School systems must ensure students can report abuse, says Joyce

U.S. Rep. Dave Joyce (R-OH) recently requested that new guidance be issued by the U.S. Department of Education to set standards for how America’s school systems might best utilize online learning platforms to ensure children can report abuse.

“This pandemic has created countless challenges for us as a nation, including the fact that children have lost access to environments and services that often provide opportunities to identify abuse and to offer protection,” Rep. Joyce said. “We need to enact additional safeguards to identify children in need of help and give them the guidance and tools necessary to seek that help.”

Since April 28, when schools across the country closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many states have seen significant drops in such reports, including Rep. Joyce’s home state, where Ohio’s Child Protective Services has seen more than a 50 percent drop in child abuse reporting, according to the congressman’s office.

“While necessary to fight the spread of coronavirus, school closures and shelter-in-place orders are having dangerous, unintended consequences on our children,” said Rep. Joyce. “That cannot continue to happen. Immediate action must be taken to overcome this unforeseen challenge.”

The Department of Education previously issued guidance on several topics to help school systems navigate the pandemic and meet students’ needs, according to a May 19 letter sent to the department by Rep. Joyce and dozens of his colleagues in the U.S. House of Representatives.

The lawmakers urged new guidance that would encourage state education departments to require the addition of a reporting function (via voice, online chat, email, or other technology, based on the capacity of each state) into their online learning platforms so that children can report abuse to their state child abuse hotlines, according to their letter.

“Teachers should also be directed to remind children that a student can report abuse to them and that teachers can provide immediate assistance to children who may be experiencing abuse,” wrote Rep. Joyce and the lawmakers. “When children are no longer interacting in-person with teachers, coaches and other outside adults, the prudent order to stay at home does not always result in staying safe. This added guidance will help ensure that shelter-in-place orders protect children — not their abusers.”