Child protective services and out-of-home Care for Children during COVID-19: A scoping review and thematic analysis

Carmit Katz¹, Afnan Attrash-Najjar², Noa Cohen³, Talia Glucklich³, Ma'ayan Jacobson⁴, Natalia Varela⁵, Sidnei Rinaldo Priolo-Filho⁶, Annie Bérubé⁷, Olivia D Chang⁸, Delphine Collin-Vézina⁹, Ansie Fouché¹⁰, Sadiyya Haffejee¹¹, Ilan Katz¹², Kathryn Maguire-Jack¹³, Nadia Massarweh¹⁴, Michelle O'Reilly¹⁵, Ashwini Tiwari¹⁶, Elmien Truter¹⁷, Rebeca Veras de Andrade Vieira¹⁸, Hayley Walker-Williams¹⁹, Murilo Ricardo Zibetti¹⁸, Christine Wekerle²⁰

Affiliations

¹ Bob Shapell School of Social Work, Tel Aviv University, Chaim Levanon 30, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel. Electronic address: drckatz@gmail.com.
² Bob Shapell School of Social Work, Tel Aviv University, Chaim Levanon 30, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel. Electronic address: fonaa225@gmail.com.
³ Bob Shapell School of Social Work, Tel Aviv University, Chaim Levanon 30, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel.
⁴ Haruv Institute, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Mount Scopus, Jerusalem, Israel. Electronic address: maayan.cj@gmail.com.
⁵ Faculty of Social and Human Sciences, Externado University, Calle 12 No. 1-17 Este, Bogotá, Colombia. Electronic address: natalia.varela@uexternado.edu.co.
⁶ Laboratório de Pesquisa, Prevenção e Intervenção em Psicologia Forense - Universidade Tuiuti do Paraná, Brazil.
⁷ The Department of Psychoeducation and Psychology, Université du Québec en Outaouais, Canada. Electronic address: annie.berube@uqo.ca.
⁸ School of Social Work, University of Michigan, 1080 S. University Ave., Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA. Electronic address: ochang@umich.edu.
⁹ The Centre for Research on Children and Families, McGill University, Suite 106, Wilson Hall, 3506 University Street, Montreal, Quebec H3A 2A7, Canada. Electronic address: delphine.collin-vezina@mcgill.ca.
¹⁰ Department of Social Wellbeing, United Arab Emirates University, P.O. Box 15551, Al Ain, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates; North-West University, Vanderbijlpark Campus, COMPRES research entity, Gauteng, South Africa. Electronic address: ansie.fouche@nwu.ac.za.
¹¹ Centre for Social Development in Africa, University of Johannesburg, South Africa. Electronic address: sadiyyah@uj.ac.za.
¹² Social Policy Research Centre (SPRC), University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia. Electronic address: ilan.katz@unsw.edu.au.
¹³ School of Social Work, University of Michigan, 1080 S. University Ave., Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA. Electronic address: kmjack@umich.edu.
¹⁴ The Al-Qasemi Academic College of Education, P.O. Box 124, Baqa-El-Gharbia 3010000, Israel.
¹⁵ School of Media, Communication, and Sociology, University of Leicester and Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust, UK. Electronic address: mjo14@le.ac.uk.
¹⁶ The Institute of Public and Preventive Health, Augusta University, 1120 15th St, Augusta, GA 30912, USA. Electronic address: atiwari@augusta.edu.
¹⁷ North-West University, Vanderbijlpark Campus, COMPRES research entity, Gauteng, South Africa. Electronic address: Elmien.Truter@nwu.ac.za.
¹⁸ Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos, Brazil.
¹⁹ North-West University, Vanderbijlpark Campus, COMPRES research entity, Gauteng, South Africa. Electronic address: Hayley.williams@nwu.ac.za.
²⁰ The Offord Centre for Child Studies, McMaster University, 1280 Main St. W. - MIP 201A, Hamilton, ON L8S 4K1, Canada. Electronic address: wekerc@mcmaster.ca.

PMID: 38008657
DOI: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2023.106540

Child protective services and out-of-home Care for Children during COVID-19: A scoping review and thematic analysis

Carmit Katz et al. Child Abuse Negl. 2025 Oct.

