Perspectives from the Field: Heartbreak in the Midst of COVID-19

A Child and Family worker in Saskatchewan has expressed that COVID-19 has been a heartbreaking experience for them, their coworkers, and the families they serve.

“Right now we have very limited rooms to facilitate these visits. We are also only holding visits for children who are transitioning into the home, or into a family member’s home. With COVID rules only 4 family members can be in the room, and only if they are living in the same home, plus the child/children … We can only have 1 hour visits as we have to have adequate time to clean the rooms in between visits. We can only host 2 visits/day. This means there are only 10 visits a week for hundreds of families. We have [hundreds] of kids who can’t see their families, and families who cannot see their kids. Kids are sad, scared, emotional, have higher behaviours, are angry; some of them haven’t been able to see their parents in months … We have new born babies, who can’t feel their mother’s touch, and without knowing how long this will last they are missing out on the critical bonding moments,” said the service provider, providing us with a very detailed description of the heartbreaking circumstances caused by COVID-19.

The service provider has also been feeling the effects of their job personally. With so much devastation, it has been difficult for them to find a positive. They continued:

“It’s hard to be yelled at, blamed, shamed everyday for something you cannot control. We feel horrible, we leave work feeling hopeless, tired, and impacted by other peoples