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Having struggled with negative mental health herself, a Saskatchewan youth, Kiah Holness, is concerned about the impacts of COVID-19 on children and youth in primary and secondary schools. As a result of her personal experiences, and her future dreams of being a secondary teacher in this province, she has begun working to advocate for a shift in the understanding of mental health within the education system. Kiah is currently in the process of advocating for a shift in schools’ attendance procedures that would see excused mental health days within primary and secondary schools: 

“… I want to give youth the tools and the strength to be able to identify and speak about mental health, and not feel shame when they need to take a day in order to serve their mental state … I am proposing a shift in school attendance policies in Saskatchewan. This shift would allow parents/guardians/caregivers to identify “mental health” as an excusable absence, rather than having to use the word “sick” when they call into schools to account for their child’s absence.”

Additionally, Kiah would like to see that schools, based on their resources and contexts, establish an appropriate monitoring system by which, after a certain number of mental health absences, school and community supports will be sought to support the student. The data will be monitored to proactively assess what individual and school-wide resources and interventions might be needed to best support not only students, but teachers, administrators, and school staff as well.   

A third aspect of Kiah’s idea includes (where possible) “in-school” mental health days that could be granted at the discretion of, and in conjunction with, school personnel, and/or parents/guardians. Kiah believes that: 

“sometimes when someone needs a mental health day, the worst thing is for them to be at home, alone. Also, for some students, home is a possible source of stress, anxiety, and trauma, and therefore being at home poses a safety risk. The idea of the in-school mental health day, while requiring contextual and logistical consideration, offers the possibility for students to have a mental health day but in a supervised environment”. 

One of the benefits Kiah sees for this idea is that the data obtained from attendance records can support proactive interventions in the form of mental health professional development, resources, and support: 

“So, for example, if there are 200 recorded mental health absences in a month at a particular school, or more broadly many in a particular district, that data can support the allocation of resources to better understand that particular context’s needs.” 

“I worry deeply for our youth and all of the opportunities that this pandemic has taken away from them … I often think about what it must feel like for youth to be constantly readjusting in their routines and safety blankets; school in-person, remote learning, sports 6ft apart, no sports at all, seeing your friends one day and then not for six weeks. COVID has reminded me that at the end of the day, we must begin by attending to our, and others’ mental health and well-being” 

Kiah recounts that the topic of mental health at school was rarely talked about, leaving many to feel that they were ‘surviving in silence’ and uninformed about the effects that their mental health was having on their brains and bodies.

“When I think back to when [negative mental health] was the most apparent to me, it was when I was in the school system 5 days a week. I think it was most apparent here because it was just another aspect of me, besides being a person of colour, that “othered” me … Mental health was rarely talked about in school, and if it was, it was spoken about as rare or only categorized with illnesses … It was never portrayed in a “common,” “relatable,” or destigmatized way. The truth was, and is, many students were suffering in silence from generalized anxiety and depression. I was one of these students who felt lost, but who also didn’t even know how to identify what was going on with me.”

“I think bringing this attendance policy shift into our schools is a concrete, and relatively simple way to show children and youth the commitment that their schools have to their mental health and well-being, and will ultimately save lives and reshape a future generation when it comes to this topic … It will emphasize that we are all in this together trying to navigate all of the feelings and emotions floating around in our brain, and that yes, even adults go through it and it is okay not to be okay – but what’s not okay is not doing anything about it.”

If you would like to learn more about this initiative, please contact:

Nathalie Reid: Nathalie.reid@uregina.ca
Kiah Holness: holness.kiah@gmail.com

A Child and Family Programs service provider in Saskatchewan has provided us with their perspective on what it has been like to work with children and families during COVID-19. They stated that the COVID-19 restrictions have made visitation and trust building with children and families difficult to say the least. 

“Virtual visitation sets back the relationship one can have with clients; the rapport in several cases has been lacking,” the service provider reported.

“Support services within the community are not readily available to support parents and children within their homes which has made it difficult to case plan. Visitation plans have also been a struggle during COVID restrictions as we must also follow household regulations and supports have not been able to supervise visits within the home or outside of the home at this time,” they added. 

The service provider noted there is a continuous need to adapt practices and balance the best interests of the child, both physically and emotionally. 

