One thing that we learn with age is that we must be flexible in our approach to life and work. As an organization that is more than 90 years old, International Social Service has learned how to be both flexible and creative in our response to changing circumstances. The current COVID-19 pandemic has, once again, reminded us that we need to re-imagine how we do our work. We will not be doing different work. We will be doing the same work in different ways. But how do we do that when the vast majority of the world are more, or less, unable unable to conduct assessments or visit communities where a child may be moved?
At ISS-USA and within our global network, we do our work by being creative in crisis. We re-think how we connect to the people and services we need to ensure that children in out of home care are not forgotten or ignored. We will be utilizing any, and all, technology to assess families and communities through virtual home studies, online research to map necessary services in the community where the child may be moved, and supporting potential care givers in obtaining needed documents. Most importantly, ISS-USA will continue to provide exceptional technical support to any individual or agency seeking alternative solutions for children in care.
The focus of the work of ISS-USA is on connecting children and families who are separated by a state or international border. The children for whom we obtain services are in out-of-home care and awaiting permanency. We must continue to do all we can to make sure that no child spends any more time in out of home care than is absolutely necessary. Kids are waiting for us to do what we need to do so that they can be united, or reunited, with a loving and safe family.
Please visit our website and ask us any questions about how we can help you reimagine how to do your due diligence in all your cross border child welfare cases. Fill out our inquiry form here: http://iss-usa.org/assistance-inquiry/.