A new Public Health Reports research article examined how COVID–19–related stay-at-home orders (SAHOs) created an immediate barrier between children and professionals such as pediatricians and teachers, who are often first to identify and report signs of child maltreatment. The authors used data from a southern US state to examine changes in the trend in hotline calls before and during the COVID-19–associated SAHOs across various age groups, allegation severity, case severity, and socioeconomic characteristics.

Evaluating these trends is important for policymakers and practitioners to understand how policies enforced during the pandemic influence child maltreatment reporting and how these policies may affect reporting differently across socioeconomic groups