Dan Treglia, a social policy researcher at the University of Pennsylvania, Practice Associate Professor in Fox Leadership International, and instructor in LPS’ International Master of Public Administration, co-authored a report published in The New York Times titled “Hidden Pain,” which estimates that more than 70 percent of the bereaved children who have lost parents due to COVID-19 are 13 or younger.
Hoping to have a substantial impact on current policy and public discourse, Treglia was introduced to the COVID Collaborative, a group of former public officials and public health leaders, by Penn’s Frederic Fox Leadership Professor John DiIulio, Jr. The collaborative includes DiIulio’s former colleague John Bridgeland, its founder and chief executive officer, who, along with DiIluio, is also affiliated with the International Master of Public Administration.
Together with the COVID Collaborative, Treglia produced estimates of in-home caregiver loss by state, race and ethnicity, and age group. He also provided recommendations for steps that public, private, and nonprofit leaders should take to aid and protect children that lost a caregiver to COVID. His research found that:
- About 167,000 children lost a parent or other in-home caregiver to COVID-19
- Racial and ethnic disparities in caregiver loss exceed disparities in COVID-19 death rates
- Hispanic and Black children lost caregivers at more than twice the rate of white children, and American Indian/Alaskan Native children and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander children lost caregivers at rates more than three times that of white children
In the study, Treglia provides a comprehensive set of recommendations for supporting these children, their remaining caregivers, and the institutions they will rely on to adapt and cope.
Read more about Treglia’s study, as well as stories that demonstrate the impact that losing loved ones is having on children as they grieve. See the New York Times article, “Children, Coping With Loss, Are Pandemic’s ‘Forgotten Grievers’” >
