Just as many of our public systems strained to handle the fallout from the COVID-19 crisis, so too have many of the young people, families, and communities that our systems serve.
Those coping with community and domestic violence, substandard or insecure housing, limited food access, under- or unemployment, and an inability to access educational opportunities or healthcare saw these existing challenges significantly worsen during the pandemic. Even as systems tried to adapt the way they reached and served young people and families, the nature, severity, and presentation of these problems changed as well.
The Stoneleigh Foundation hosted a virtual convening with four of its Fellows to share preliminary observations about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on policy, practice-change, and research projects. The Fellows described how the pandemic changed or added to our understanding of the environmental and other stressors that affect young people’s outcomes, as well as how it created new opportunities for innovation in how we serve them.
SPEAKERS
Ruth Abaya, MD, MPH
Stoneleigh Fellow
Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
Abigail Gray, PhD
Stoneleigh Fellow
Consortium for Policy Research in Education, University of Pennsylvania
Vincent Reina, PhD
Stoneleigh Fellow
Stuart Weitzman School of Design, University of Pennsylvania
Patrick McCarthy, PhD (moderator)
Stoneleigh Visiting Fellow
Columbia University Justice Lab