- Associated Press - Sunday, April 12, 2020

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Tori Wentz’s good days are often stress-filled, juggling multiple doctor and therapy appointments for her 11-year-old son, Ricky, who is blind, deaf and intellectually disabled.

The former nurse adopted Ricky, a native of Ghana, six years ago. His medical needs quickly overtook her life. Wentz, 56, eventually stopped working, then sold her car, cut off her phone plan and moved in with her sister.

Last week, Wentz contended with a host of added stressors: With a stay-at-home directive in place, Wentz was burning through limited minutes on the free “lifeline” cellphone she gets as part of a federal program for low-income individuals.

She used the phone to reach doctors and social workers who are part of Ricky’s care team to sort out how to keep services in place while her son’s public school special education program was closed.

“I’m not even able to call family or friends,” Wentz said. “I save all my minutes for doctors.”

School closures and “safer at home” directives implemented in counties across Tennessee in response to the COVID-19 crisis have constricted the lives of families, confining parents and children to relentless togetherness at home, unrelieved by school, play dates or family outings.

The financial and emotional impact of such isolation deeply worries Kristen Davis, president and CEO of Prevent Child Abuse Tennessee.

PCAT social workers regularly visit a roster of about 400 families each year across Tennessee. The visiting staff members serve as advocates for families with children who need extra services and work directly with parents on developing nurturing relationships - helping parents make homemade toys with their children, read to them and understand their developmental needs, Davis said.

Those in-person visits have ended with the coronavirus outbreak.

“A lot of the families we serve are isolated already,” she said. “Now they are facing loss of income as jobs are eliminated and food insecurity. It adds stress upon stress.”

Instead, PCAT’s 40 social workers are trying to reach families by video conference or phone calls.

But phone and video access are among the biggest barriers to PCAT’s clients, many of whom rely on “lifeline” phones, a federal program that gives free or low-cost cellphones to low-income families. The cellphone coverage is managed by private wireless companies.

Some of those private companies have expanded coverage in response to the pandemic, but the services still come with limits. In Tennessee Safelink Wireless provides 350 minutes of call time each month plus 3 GB of data. The company last week added 5 GB a month of free data use for its low-income users but kept its minute limit the same.

Assurance Wireless, another Tennessee lifeline provider, added unlimited calls to its 350-minute limit and an extra 6 GB of data through May 20.

“Our main challenge is still getting access,” Davis said. “Families are limited in minutes they have to talk to us.”

URGENT NEEDS

The families have reported urgent needs. Among them: baby formula, diapers and baby wipes.

Many of the families PCAT works with don’t have transportation to reach stores or food giveaways at churches or schools, and those who live in rural areas have told social workers that, when they can get to stores, the shelves are empty.

Private donors have stepped forward to help the agency purchase supplies online from Amazon and other retailers that can deliver to families, Davis said.

Davis worries limited phone calls and deliveries aren’t going to be enough.

“The concern is that as a fallout of being quarantined with coronavirus, child abuse is going to go up,” Davis said. “And if children are not interacting outside with educators and people in the community, the risk is that children are not being noticed.”

SIGNIFICANT DROP IN CHILD ABUSE REPORTS ‘A REAL CONCERN’

The Department of Children’s Services also had to adapt.

The agency - which investigates child abuse and neglect, operates the state’s foster care system and contracts with private agencies to run group homes and institutions - has switched to videoconferencing, when possible, to check on families.

DCS received permission from the federal Children’s Bureau to conduct required caseworker visits remotely, a spokeswoman said. Caseworkers continue to make face-to-face visits to investigate initial reports of child abuse or neglect.

When face-to-face visits are conducted, staff call in advance to conduct a health questionnaire to determine if there is any risk in visiting and follow guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Tennessee Department of Health when they meet families in person, said Jennifer Donnals, the spokeswoman.

The agency has seen a significant drop in child abuse reports since the outbreak.

There were 7,873 calls to the Child to Child Abuse Hotline from March 1-22, 2019, compared with 6,891 from March 1-22, 2020.

“This is a real concern,” Donnals said. “Many reports of child abuse and neglect come from teachers, child care workers and medical professionals - all of whom are not seeing children on a regular basis due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“However, with higher levels of stress in this uncertain time, children being cooped up with parents or caregivers for longer periods of time, and the impact that unemployment may have on the family, the number of children being physically abused or neglected is potentially going to be higher than normal.”

Wentz said the pandemic had another cost for her son. Ricky’s birth mother and father live in Ghana and have kept in contact since the adoption.

Isolated at home, Wentz has used nearly all her free phone’s plan minutes this month. She hasn’t been able to stay in touch.

“They’re worried about him, too,” she said.

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Parenting tips during the COVID-19 crisis from Prevent Child Abuse Tennessee

-Reach out to other parents or friends by phone or video chat. Keep in mind there are lots of isolated parents and kids right now, and you are not alone.

-Craft a family schedule for yourself that will provide a sense of normal. Things as simple as going to bed at the same time and eating breakfast at the same time are helpful to parents and kids alike.

-Turn off the news and play a game.

-Take a breather, even if it’s just going to a different room or stepping outside for a few minutes of quiet.

-Give yourself grace. Now is not the time to stress about being the perfect parent. You might have to be more flexible on things like screen time. Practice the type of parenting that works best for you in your situation, and don’t feel guilty about it.

-The state’s helplines are operated 24 hours each day:

Tennessee Parent Helpline (1-800-CHILDREN)

Tennessee Domestic Violence Hotline (1-800-356-6767)

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