DALLAS — COVID-19 has impacted the family dynamic for children across the world whose caregivers died from the virus.
A recent study from the journal Pediatrics estimates from April 1, 2020 through June 30, 2021, more than 140,000 children in the U.S. experienced the death of a parent or grandparent caregiver. That number is now estimated to have risen to 175,000, according to study authors. The states with the highest numbers of children facing death of primary caregivers are California at 16,179, Texas at 14,135 and New York at 7,175.
The majority of children who have lost a parent or grandparent caregiver to COVID-19 come from racial and ethnic minority groups. Non-Hispanic white children account for 35% of those who lost a primary caregiver, while children of racial and ethnic minorities account for 65% of those who lost a primary caregiver. For reference, white people represent 61% of the total U.S. population, and people of racial and ethnic minorities represent 39%.
According to the study, "1 of every 168 American Indian/Alaska Native children, 1 of every 310 Black children, 1 of every 412 Hispanic children, 1 of every 612 Asian children, and 1 of every 753 White children experienced orphanhood or death of caregivers.”
Study authors were able to map these deaths and disparities at a state level. In New Mexico, Texas and California, between 49% and 67% of these children were of Hispanic ethnicity. Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi had between 45% to 57% of children who lost a primary caregiver who were Black. And American Indian/Alaskan Native children who lost a primary caregiver were more frequently represented in South Dakota, New Mexico, Montana, Oklahoma and Arizona.
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, children’s lives are permanently changed by the loss of their parent or caregiver. They lose not only their homes, but their basic needs like clothing and food. NIDA expands by saying loss of a parent is among the adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) linked to mental health problems; shorter schooling; lower self-esteem; sexual risk behaviors; and increased risk of substance abuse, suicide, violence, sexual abuse, and exploitation.
“The death of a parental figure is an enormous loss that can reshape a child’s life,” said NIDA Director Nora D. Volkow, MD. “We must address the many underlying inequities and health disparities that put people of color at greater risk of getting COVID-19 and dying from COVID-19, which puts children of color at a greater risk of losing a parent or caregiver and related adverse effects on their development.”
Buckner Family Hope Center at the Texas Rangers MLB Youth Academy manager Keri Pettis has seen firsthand the number of children becoming parentless or losing a caregiver grow drastically during the pandemic. She said it’s important to research the resources around you so when you experience a loss or someone you know does, you know the organizations you can turn to.
"During this time of loss and grief, it's very hard to say what to do next, it’s very hard when you see a family grieving, how to help them, how to reach out. Buckner has opportunities across the board to serve, and that's what we're here for and we're very intentional about evolving with whatever is happening around us. We have our foster care and adoption program, we have our kinship program, we have our Family Hope Center, which is what I'm directing, and then we also have our Family Pathways program for single mothers,” Pettis said. "And I think it's really important that in this time that we take time to research what's around us.”
That’s exactly what Dallas resident Greg Lawrence did when he had a loss of someone close to him. His friend Christina died from COVID-19, leaving behind her children who needed a caregiver. Knowing Pettis at Buckner could help, he reached out to the nonprofit.
"In Matthew 5, it talks about us being the light of the world, and [Christina] was the light of the world as far as how she instilled in so many people. She let that light shine for every person that she came in contact with. If you needed a smile, she'd give you a smile. If you need a hug, she’d give you a hug,” Lawrence said. “She didn't meet a stranger. She's very much alive in our lives now. She made you feel like that you were the best thing happening."
"It's really important that when people get connected to organizations like ours like Buckner that provide all types of resources and support, that they are verbal about it to others around them and that's what Mr. Lawrence did. The moment he saw a need, even though it wasn't something that he had experienced from us or that hadn’t had that need met by us, he knew ‘I know Buckner would do what they can for the families they serve, so I'm going to reach out to them because I feel that they can do something.’"
Christina’s children are now staying with her brother, the kids’ uncle. Buckner helped him financially and connected him to the Buckner Foster Care and Adoption Team. The uncle is now working with an attorney to get full custody of the children.
“I know that transitioning into being a parent — if you're not a parent already — can come along with some expenses that you don't plan for. And so we provided monetary support as well, and we connected them to our kinship program. And so it's very important that families know that when you take on the responsibility of parenting a child that is in your family that you get connected and you make it official so that you're providing the support due as a parent. And that's what we were able to do for the uncle,” Pettis said. "We're very diverse in what we do at Buckner. We have a lot of different things that we offer, and we were able to provide that to this family because Mr. Lawrence reached out to us.”
Even if you don’t know someone personally, you can still help out by becoming foster parents to these children who are experiencing COVID-associated orphanhood. Buckner can help out with this as well.
"A lot of families should consider looking into what it means to be a foster parent, or what it means to be a parent that does the care for kids that need to be in respite care,” Pettis said. “There's different ways that you can step in and help. It may not be helping the family next door who's had a loss, but it may be helping a family that's across Dallas, DFW who have experienced a loss. Because you became a foster parent, you have given them a place that’s stable, that can nurture them and help them and give them hope and help them heal."