In a trend that seems to confirm child welfare advocates’ worst fears, data provided by state officials show that calls to Pennsylvania’s child abuse hotline have been cut nearly in half in the weeks since the COVID-19 pandemic forced schools and daycares to close their doors.

The percentage of infants and toddlers without health insurance is growing. The overall rate of uninsured children under 3 increased significantly for the first time in several years, growing from 3.5 percent in 2016 to 4.1 percent in 2018.

In a world where “social distancing” has become a necessary practice and the primary preventative measure for reducing the spread of coronavirus, we must remember that children in foster care and their families have already been “distanced” from each other.

Child welfare advocates say that America’s foster care system, which relies on in-person contact and human connection, is struggling under the weight of this unprecedented period of isolation, which is risking the well-being of children, foster parents and biological parents.