HARRISBURG, Pa. — The Pennsylvania Department of Health held a meeting by video call today to discuss child abuse reporting in the Commonwealth ahead of the new school year. A school year, Secretary Teresa Miller says will be difficult.
"This (school year) promises to be different from any before it. They year is on radar because thousands of children are going back to school, but not yet back to the classroom," the secretary said. "Remote learning is a fundamental shift for many families with many implications for small children."
She noted how the Bureau of Family and Child Services has already been receiving, if not begun investigating, reports of child abuse ranging from overdose from accidental consumption of prescription medication, illegal drugs, and other preventable deaths such as drowning in swimming pools, have all gone up significantly in recent months.
Now that the new school year is beginning for students in Pennsylvania, parents are going to have to learn how to juggle parenting at home while their kids learn remotely. "Kids are spending more time at home and that's probably going to continue for the foreseeable future," the Secretary said.
Among other issues she began to discuss, none were more prevalent than the necessity to apply and reach out for assistance whenever possible. She encouraged Pennsylvanians struggling to afford food to apply for the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program, or SNAP. A link to that program can be found here.
She also reminded Pennsylvanians they can find resources to help cope with stress on the Department of Human Services Support Help Line: 1(855)284-2494 those calls are toll free.