“Wearing a Mask Won't Protect Us from Our History”: The Impact of COVID-19 on Black Children and Families

ABSTRACT

The data on COVID-19 show an irrefutable and disturbing pattern: Black Americans are contracting and dying from COVID-19 at rates that far exceed other racial and ethnic groups. Due to historical and current iterations of racism, Black Americans have been forced into conditions that elevate their risk for COVID-19 and consequently place Black children at the epicenter of loss across multiple domains of life. The current paper highlights the impact of the pandemic on Black children at the individual, family, and school levels. Based on an understanding of the influence of structural racism on COVID-19 disparities, policy recommendations are provided that focus on equitable access to quality education, home ownership, and employment to fully address the needs of Black children and families during and after the pandemic. Research, practice, and policy recommendations are made to journal editors, funding agencies, grant review panels, and researchers regarding how research on COVID-19 should be framed to inform intervention efforts aimed at improving the situation of Black children and families.

As the global spread of the COVID-19 pandemic began to grip the United States in early 2020, Washington Post reporter Eli Saslow interviewed Americans all over the country to capture an in-depth oral history of the pandemic′s toll. During an interview with Burnell Cotlon, a Black owner of a grocery store in the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans, Mr. Cotlon detailed the harsh effects of the pandemic on his community and stated what statistics would later show—the pandemic was systematically impacting Black communities. However, Mr. Cotlon called attention to the long history of disinvestment in his community, particularly after Hurricane Katrina. He described how the scarcity of jobs, low wages, food deserts, and inadequate health care made life in his community “an underlying condition,” which exacerbated the impact of COVID-19. He noted, “Wearing a mask won′t protect us from our history.”

At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, the virus was referred to as the “great equalizer,” as many thought the disease posed an equal threat to Americans and the rest of the global population (Galasso, 2020; E. J. Kim et al., 2020; Mein, 2020). This view could not have been further from the truth. Instead, the coronavirus pandemic proved to be the “great amplifier,” as it has exposed and exacerbated existing inequities experienced by Black children, adolescents, and families throughout the country (Gaynor & Wilson, 2020; E. J. Kim et al., 2020; Mein, 2020). The alarming racial disparities in rates of infections and deaths from COVID-19 among Black Americans, as well as the economic, educational, and health inequities they experience, highlight the historical legacy of social and structural inequality in the United States (Egede & Walker, 2020; Gaynor & Wilson, 2020; E. J. Kim et al., 2020).

Disparities in the Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic

Although families of all racial and ethnic groups have been adversely affected by COVID-19, Black families bear a disproportionate burden, with significantly higher rates of COVID-19 infections, hospitalizations, and COVID-19–related mortalities (Mackey et al., 2021; Poulson et al., 2021; Rubin-Miller et al., 2020). A systematic review of data on COVID-19 rates showed that Black Americans have a 1.5–3.5 times higher risk for infection and are 1.5–3 times more likely to be hospitalized compared to White Americans (Mackey et al., 2021). As the pandemic unfolded in 2020, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that Black Americans represented 33% of COVID-19 hospitalizations and 34% of COVID-19 deaths, despite being 13% of the U.S. population. A national study of COVID-19 mortality and distribution showed that for every 1% increase in the Black population, there was a 2.12% increase in COVID-19 mortalities (Anaele et al., 2021).

An analysis of COVID-19 rates in six U.S. cities (New York City, Chicago, Atlanta, San Diego, St. Louis, and Baltimore) revealed that a 10% increase in a ZIP code′s Black population was associated with an additional 9.2 confirmed COVID-19 cases per 10,000 residents (Benitez et al., 2020). In Chicago, Black Americans make up 30% of the population, but more than 50% of COVID-19 cases and almost 70% of COVID-19 deaths (Drew & Abu-Khalaf, 2020). In Milwaukee, Black Americans make up 37% of the city's population, but almost 70% of all COVID-19 deaths (Center for Economic Development, 2020).

