Visits To At-Risk Children By Social Workers Should Be Considered Essential Services

“Child abuse thrives in isolation,” Elizabeth Bartholet, CAP Faculty Director and Morris Wasserstein Public Interest Professor of Law, warns in her recently published Op-Ed At-Risk Children Need More Than Virtual Visits During the Coronavirus Pandemic (Boston Globe, April 21, 2020). Although the US Department of Health and Human Services released a statement allowing social workers to increase the use of video conferences to check on children at risk of maltreatment, Bartholet urges governors everywhere to find safe ways to continue in-person visits.