Issued March 13, 2020 (updated 1/15/21):
NOTE: If you have any questions or concerns about potential Coronavirus symptoms, please call the Prince George’s County Health Department Coronavirus hotline at (301)883-6627 during 8:00am – 8:00pm to receive updated information about the coronavirus disease. *Please contact 911 for medial emergencies only. Do not contact 911 for Coronavirus related issues.
CASA’s offices are open for staff but remain closed to visitors. Some staff will continue to work remotely. The safety of the children we serve, our volunteers and our staff is of paramount importance. We have taken prudent measures to help keep people safe, while continuing to fulfill our critical mission. We have adjusted our practices and protocols to prioritize safety while still supporting our essential advocacy for children in need. As the situation is constantly evolving, we will continue to evaluate our practices and response, and this page will be updated to reflect the most recent information for our community.
As of January 15th, Prince George’s County remains in Phase 2 re-opening.
Child Visits
As of September 25, 2020 CASA moved into Phase 2 visits which allow for in-person, outdoor, masked, physically distant visits. Volunteers are only permitted to conduct Phase 2 visits after completing required policy forms and ensuring that the child and placement are comfortable with visits. Phase 2 visits are optional and are not required of volunteers who are in a high risk category or who do not feel comfortable. To protect the health of all, we continue to abide by the social distancing protocols that are unique to this crisis.
Staying in contact with children or youth during this period of social distancing is as important as ever. Children and teens are impacted by the unknown, and that fear can manifest itself in depression, anxiety or concerning behaviors. Volunteers being available to youth and their caregivers to check in, lend support, or facilitate communication continues to be a very important CASA role. In addition to or instead of Phase 2 visits, each volunteer is expected to maintain contact with their youth through frequent video chats or phone calls. See here for tips from our colleagues on how to set up video chats. Additional contact can be made by text, email or phone. Each youth is unique and your communication should be tailored to their age and willingness to “chat.” Some volunteers should be checking in with caregivers, rather than children based on age or developmental level. Consult with your Case Supervisor to determine the level of communication that is right for you.
Case Supervisors continue to work remotely and can be reached by email are in frequent contact with volunteers to check in and offer support.
- It is important that CASA volunteers stay in contact with their CASA youth to make sure they continue to be safe and healthy. Case supervision can occur via phone or FaceTime (or a similar video conferencing tool). Video calling is preferred to allow for visual check-ins, however phone calls are acceptable if video calling is unavailable. Texting, emailing, and chatting are acceptable ways to supplement communications.
- Staying in contact is particularly important because schools are closed. CASA volunteers can check in with children and their families (foster and biological) in an effort to ensure that they are maintaining their physical and mental health, that they are able to complete any assigned schoolwork, that they have a sufficient supply of medication, and to support them through any anxiety that they may be feeling at this time. We are regularly checking in and making sure that older youth and families have enough groceries and other supplies.
If a youth or family member is experiencing a true mental health crisis, the following resources are available-
Call the Crisis Hotline 301-429-2185 for a mental health crisis or suicide prevention, mobile response
Call 211 for County hotline services including mental health crisis or suicide prevention (no mobile response).
Tips for volunteers-To support a child and their family, when making Phase 2 visits or check in calls, inquire about items such as:
- Health of all household members — physical and mental
- What is the family doing to keep busy daily?
- Is anyone in the household working outside the home?
- Has the child/children had any issues behaviorally since being home?
- If the child’s visitation has been suspended due to COVID-19, have they been able to stay in touch with their parent/sibling(s) by phone?
- Is the household having any other challenges? (Financial, shortage of food, childcare for healthcare workers/first responders, etc.)
- Are there any medical/dental appointments for the child/children that were cancelled but could not be rescheduled? Has DSS been consulted to determine whether these appointments have been rescheduled?
- Does the caretaker have supportive individuals they are relying on right now to stay calm and healthy?
- For more information, please see the National CASA GAL Association’s guidelines on safely staying in contact with children during this time.
Here are some great tips and tools from our colleagues at CASA Wisconsin for setting up video calling, ideas for activities you can do virtually and guidance on advocacy at a distance.
Resources for Kids and Families
Here are some resources you can share with kids and parents/foster parents while schools are closed:
Mental health resources.
Access to free meals:
Education and Technology:
The Prince George’s County Public School System began the 2020-2021 school year with distance learning for all grades. Distance learning will continue until further notice. All students have been equipped with their own digital device. Wi-Fi hotspots have been distributed and the County will continue to cover the cost of internet access for families in need through the Connect PGCPS initiative. Learn more.