State-level data illustrated that in 32 states and the District of Columbia, Black Americans were dying at rates 50% higher than what would be expected (Rimmer, 2020). In four states, the rate was three or more times higher (Godoy & Wood, 2020; Yancy, 2020). In fact, findings in Louisiana showed that Black Americans made up 70.5% of those who died despite being only 32.2% of the state's population (Yancy, 2020). In Michigan, Black Americans were 15% of the state population but were 33% of COVID-19 cases and 40% of COVID-19 deaths (Parpia et al., 2021).

County-level data across the country showed that in predominantly Black counties, infection rates were three times higher and death rates were six times higher than rates in predominantly White counties (Thebault et al., 2020). In June 2020, the CDC identified 205 counties in 33 states as hotspots, which are areas meeting specified criteria relating to temporal increases in the number of cases and incidence. The data illustrated a disproportionate number of COVID-19 cases among underrepresented racial-ethnic groups occurred in almost all the identified hotspots between February and June 2020 (Moore et al., 2020). In 22 of these counties, rates of COVID-19 were disparate for Black residents (Moore et al., 2020).

Disparities in the rates of COVID-19 among children

The racial disparities in COVID-19 rates persist even when controlling for personal, social, and environmental determinants of health (Escobar et al., 2021; Figueroa et al., 2021). For example, a study using national data at the county level examined the association between the proportion of Black and Latino adults within a community and the number of COVID-19 cases and COVID-19 deaths (Escobar et al., 2021). Results indicated that a 10 percentage point increase in the Black population of a community was associated with an increase of 324.7 cases of COVID-19 and 14.5 COVID-19 deaths per 100,000 people (Escobar et al., 2021). The increase in COVID-19 cases and deaths persisted for Black adults, even after controlling for the following county-level variables: average household size, proportion of individuals with less than a high school diploma, median household income, the proportion of adults who were foreign-born noncitizens, and the proportion of adults who commute using public transportation (Escobar et al., 2021). An analysis of data from New York City demonstrates that even after accounting for differences in neighborhood poverty levels and health conditions, Black neighborhoods display death rates that are still 28% higher than those observed in White communities (Do & Frank, 2021), demonstrating that the association cannot be “explained away” easily by any of these potential confounding variables at the group level (Anaele et al., 2021).

While the data on prevalence rates has focused largely on adults, new demographic data released by the CDC provides the first comprehensive racial breakdown of COVID-19 cases and deaths among youth populations (Mitropoulos, 2021). Among children between the ages of 5 and 17, Black children represented 12.6% of COVID-19 cases, which corresponds roughly to the demographics of Black children in the United States. However, Black children, along with Latinx children, experience greater illness severity, including the severe COVID-19–related inflammatory illness MIS-C, and made up 65% of the children who have died from COVID-19 (Fernandes et al., 2021). The death rate for Black youth exceeds their contraction rate. There is a concern that the disease could become a “disease of the young” depending on how the push for vaccinations impacts the risk of COVID-19 by age (Zhang, 2021). Specifically, the logical prioritization of older adults for vaccination means that the unvaccinated group will disproportionately consist of children (Zhang, 2021), which may leave children of color particularly vulnerable. A new study by the American Academy of Pediatrics & Children′s Hospital Association (2021) revealed that children represented 22% of the new COVID-19 cases reported in the last week of April 2021, up from 3% in 2020.

A Sociohistorical Integrative Framework for Understanding the Impact of COVID-19 on Black Children and Families

