Dear Friend,
As schools across the nation close and employment becomes more unstable for parents and families, children and their caregivers are facing serious threats to their physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing.
While there remains much we don’t know about the severity, scope, and duration of the Covid-19 (Coronavirus) situation, what we do know is we are not alone in working to ensure that the needs and concerns of young people remain at the forefront. To re-center our collective focus amid uncertainty, we must remember to ask the critical question from the traditional greeting of the Masai people: … And how are the children?
All families will likely face challenges to their wellbeing. But let us remember that these challenges will be more acutely experienced by low-income young people and families who depend on the wealth of resources and supports that our frontline champions—school and out-of-school time staff—ordinarily provide. With limited access to these critical supports, it’s more important than ever that we do everything we can to stand with our nation’s young people and their families in the days ahead.
America’s Promise Alliance is a broad coalition of organizations and individuals that are all working to support young people and are experts on diverse facets and aspects of young people’s lives. America’s Promise is committed to connecting our network to resources and information to help them and their communities cope with the repercussions of this public health emergency and the challenges that may become part of everyday life for the coming weeks or months.
We are being proactive about learning from our partners and the leaders in communities we work with who are responding to this outbreak with evidence-backed strategies and with young people in mind. We have compiled a list of resources that can be helpful to young people, families, and those of you who work with and care deeply about young people and children. They include:
- SchoolHouse Connection’s strategies for schools and early learning programs to use to support homeless students and their families during school closures
- Afterschool Alliance’s compilation of resources and guidance for the out-of-school-time community
- The National Association of School Psychologists’ recommendations for talking with children about Covid-19
- MENTOR’s tips for maintaining connection with young people during a time of social distancing
We will be closely following the youth-serving field’s response to this pandemic, and we will continue regular communication of resources, tools, and practices for our network via regular updates to this list and through sharing on social media.
In solidarity and partnership,
Dennis Vega
Interim President & CEO
America's Promise Alliance