Employment:
Legal:
- Community Legal Services staff are working remotely to continue to assist with civil legal questions including family law, landlord & tenant, and domestic violence. Their services are available online at www.clspgc.org or via their hotline at 240-391-6370.
The fear and anxiety that many of us are feeling may only be compounded for the children and youth we serve who have also been affected by trauma, and may trigger trauma-associated thoughts/behaviors in/from the child or create additional tension in the child’s home or placement. Advocates must remember that advocacy for a child is holistic and is always much wider than the child themselves. Please be sure to make phone contact with anyone else involved with the child’s case during this time to determine what their status is currently in relation to the child in question (if services are suspended, being offered remotely, etc.) This includes contact with biological parents, if the child is not currently in their custody. Be sure to make contact and help connect them with needed resources they may be seeking – the same as you would the child’s current caretaker. CASA Volunteers can be a support to foster and biological parents during normal times, and this situation is no different. Volunteers are encouraged to check in with caretakers regularly as a form of support and to lend a listening ear. Parents may be struggling with distance learning school work, children’s lack of traditional routine or lack of services that support our children (therapy, visitations, after school activities, etc) All of these things may cause trauma reactions for children that already have a history of trauma. Caretakers and CASAs should be aware of this and have behavioral management tools to support youth if needed.
It is vital to have eyes on the children we serve in any way possible to help them stay calm and connected. Not seeing a child in these most stressful, difficult times when connections are most valuable could undo all of the work done to create a relationship. We therefore encourage the volunteer to maintain regular contact with the child either through the use of Skype, Zoom, Google Hangouts, or FaceTime (or other non-video tools if needed), especially where kids are in congregate care settings, such as shelters or RTCs.
Here are some tips on talking to kids about COVID-19.
Presenting in Court
The Prince George’s County Circuit Court has begun phased reopening. Hearings are occurring remotely and CASA volunteers are expected to participate. Volunteers should continue to prepare court reports for scheduled hearings and will receive further information from their Case Supervisors regarding remote hearing information or the need for rescheduling. We are in touch with the Department of Social Services and the Court and will take their lead about meetings and hearings.
Contact with Case Supervisor
- Staff and volunteers continue to utilize telework technologies to complete work and engage in supervision. CASA staff will maintain contact with you through phone, video calls and email. Please stay in touch with your supervisor frequently and check your email messages often so we may communicate with you quickly.
- Regular Case Supervision will proceed, as required, via phone or video call.
- Court reports and volunteer contact logs will be especially important during this time (contact note and activity forms can be found here https://pgcasa.org/toolkit/). Unless otherwise directed by your Case Supervisor, please plan to submit your court report on the original due date.
Trainings, Events, Info Sessions & Other Group Activities
All CASA in-person trainings sessions and information sessions are cancelled until further notice.
We know that our best source of new volunteers is the recommendation of a current volunteer advocate, and we still have big goals for recruitment this year in order to help the 300 children who still need a CASA.
We want our current volunteers to know that we’re equipping ourselves to continue recruiting, and we are holding volunteer information sessions and pre-service trainings virtually through an online, video conferencing tool. We are also holding online in-service trainings.
We will continue to evaluate group activities and events for our children, volunteers and supporters. We will make timely, appropriate decisions prioritizing the safety of our community and will immediately inform all affected by any decisions to postpone or cancel activities.
Continuing Education During Social Distancing
Use this time of self-quarantine and “social distancing” to better yourself and your community by gaining additional knowledge for your CASA role. We have many resources available for virtual in-service opportunities on our In-Service Training page. We are also looking into online learning tools and will keep you posted on virtual in-service trainings we will make available.
Stay Informed
We encourage all of our volunteers, staff and supporters to stay informed and protect themselves and others. As this is ongoing, we will make any needed updates to our protocol on this
We will update this page and will inform our staff and volunteers of urgent changes via email.
You can follow local updates through the Prince George’s County Department of Health and recommendations on the Maryland State Health Department’s COVID-19 website https://phpa.health.maryland.gov/Pages/Novel-coronavirus.aspx
Prince George’s County resources and status of county agencies.
Recommendations from the CDC can be found here.
This is uncharted territory for our CASA program, we appreciate your support and feedback on this guidance. We greatly appreciate your attention to this information and guidelines to help protect you and the children we serve.
Questions? Call us at 301-209-0491 or email us (staff@pgcasa.org) with any questions or concerns you have may have.
We are grateful to the following funding partners that are making it possible to provide additional emergency support to our children and families:
Governor’s Office of Crime Prevention, Youth and Victim Services
Administrative Office of the Courts