“On one hand, we are assessing the physical safety of the families we work with due to COVID health regulations. On the other hand, we are also assessing the emotional impact this may have on the families we work with as visitation has been less frequent due to closure of community visitation supports and household restrictions. Our work during this time has been a balancing act of both striving to keep families physically safe and to continue maintaining familial bonds/emotional strength,” they said. 

Despite the hardships of supporting children and families during a global pandemic, the service provider noted that this has pushed their agency and other community supports to adapt their practices and be creative in finding new ways to work with families. They believe this will inevitably benefit their agency’s outlook on case planning, visitation, and managing support systems.

A Victims Services responder in Saskatchewan has noted the challenges of working with clients during COVID-19, missing the face to face contact and experiencing screen fatigue. 

“I do not feel as connected to my clients and files as I struggle to balance safety, restrictions, file tasks, rapport-building and client needs,” they reported.

The service provider is also concerned about the impact that COVID-19 is having on children and families in vulnerable situations. 

“Violence has been underreported and seems to be escalating which also creates anxiety around what is happening behind closed doors, what will happen to children and how much [case] file loads will increase when kids start getting back into normal routines and have more access to safe adults and spaces.” they continued: “Additionally, [there is] less access to face to face counselling services, masking also makes children feel uneasy as they can’t read facial expressions. The collective anxiety and fear about everything that permeates society at this time also adds a layer of stress.”

COVID-19 has created barriers to service delivery for service providers. Although the pandemic has many negative consequences, this service provider recognizes the silver linings that many parents are cherishing additional time at home with their children, there is increased access to online services for those with access to technology, and that working from home occasionally can be a nice change.

A child protection investigator with Child and Family Programs in Saskatchewan has noticed the hardships that the families they support are facing as well as the hardships of effectively supporting them during COVID-19.

“Issues that families were facing are being exacerbated by COVID-19 and the ability to provide help is less. Community organizations are still primarily providing virtual services which isn’t a great fit in the child protection context … The demographic I work with isn’t served well in terms of funding on the best of days, but COVID-19 has made this worse. Waitlists are high, programs are slashed or focusing on immediate needs instead of long-term goals.”

“Children staying home and isolating to stay safe isn’t a great option in a child protection context and there haven’t been any other ideas to come forward to date,” the service provider expressed.

Service providers are putting their best efforts into navigating COVID-19 and adapting their programs to meet the needs of the families they serve, which has not always occurred with ease.

“Learning to use technology platforms to complete day-to-day casework, being the ‘first and last line of defense’ in terms of being in people’s home and assessing safety, a sense of greater responsibility with less ability to provide tangible or effective help, building rapport through technology, wearing PPE to conduct child protection investigations [which] has had negative feedback from children and adults,” the service provider listed as some predominant struggles they are experiencing during COVID-19.

The difficulty of supporting families during this time has not only affected the families themselves, but the service providers tasked with the responsibility of ensuring the safety of those they are supporting as well as their own families at home.

“Thoughts of: am I selfish to take a leave when the people I serve cannot escape their situations? Am I selfish to continue working while my family may bear the consequences? It has also been emotionally taxing to watch family stability deteriorate without access to services. Giving the message of ‘it’s COVID so we are limited in what we can do’ isn’t easy when you’re working in these contexts,” they recounted.

While it has not been easy, the service provider applauds the work done within the community to come together and support people accessing services during these unprecedented times, stating:

“Community organizations have been able to work as a team to identify and fill gaps within service delivery systems … When an agency has to shut down due to a COVID exposure or outbreak, other communities step up and fill the gap. Fluidity in services has also been seen – services are being provided that may not have been prior to COVID-19.”

A crisis response service provider working with children and youth mental health states that there has been difficulty in building relationships virtually with the children and youth they serve. It has been especially difficult to connect with people accessing services that do not have consistent access to technology.

“As many big organizations push to work remote/virtual we are missing those valuable, difficult to obtain in person connections with children and youth, especially those already contending with multiple issues such as secure housing, addictions, family dynamics. Trying to provide support and services to a young child virtually is very difficult as often they do not want to be on screen or understand what is happening,” the service provider said.

The service provider noted that as COVID-19 restrictions are constantly changing, it has been exhausting to keep up.

While times are indeed exhausting, the service provider recognizes how COVID-19 has “created a lot of barriers to in person care but has also created unique virtual opportunities and in some instances brought youth and caregivers closer together.”