. 2025 Oct;168(Pt 2):106540.

doi: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2023.106540. Epub 2023 Nov 25.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Bob Shapell School of Social Work, Tel Aviv University, Chaim Levanon 30, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel. Electronic address: drckatz@gmail.com.
² Bob Shapell School of Social Work, Tel Aviv University, Chaim Levanon 30, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel. Electronic address: fonaa225@gmail.com.
³ Bob Shapell School of Social Work, Tel Aviv University, Chaim Levanon 30, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel.
⁴ Haruv Institute, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Mount Scopus, Jerusalem, Israel. Electronic address: maayan.cj@gmail.com.
⁵ Faculty of Social and Human Sciences, Externado University, Calle 12 No. 1-17 Este, Bogotá, Colombia. Electronic address: natalia.varela@uexternado.edu.co.
⁶ Laboratório de Pesquisa, Prevenção e Intervenção em Psicologia Forense - Universidade Tuiuti do Paraná, Brazil.
⁷ The Department of Psychoeducation and Psychology, Université du Québec en Outaouais, Canada. Electronic address: annie.berube@uqo.ca.
⁸ School of Social Work, University of Michigan, 1080 S. University Ave., Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA. Electronic address: ochang@umich.edu.
⁹ The Centre for Research on Children and Families, McGill University, Suite 106, Wilson Hall, 3506 University Street, Montreal, Quebec H3A 2A7, Canada. Electronic address: delphine.collin-vezina@mcgill.ca.
¹⁰ Department of Social Wellbeing, United Arab Emirates University, P.O. Box 15551, Al Ain, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates; North-West University, Vanderbijlpark Campus, COMPRES research entity, Gauteng, South Africa. Electronic address: ansie.fouche@nwu.ac.za.
¹¹ Centre for Social Development in Africa, University of Johannesburg, South Africa. Electronic address: sadiyyah@uj.ac.za.
¹² Social Policy Research Centre (SPRC), University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia. Electronic address: ilan.katz@unsw.edu.au.
¹³ School of Social Work, University of Michigan, 1080 S. University Ave., Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA. Electronic address: kmjack@umich.edu.
¹⁴ The Al-Qasemi Academic College of Education, P.O. Box 124, Baqa-El-Gharbia 3010000, Israel.
¹⁵ School of Media, Communication, and Sociology, University of Leicester and Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust, UK. Electronic address: mjo14@le.ac.uk.
¹⁶ The Institute of Public and Preventive Health, Augusta University, 1120 15th St, Augusta, GA 30912, USA. Electronic address: atiwari@augusta.edu.
¹⁷ North-West University, Vanderbijlpark Campus, COMPRES research entity, Gauteng, South Africa. Electronic address: Elmien.Truter@nwu.ac.za.
¹⁸ Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos, Brazil.
¹⁹ North-West University, Vanderbijlpark Campus, COMPRES research entity, Gauteng, South Africa. Electronic address: Hayley.williams@nwu.ac.za.
²⁰ The Offord Centre for Child Studies, McMaster University, 1280 Main St. W. - MIP 201A, Hamilton, ON L8S 4K1, Canada. Electronic address: wekerc@mcmaster.ca.

PMID: 38008657
DOI: 10.1016/j.chiabu.2023.106540

Abstract

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic challenged child protection and posed new risks for child maltreatment (CM). Moreover, governmental efforts worldwide prioritized mitigating the spread of the virus over ensuring the welfare and protection of families and children. This neglect caused hardship for many vulnerable children, including those in out-of-home care (OOHC), and challenged the functionality of child protective services (CPS). However, only limited research has investigated the impact of COVID-19 on OOHC and CPS and explored how CPS overcame the challenges of helping children in OOHC.

Objective: This review aims to address this gap in the research to unveil the 'positive legacy' left by CPS in their work with children in OOHC during COVID-19.

Method: This review utilized three stages of analysis, including a scoping review followed by two rounds of thematic analysis. The scoping review was carried out in six languages: English, Hebrew, Arabic, French, Portuguese, and Spanish. The first round of thematic analysis found eight relevant articles for this review. The second round of thematic analysis found three themes related to this paper's aim in the context of COVID-19.

Results: Three main themes were identified: 1) decision-making and OOHC, 2) difficulties in procedures related to OOHC placement, and 3) handling challenges of OOHC.

Conclusions: The discussion emphasizes the crucial role of preserving children's rights, hearing their voices and needs, and considering their safety and well-being when planning policies and practices to protect them. It also emphasizes society's responsibility to acknowledge contextual factors in child protection.

Keywords: COVID-19; Child maltreatment (CM); Child protective services (CPS); Out-of-home care (OOHC).

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Child protective services and out-of-home Care for Children during COVID-19: A scoping review and thematic analysis

Affiliations

Child protective services and out-of-home Care for Children during COVID-19: A scoping review and thematic analysis

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

Publication types

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources

Medical

Miscellaneous