March 18, 2020 Update
Every day, our priority is to keep children and families in northern Indiana safe. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we continue to follow guidance issued by our local, state and federal officials, the Indiana State Department of Health and the Indiana Department of Child Services. We are committed to protecting children and preparing parents in every way we can during this difficult time.
Today, I am writing to share a few ways we’re making this happen:
In response to the call for social distancing, we’re canceling all of our April events. We’ll continue to recognize Child Abuse Prevention Month digitally.
We required all staff who have the ability to work from home to continue their work from SCAN at home to ensure we have no more than 50 people in our offices at a time.
In partnership with Parkview Community Nurses, we will now screen children and caregivers with a temperature reading before proceeding to the visitation room. We will also stagger visits for the next two weeks to limit the risk of exposure. Please be advised that if you're experiencing a fever of 100 degrees or more, it is imperative to reschedule the visit.
We are now offering virtual family visits and teleconferencing to families in our services so we can keep in-person interactions at a minimum for those families who are uneasy about physical meetings.
The health of our social workers is a top priority for SCAN. We are closing our offices to volunteers and community members outside of the children and families receiving care from SCAN. This will minimize the risk of exposure for our staff members who are needed to serve families during this critical time.
As we continue to navigate these uncertain waters of COVID-19 and its effects in our community, please keep in mind that this is an unusually stressful time for many parents as they juggle work, childcare concerns, food security and the general anxiety of a traumatic event like this. Families need us, and you, more than ever.
How can you help?
We cannot meet the needs of children and families without you. Today, each of our frontline staff was willing to carry out their visits with families to help parents access the essentials – food, formula, diapers, ideas to keep their children safe at home, and financial resources.
Please join us in wrapping children and families with the support they need to make it through this crisis. If you are able, will you donate on our website? Funds received will underwrite gift cards for critical resources for families: food, gas, and toiletries. Proceeds will also assist us with underwriting services – family-centered therapy, supervised visitation, coaching for parents of newborns and young children --provided by SCAN staff during this vulnerable time.
Thank you for making sure children and families have the support they need to weather this storm.