caseworker in an agency office, one foster mom asked herself:

With so many people coming from so many different households, what are the chances of infection?
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