Murry et al. (2018) proposed an integrative framework to study the impact of stress on the experiences and development of Black children and families. The authors argued that Black children are profoundly influenced by chronic and historical exposure to stressors and adverse social environments (Murry et al., 2018). To best understand the multifactorial influences, antecedents, and consequences of COVID-19 on Black Americans, a sociohistorical framework is useful. The Sociohistorical Integrative Model describes the ways in which the remnants of slavery in the United States have caused indelible and deleterious impacts on Black families' sociocultural contexts (e.g., racism and marginalization), which has led to marginalized social positions (e.g., social class), and disproportionate exposures to extreme environmental stressors (e.g., education-, neighborhood- and health-related inequities; Murry et al., 2018). Marginalized social positions and environmental stressors result in Black families being more vulnerable to stress in ways that compromise family systems and wellbeing (e.g., family relationships, psychological/emotional functioning), which may impact children′s positive development, adjustment, and adaptation (e.g., social competence, successful life transitions, health outcomes). Together, these stressors and vulnerabilities represent a disproportionate level of exposure to adversity in Black children and families, which may manifest in differential developmental outcomes. Murry et al. (2018) highlight the importance of “cultural strength-based coping assets” as potential moderators that may buffer the effects of exposure to sociohistorical stressors and environments on Black children′s outcomes. These assets are proposed to have direct effects on environmental stressors, family vulnerabilities and positive development, adjustment, and adaptation. Such assets include, but are not limited to, cultural legacies, family cohesion, racial identity, and kinship support.

We utilize this sociohistorical approach to frame the deleterious impacts of COVID-19 on Black children and families. We describe the historical legacy of racism against Black people in the United States and its consequences at the school, family, and individual levels. We end with recommendations for research, funding, and policy to address the unique needs of Black children and families during the COVID-19 pandemic, and similar historical events with wide-reaching impacts on child development. According to García Coll et al's (1996) integrative model for the developmental competencies of minority children and families, there are critical aspects of the environment that children and youth of color are exposed to, which are marred by racism, prejudice, discrimination, oppression, and segregation. To fully understand the influence of these risk factors on the development of non-White children and youth, social position factors (e.g., race, ethnicity, gender, and social class), must be incorporated as core phenomena rather than peripheral contextual processes. Murry et al.'s (2018) sociohistorical integrative conceptual framework for studying stress in Black families draws on and expands García Coll's model by including the sociohistorical context (vestiges of slavery and Jim Crow laws) as an ongoing influence on the lives of Black youth and families, which are experienced through sociocultural stressors such as racism, discrimination, marginalization, and oppression. Thus, a valid and informative understanding of elevated risks to development among Black youth rests on recognizing how the social environment contributes to ongoing marginalization, which has a substantial and pervasive influence on Black youth (García Coll et al., 1996; Murry et al., 2018).

A valid and informative understanding of elevated risks to development among Black youth rests on recognizing how the social environment contributes to ongoing marginalization, which has a substantial and pervasive influence on Black youth.

Historical Legacy of Racism

Racism includes “a system of dominance, power, and privilege based on racial group designations” that privileges the dominant group (e.g., White individuals) and excludes subordinate groups (e.g., Native American, Black, Latinx, and Asian) from power and resources (Harrell, 2000, p. 43). The history of Black people in the western hemisphere begins with an estimated 12.5 million Africans forcibly shipped to North America, South America, and the Caribbean between 1525 and 1866 (Golash-Boza, 2015; SlaveVoyages, 2018). The Civil War in the United States began in 1861 after growing tensions between northern and southern states over the institution of slavery and lasted until the Confederate states surrendered in 1865 (Zinn, 1990). Abraham Lincoln signed the 13th Amendment, which freed the estimated four million Africans and Black Americans living in the United States (Zinn, 1990). Immediately following the Civil War was the decade-long period known as Reconstruction, which bolstered the political rights of Black American men, and resulted in schools and universities advancing the lives of former enslaved individuals (Coates, 2017). The backlash against Black societal advancement gave rise to the Jim Crow era, which lasted from 1877 to 1965 (Alexander, 2010). In southern states, de jure racial segregation existed by legal decree, whereas in northern states, de facto racial segregation resulted from enforced housing codes, bank practices, and employment discrimination (Alexander, 2010). Congress passed the Civil Rights Act in 1964, which rendered the unequal application of voter requirements and racial segregation in schools, employment settings, and public facilities illegal (Loevy, 1997). Despite the passage of legislation to ensure that Black Americans had equal access to societal resources, the lingering effects of enslavement and Jim Crow policies resulted in widespread racial inequities and racial disparities that existed prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Racism Increased the Risk of COVID-19

