NORTH BAY -- Children's Aid Societies in northeastern Ontario are starting to feel the impact of the coronavirus outbreak.
The phones aren't ringing as often and officials say this is impacting the safety of children.
On a normal day, the staff at Nipissing Parry Sound Children’s Aid Society answer about 25 calls per day, but last week, only seven calls were addressed.
"We are receiving well below 50 per cent of the calls that we were at the same time period last year," said executive director Gisele Hebert.
Hebert says since many families are remaining at home, under quarantine, it’s difficult to monitor.
Elsewhere in the northeast, it’s a similar problem.
"We are seeing a reduction in calls and that scares us," said Children's Aid Society of Sudbury and Manitoulin CEO Elaina Groves. "The reason it scares us is that we know that children are without their safety net. They don't have their schools who have eyes on them."
The agencies are still open during this health crisis and are doing the best they can to meet with clients and inspect homes through alternative methods, such as Skype or FaceTime.
"Our staff are still going into homes and assessing the risk and how we can mitigate that risk for that child or family. What we always do is try to support the child or children with their family," said Groves.
Groves says immediate calls where kids might need to be taken out of a home are normal, but domestic violence calls are up. She attributes this escalation to family stress due to the pandemic.
Child welfare officials are urging the public to be extremely vigilant when it comes to the welfare of children during these times.
"We are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week," said Hebert. "The staff members are amazing. They’re really passionate about the work they do and they're committed to doing whatever they can."
Both Hebert and Groves day say the longer the pandemic lasts, the longer we have to physically distance ourselves from each other and the harder it will be to keep children protected.
