Social service agencies have had to integrate more technology into their outreach amid COVID. Some of those changes could stick, even after the pandemic ends.
Tony Wilson recently joined the Baby Fold in Normal, serving as director of family and community services. He oversees foster care and intact family services, as well as partnerships with Bloomington-Normal schools and the Healthy Start program for new parents.
Wilson said most in-home visits have been on pause during the pandemic. Like everyone else, he said, they’ve grown accustomed to the “new normal” of Zoom and Teams meetings.
He said the virtual format is actually working better for some families.
"Some of our caseworkers that have to see clients, their clients weren't responding to them when the staff were trying to engage with them in-person,” Wilson said. “But remotely, they're doing great."
Face-to-face interactions and home visits can be stressful for clients, he said, depending on their previous experiences with child welfare services.
"Some families do not like to have people in their homes,” Wilson said. “Some of that is cultural and some it's just they don't trust the system, because they've had things happen to them historically."
Wilson said if it works, it works—the Baby Fold will continue to see some families this way, even after in-person visits become safer. He said they see some families more often this way. It also makes it easier to access those living in more rural communities. The organization serves families in 28 central Illinois counties.
Wilson joined the Baby Fold in December. He previously served as a director at the Woodbourne Center in Baltimore. Wilson succeeds Karen Major, who retired from the Baby Fold after 21 years.
Wilson said his goal is to continue to improve outcomes from children, foster parents and biological parents. He said he looks forward to growing the Intact Family Services program in partnership with the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS).
“What it does is provide services to families that aren't in the system yet. I love that concept,” he said. “We link those families with an array of services that will help hopefully result in children staying out of placement.”
For more on the Baby Fold’s services, visit the organization’s website.
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