Racism is multilevel and multidimensional, and includes individual racism, institutional racism, and structural racism (Bonilla-Silva, 2015; Clark et al., 1999; C. P. Jones, 2000; J. M. Jones, 1997). Individual racism is the behavioral component of racism and is similar to racial discrimination (Williams et al., 2003), personally mediated racism (Jones, 2000), and racial microaggressions (Sue et al., 2007). Individual racism includes dominant racial group members′ actions that have differential and negative effects on subordinate racial-ethnic groups (Williams et al., 2003). Individual racism has been linked with diminished mental health, physical health, and academic outcomes among Black children and adolescents (Benner et al., 2018; Lee & Ahn, 2013; Paradies et al., 2015; Priest et al., 2013). The negative impact of individual racism on physical and mental health is especially salient given that Black youth are more likely to suffer from diabetes, heart disease, asthma, and lung disease (Committee on Community-Based Solutions to Promote Health Equity in the United States et al., 2017; National Center for Health Statistics, 2015; Office of Minority Health, 2019). These illnesses increase one′s risk of getting COVID-19 and exacerbate the effects of COVID-19. Further, Black families are far less likely to have health insurance, thus increasing their risk of deleterious effects of COVID-19 (Sohn, 2016).

Institutional racism also produces differential exposure to stress and environmental hazards that increase or exacerbate mental health issues, as well as differential access to resources, supports, and opportunities that promote positive health (Jones, 1997; Williams & Mohammed, 2013). Institutional racism manifests in housing as many Black families are disproportionately relegated to inferior and subpar housing because of racial segregation and redlining, high levels of poverty, limited education and employment opportunities, and high violence exposure (Bailey et al., 2017; Greene et al., 2017; Ray, 2020). Black American families living in such racially segregated housing are at an increased risk of exposure to environmental toxins and food insecurity (Bailey et al., 2017; Odoms-Young & Bruce, 2018; Williams & Collins, 2001). To add, there is a higher risk of spreading contagious diseases in racially segregated and impoverished neighborhoods because social distancing and quarantining remain difficult (Vasquez Reyes, 2020). In this regard, Black families living in racially segregated neighborhoods, which are often “health care deserts” that lack adequate care facilities (Dotinga, 2012), are simultaneously more likely to experience housing conditions that increase their exposure to Covid-19 and decrease their access to the medical care needed to treat it, should they be exposed and infected.

Institutional racism also manifests in the labor industry. Black Americans are disproportionately represented in service and health jobs with low wages and have the greatest risk for occupational hazards and for COVID-19 (Hawkins, 2020). Research shows Black Americans are more likely to work in essential industries (e.g., food service, public transit, and health care) potentially bringing them in contact with infected individuals (Pitts, 2011). Given the low pay of essential industries, Black Americans are more likely to ride public transit, which would also increase the likelihood of them encountering infected individuals (Anderson, 2016).

Similarly, institutional racism permeates the education system in ways that threaten Black children′s psychological and physical well-being. Data reveal that Black youth are disproportionately suspended and expelled as early as preschool (U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights, 2014). Consequently, studies show that a disproportionate number of Black youths attending underfunded schools will be tracked into juvenile and adult prisons (Alang et al., 2017; Alexander, 2010; Lecoanet et al., 2014). Moreover, Theodos and González (2019) point out that Black youth are more likely to attend predominantly Black schools, which are chronically under-resourced, and therefore, may be less likely to have the funding mechanisms to provide not only adequate educational support but safety measures during a crisis, such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

These illustrations provide an example of structural racism, which “is a constellation of macro-level systems, social forces, institutions, ideologies, and interactive processes that generate and reinforce inequities among racial and ethnic groups. These components are integrated, reciprocally influence each other across multiple domains, and evolve in function and form over time” (Dennis et al., 2021, p. 302). Gee and Hickens (2021) define structural racism as “the totality of how society is organized to privilege White communities at the expense of non-White racialized communities.” The forms of institutional racism evident in the housing, labor, and educational institutions are replicated across all societal domains throughout the lifespan and across generations (Gee & Hickens, 2021). In this regard, individual, institutional, and structural racism served as the preexisting conditions for Covid-19 among the Black community. These various forms of racism put the Black community at higher risk for acquiring Covid-19 and resulted in the Black community being especially vulnerable to the effects of Covid-19.

