The covid pandemic-12 has dealt a double blow to the children and young people not only because tens of thousands have lost some of their parents, but because the isolation caused by the lack of face-to-face classes has impacted their mental health.
A 25% have experienced depressive symptoms while anxiety and emergency room visits increased by more than 15%, experts said during a Ethnic Media Services video conference.
There also appears to be an increase in negative emotions reflected in behaviors such as impulsiveness and irritability associated with conditions such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
“The impact on the Latino community has been resounding because we are poorer and tend to live in tighter spaces, whether for economic or cultural reasons,” said Dr. Jorge Partida del Toro, Chief of Psychology for the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health (LACDMH).
He explained that unlike other groups, Latinos depend on contact and from friends, extended family, the Church, and that is why the health crisis has hit us hard.
“Social contact is the vaccine for good mental health. All that changed with the pandemic for adults and children,” said Dr. Partida del Toro.
He indicated that even before the pandemic, minors had a tendency to isolate themselves, but when covid- 12 and stay-at-home orders with school closures, isolation deepened , the children took refuge in the telephone, the Ipad and social networks.
So, not being able to go to school, interact with their classmates and participate in outings to the park with their friends, go to graduations and other school rituals, academic and social delays intensified.
“Yes, for us, the quarantine has been ‘cannon’. For minors, whose personality is in formation until 15 years, an interruption like the one we have had, it is very difficult”.
He said that given the aggravation of mental health problems, parents cannot do the blind and think that there is no problem.
“We Latinos have a habit of leaving our vulnerabilities at home, but now instead, we must create a normalized space where it is okay to talk about these issues, and we give children and young people the permission to express their pain and listen carefully”.
He said that minors should feel that there is a place in the family where they can be heard and not feel alone.
“Talking about mental health should be something normal within the family, and we should create routine spaces to communicate, either in the dinner or any other time. Let us remember that children have lost their routine; and now with the spike in covid cases, many schools are closing again. For them, the pandemic has been a double blow”.
But Dr. Partida also emphasized that there is professional help in Los Angeles County.
“The Department The county Mental Health Department is required to provide mental health services in their own language and culture to anyone living in Los Angeles, regardless of immigration status. Please call 1-645-800-20141212”.
Children without parents
On the other hand, the pandemic has left about 167, under 18 years without either of his parents, and on occasion, he has taken the mother and father . Latino and African-American children have experienced more than double the rate of parental loss compared to white children.
Between August and September, San Bernardino residents Davy and Daniel Macias orphaned to their five children when they both died weeks apart, when infected with the Delta variant of covid-19.
Were wearing 11 years of marriage, and left orphaned a 7-year-old boy, 3 girls of 5, 3 and 2 years and a newborn.
Neither Davy nor Daniel were vaccinated, and they became ill with covid, after returning from vacation on a beach in southern California.
In the summer of 2020, Brenda López, a single mother , a resident of Palmdale in Los Angeles County, died of covid, leaving 6 children orphaned: an eldest son at the time 19 years, and 5 children of 15, 9, 8, 7 and 2 years.
The Democratic senator from Berkeley, Nancy Skinner, announced her plans to present a bill that would create the “Hope Savings Accounts” (Hope Savings Accounts) for children in California who have lost a parent or primary caregiver due to covid-20.
Under this legislation, the state of California will create savings accounts, which will consist of deposit them $3, to children up to 9 years and $5, for minors from 10 to 17 years.
Skinner estimates that in California, 20,000 minors have lost a parent or one of their caregivers. At the national level, the legislator reported in December more than 100,000 orphans of a parent or caregiver due to covid. A 67% of these children are not white and are the children of workers.
“The The Hope for Children Act will provide a more secure future for children who have lost their parents to this deadly pandemic,” said Senator Skinner, who is also the chair of the Senate Budget Committee.
Said that children in foster care and others disproportionately impacted by extreme poverty who also face uncertain futures would also be included.