Mitigating the impacts of COVID-19 on children

The pandemic dramatically interrupted K-12 education for all students across the state and led to a range of academic, social, physical, and mental and behavioral health impacts. The disruptions caused by the pandemic disproportionately impacted students and families that are low-income, from historically disadvantaged communities, immune compromised, and/or special needs. The Washington State Academy of Sciences (WSAS) is collaborating with the William D. Ruckelshaus Center (the Center) to support researchers, policymakers, practitioners, and others in addressing the impacts of Covid-19 on Washington’s children and applying lessons learned to future emergencies.

For this project, WSAS will review and synthesize the key research findings describing the impacts of the pandemic on children, and will identify where more research is needed to inform new policies, strategies, and programs. In a complementary activity, the Center will bring together policy makers, practitioners, researchers, advocates, and others to understand what is working, what is not, and how to best support children’s social, emotional, physical, and academic health and recovery. Reports on the discussions, conclusions, or recommendations emerging from convenings will be shared among policymakers, practitioners, advocates, researchers, and others as appropriate.