Individual, institutional, and structural racism served as the preexisting conditions for Covid-19 among the Black community.

Consequences of COVID-19 at the School Level

Due to institutional and structural racism, (García Coll et al., 1996; Gee & Hickens, 2021), the majority (73%) of Black children and youth in public schools attend high- or mid-high-poverty schools (Hussar et al., 2020). Poor school conditions existed long before the pandemic (Frankenberg et al., 2019), but the concentration of poverty in schools attended by Black children has been rising in recent years (U.S. General Accountability Office [U.S. GAO], 2016). Education at all levels is intricately connected to health equity and life course trajectories (National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 2019) and Black children and families are among the most vulnerable to the impact of COVID-19 in the education system. The exacerbation of inequalities brought on by the pandemic is particularly troubling for Black families in under-resourced schools. For example, in the early months of the pandemic, scholars forecasted that low-SES schools would see greater learning losses among their students as a function of school closures (Kuhfeld et al., 2020), and follow-up studies show evidence of these disparities (Agostinelli et al., 2022; Kuhfeld et al., 2022). Beyond academic learning, pandemic closures and subsequent reopening restrictions have required schools to invest resources to support student and staff′s physical safety, mental health, and socioemotional well-being. For under-resourced school systems already struggling with issues like safety, physical infrastructure, access to quality learning materials and technology, student–family engagement and support, and staff turnover, the pandemic has only exacerbated these stressors (Office for Civil Rights [OCR], 2021).

Technology and remote learning

Due to decades of underinvestment in Black communities, Black children are more likely to attend schools with fewer economic resources and less technology to support remote instruction (Reardon & Owens, 2014). The pandemic increased the fiscal deficits of schools working to provide remote educational experiences (Camera, 2020; Sanders, 2020). With students expected to lose one-third of prepandemic reading gains and half of the math gains during the pandemic (Kuhfeld et al., 2020; Kuhfeld & Tarasawa, 2020), the pandemic will further exacerbate existing disparities in achievement caused by institutional racism in the education domain.

With students expected to lose one-third of prepandemic reading gains and half of math gains during the pandemic, the pandemic will further exacerbate existing disparities in achievement caused by institutional racism in the education domain.

Internet access, for example, became essential, particularly with the 2020 shift to virtual instruction. Black children were more likely to experience loss of instruction time during remote learning (Jacobsen, 2020; OCR, 2021). Prior to the pandemic, the digital divide was already disproportionately impacting Black children and youth, who were more likely than their peers to lack access to broadband internet or other technology resources needed to complete schoolwork at home (Anderson & Perrin, 2018; Auxier & Anderson, 2020). To compound this issue, Black parents are more likely to experience financial strain when paying broadband and smartphone bills, constraining their children′s ability to access virtual schooling and other online educational resources (Schaeffer, 2021; Vogels et al., 2020).

Friedman et al. (2021) documented that Black children were more likely to have inadequate access to the technology needed for online learning than their peers, with issues of accessibility being especially challenging across socioeconomic divides. In fall 2020, about 6% of Black children whose parents had a graduate degree lacked adequate access to technology, compared with 4% of all children whose parents had a graduate degree (Friedman et al., 2021). In contrast, almost 36% of Black children whose parents had less than a high school education had insufficient technology access, compared with 20% of all children with the same level of parent education (Friedman et al., 2021). In the early months of the pandemic, one in five Black parents received little to no information from their school about remote learning resources (Education Trust, 2020), and 25% of Black youth connected with teachers less than once per week (Wronski, 2020). Furthermore, parents who were essential workers were less available to support online instruction (Dorn et al., 2020; North, 2020).

