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Exploring the Impact of COVID-19 on a Child Maltreatment Prevention Network
Patricia L Kohl1, Jenine K Harris, Mary Katherine Shires
1Author Affiliations: School of Social Work, Brown School, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri (Drs Kohl and Harris, Mss Shires and acon, and Dr Jonson-Reid; and Vision for Children at Risk, St. Louis, Missouri (Ms Sulaima)).
Insights
Child maltreatment prevention networks saw fewer connections during COVID-19. Collaborative membership, however, maintained stronger inter-organizational ties, suggesting a strategy for sustained public health networks.
Area of Science:
- Public Health
- Social Network Analysis
- Child Maltreatment Prevention
Background:
- Child maltreatment is a complex public health issue requiring cross-sector collaboration.
- The Parents and Children Together-St. Louis Collaborative aimed to strengthen ties among service agencies.
- The COVID-19 pandemic presented unprecedented challenges to existing service networks.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine the network structure of organizations preventing child maltreatment before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- To assess changes in inter-organizational connections and identify factors influencing network density.
- To evaluate the role of the Collaborative in maintaining network ties.
Main Methods:
- Surveyed 62 agencies in public health, health, and social service sectors in September 2020.
- Collected data on frequency of contact between organizations pre-COVID and during COVID.
- Employed descriptive and inferential network methods to analyze network properties and changes.
Main Results:
- Overall network density decreased from 0.19 (pre-COVID) to 0.17 (during COVID).
- Most organizations, particularly smaller, newer, and mental health ones, experienced reduced connections.
- Substance abuse organizations were the only type to increase connections; Collaborative members consistently had higher odds of connection.
Conclusions:
- COVID-19 disruptions led to a reduction in inter-organizational connections for child maltreatment prevention.
- The Collaborative initiative demonstrated a potential strategy for building and sustaining cross-sector networks.
- Understanding network dynamics is crucial for maintaining essential public health connections during crises.
Objective:
Child maltreatment is a complex and preventable public health problem that cannot be effectively addressed by a single organization or sector. We examined a network of organizations working to prevent childhood maltreatment before and during COVID-19, including members of the Parents and Children Together-St. Louis Collaborative. The Collaborative is an initiative with the purpose of strengthening ties among service agencies and was new when the COVID-19 shutdowns began.
Design And Participants:
In September 2020, we surveyed 62 agencies working on childhood maltreatment prevention in the public health, health, or social service sectors. We asked about frequency of contact between organizations before (pre-COVID) and during COVID (in-COVID). We used descriptive and inferential network methods to examine network properties and changes.
Results:
There were 360 ties among organizations in the pre-COVID network (density = 0.19) and 321 ties among organizations (density = 0.17) during COVID. The median number of ties per organization decreased from pre- to in-COVID for most organizations and most notably for smaller and newer organizations and mental health care organizations. The only organization type that increased connections was substance abuse organizations. Pre- and in-COVID odds of connection were significantly higher for mental health care, substance abuse, health care, child welfare, and legal-advocacy organizations compared to multisector organizations. Odds of a connection between 2 organizations were significantly higher pre-COVID and in-COVID if one or both organizations were Collaborative members.
Conclusions:
Disruptions during COVID-19 coincided with fewer connections among organizations. Collaborative members had higher odds of connection before and during COVID-19, suggesting a potential strategy for building and maintaining a cross-sector service network. Understanding network structure and change in the early stages of COVID-19 provides an opportunity to work on building and sustaining inter-organizational connections essential in violence prevention and child well-being and other areas of public health.
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