Prior to the pandemic, basic or “essential” internet subscriptions that offered slower internet speeds and limited data at lower prices were presented as a solution to the problem of providing low-income families with home-based internet (Reddick, Enriquez, Harris, & Sharma, 2020; Wheeler, 2020). COVID-19 demonstrated that these subscription plans were insufficient. Not only was there still a financial burden for these families, but the slower speeds were incompatible with the increased need for the use of high-speed internet for remote learning during the pandemic (Wheeler, 2020). Access disparities revealed by the switch to remote learning have instigated a broader discussion about net neutrality—equal access to web-based content and data speeds without tiered fees—and about the digital divide, or the gap between those who have access to technology and those who do not (Wheeler, 2020). Municipalities, school districts, community-based organizations, and businesses have since launched collaborations that provide free internet access to families. These partnerships eclipse preexisting fee-based tiered internet “essential” options. For example, the Verizon Innovative Learning Program is a series of initiatives to provide internet coverage, offer digital training to 10 million youth by 2030, support teachers, and increase broadband availability in rural communities (Verizon, n.d.). Other internet providers now offer a monthly credit towards internet or mobile phone service through the Affordable Connectivity Program, a benefits program supported by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC, n.d.).

School discipline and instructional time

Prior to the pandemic, Black children were more likely to lose instructional time due to disproportionate discipline strategies (Losen & Martinez, 2020; U.S. GAO, 2018), and evidence suggests prepandemic losses were magnified by pandemic-related school closures (Kuhfeld et al., 2022). Institutionalized patterns of racial discrimination against Black children, including disparate disciplinary practices resulting in the school-to-prison pipeline (C. Y. Kim et al., 2010), have fueled deep distrust of schools among Black communities (Gilbert et al., 2020; Shapiro et al., 2021). For many families, punitive discipline practices that disproportionately targeted their Black children carried over into the virtual learning space (C. Collins, 2021).

Other Black families welcomed the shift to remote learning and found it beneficial for their children to learn in a virtual environment (Banks, 2022). Specifically, some Black parents reported that remote learning buffered their children from being targeted for disciplinary infractions (Miller, 2021; St. George, 2021). Black children must navigate racial discrimination in school and manage racial encounters with students and teachers while tasked with learning (Bentley-Edwards et al., 2020; Coleman-King et al., 2021). Black girls, for example, are adultified by their teachers, and often described as loud and unruly, while their self-advocacy is interpreted as aggression or anger (Adams-Bass, 2021; Adams-Bass & Bentley-Edwards, 2020; Butler-Barnes & Inniss-Thompson, 2020; Morris, 2007). For some Black families, remote school relieved them of the stress and emotional energy used to manage racial encounters and provided an opportunity to redirect their attention to learning, resulting in reported differences in children′s academic achievement and well-being (Anderson, 2020; Miller, 2021).

Some Black parents reported that remote learning buffered their children from being targeted for disciplinary infractions.

School- and district-level funding

The pandemic magnified the impact of inequitable school funding. Districts that serve large populations of Black children in urban and poor rural communities were tasked with addressing increased fiscal deficits as they worked to provide at-home educational experiences at the end of the 2019–20 school year and develop protocols for the 2020–21 school year (Camera, 2020; Sanders, 2020). As schools addressed educational access, including broadband access, the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) initially continued to require annual student assessments, but with extended due dates. Guidelines for the 2020–2021 school year were relaxed, providing districts the opportunity to forgo standardized testing.

The abrupt change in instruction and access to at-home learning resources for students placed additional pressure on districts to develop plans that addressed atypical school year learning loss and summer learning loss for Black youth (Regional Educational Laboratory Program Northwest, 2020). Furthermore, CDC COVID-19 requirements for social distancing and cleaning procedures (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2021) added to the cost borne by school districts. Districts with older school buildings faced heavy expenditures to comply with regulations for schools to reopen, which further disadvantaged students in these districts.

School districts that rely heavily on state revenue will have to manage and project budgets with the expectation that their state funding will be lower for the next fiscal year because of reduced state income during the COVID-19 shutdown (Blagg et al., 2021). Such districts often rely on state funding because properties in the community are often undervalued, lowering the tax base (Berry, 2021; Ingraham, 2021). Tax breaks to businesses, theoretically in exchange for employment of city residents, net minimal contributions to the local tax base that supports schools, and fewer dollars to support under-resourced districts mean leaders will have to reduce spending (Blagg et al., 2021). Urban school districts already have fewer psychosocial supports and nonacademic resources, such as music and art programs, available to their students (Hudley, 2013; Lippman et al., 1996). The Brooking Institute's projected deficits for 2020–21 suggest teachers are also likely to be laid off. Personnel accounts for as much as 80% of district budgets (Roza, 2020), and lower-ranking teachers, frequently employed in lower-resourced districts where Black students are enrolled, are likely to be the first to be laid off (Burnette, 2020).

Consequences of COVID-19 at the Family Level

The concomitant challenges of racism and the pandemic have resulted in Black families facing more severe consequences across multiple domains of life. Approximately one-third of Black households with children experienced three or more simultaneous economic and health-related hardships amid the COVID-19 pandemic (Padilla & Thomson, 2021). Specifically, with unemployment at an unprecedented high, 45% of Black workers have lost their jobs or had their hours reduced, which is 14% more than White workers (Swasey et al., 2020). Consequently, Black families are overrepresented among families experiencing food insecurity (Share Our Strength, n.d.), difficulty paying bills, and housing instability (National Low Income Housing Coalition, 2020). One in three Black households with children reported being behind on their rent or mortgage and 50% of those households reported that eviction or foreclosure was likely in the next 2 months (Lloyd et al., 2021).

Approximately one-third of Black households with children experienced three or more simultaneous economic and health-related hardships amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Black families are also experiencing devastating losses of loved ones. The large COVID-19 mortality rate will leave large numbers of individuals grieving the loss of loved ones and usher in a new pandemic of grief (Verdery et al., 2020; Weinstock et al., 2021). Analyses using epidemiological scenarios show that each death from COVID-19 will leave approximately nine times as many Americans bereaved by the death of a grandparent, parent, sibling, spouse, or child (Verdery et al., 2020). It is estimated that there are over one million children and adolescents experiencing bereavement because of the loss of a loved one due to COVID-19 (Weinstock et al., 2021), with an average of 2.2 bereaved children and 4.1 bereaved grandchildren for each person who died (Verdery et al., 2020). Adolescents represented 75% of individuals under 18 who have lost at least one parent due to COVID-19 (Kidman et al., 2021).

Disproportionately higher COVID-19 infection and death rates among Black Americans heighten the burden of psychological distress and grieving among Black children and families (Snowden & Graaf, 2021) and exacerbate existing racial disparities in the loss of loved ones (Verdery et al., 2020). Epidemiological approaches to COVID-19–related kin loss show that Black Americans were more likely to have a close relative die from COVID-19 (Verdery et al., 2020). Black Americans are experiencing higher losses among their vertical kin (e.g., grandparents, parents; Verdery et al., 2020). A disproportionate kin loss from COVID-19 is also shouldered by Black children (Kidman et al., 2021). Despite comprising less than 14% of the U.S. population, Black children make up 20% of the children who have lost a parent due to COVID-19 and thus, have suffered a loss of social support (Kidman et al., 2021).

In addition, Black families may be experiencing more debilitating forms of grief due to the unique circumstances of the pandemic. Although grief is a normal process in response to the loss of a loved one, COVID-19 deaths are sudden and unanticipated, and the infectious nature of COVID-19 compounds the impact of loss by precluding in-person care and the ability to say goodbye (Albuquerque & Santos, 2021; Guessoum et al., 2020; Verdery et al., 2021; Weinstock et al., 2021). Further, the highly transmissible nature of COVID-19 may lead to multiple deaths within families (Verdery et al., 2021). Traditional grief, funeral, and burial practices serve as cultural rituals in the Black community and often ease the burden of death and loss (Moore, et al., 2020), but traditional practices were disrupted by social distancing measures and travel restrictions (Albuquerque & Santos, 2021; Guessoum et al., 2020; Moore, et al., 2020). The unique circumstances surrounding COVID-19–related loss will be experienced as traumatic, and traumatic loss is associated with longer periods of grief in adolescents (Guessoum et al., 2020). Further, the constant news coverage of the disproportionate impact of the pandemic on Black communities may lead to higher rates of anticipation of kin loss among Black children (Bertuccio & Runion, 2020). Traumatic grief may be exacerbated by the lack of social support at the time of loss, again due to social distancing measures and the depletion of emotional resources in surviving caregivers (Albuquerque & Santos, 2021; Weinstock et al., 2021), particularly among Black youth (Moore et al., 2020). Such environmental stressors experienced at the family level, coupled with marginalized social position, place Black families and children in a challenging condition (Murry et al., 2018). The impact of these stressors may negatively impact family well-being and the functionality of the family system, and, in turn, compromise children's well-being, positive developmental, and health outcomes.

Consequences of COVID-19 at the Individual Level

Black youth disproportionately face acute, chronic, and traumatic stressors in the context of COVID-19. Black youth find themselves at the intersection of a health pandemic and a pandemic of racism. Specifically, in 2020, 71% of Black youth were worried that they or a family member would be exposed to the virus, compared with 66% of Latinx youth and 56% of White youth (Wronski, 2020). Accordingly, Black youth are overrepresented in cases of COVID-19 infection and death in comparison with White youth (Goyal et al., 2020), and the percentage of Black children and adolescents who have lost at least one parent to COVID-19 is disproportionately high (Kidman et al., 2021; Thomas, 2021). Seventy-four percent of Black youth reported being worried about the effect COVID-19 may have on their family's finances (Wronski, 2020). Additionally, youth may also be experiencing stress, as the disconnection from school introduced a disruption to their everyday lives. Increased stress is exacerbated by social distancing, which disrupts daily routines and reduces contact with relatives, peers, and adult role models who provide much-needed support (García Coll, 2020).

In addition to these COVID-19 pandemic-related stressors, Black children faced elevated levels of exposure to racial trauma, given the myriad forms of racism, during the pandemic (Iruka et al., 2021). Murry et al.'s (2018) model and García Coll's theoretical framework point to the fact that Black youth are likely to contend with racial macrostressors in their daily lives, which are large-scale events that emerge within distal systems of a society (Lewis et al., 2015). In recent years, for example, unarmed Black children (Aiyana Jones), adolescents (Tamir Rice), and adults (Daunte Wright) have been killed by police officers. Sinyangwe et al. (2021) reported that Black people accounted for 28% of those killed by police officers in 2020, despite making up only 13% of the U.S. population. Such racial macrostressors, like race riots or highly publicized instances of police brutality, may impact individuals' physiological and day-to-day functioning via vicarious experiences and increased societal awareness due to the news and social media platforms (Lewis et al., 2015). For example, empirical research links viewing viral videos of police shootings to depressive and posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms among Black teenagers (Tynes et al., 2019). These instances of racial violence have only continued through the pandemic (e.g., the murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor), thus making Black youth more susceptible to stress and trauma. Further, as a parallel trend of increasing rates of suicide among Black youth is emerging, with Black children aged 5 to 12 being twice as likely as White children to commit suicide (Bridge et al., 2018). Rather than declining, these rates have increased during the COVID-19 pandemic (Rabin, 2021).

Taken together, Black children and youth are experiencing heightened levels of stress across multiple domains of their lives. García Coll et al.'s (1996) integrative model for the development of minority children and families points to the ways that Black children and youth experience sociocultural stressors, as their ecology is characterized by the various components of racism. Murry et al. (2018) emphasize that, because of heightened exposure to stressors, youth of color are at risk of experiencing challenges in their developmental transitions, as well as their overall psychological functioning and emotional well-being.

Recommendations

Recommendations for researchers

There is an urgent need for research that examines the short- and long-term impact of the COVID-19 pandemic among Black children and adolescents across multiple domains of functioning. The lack of empirical research on Black children and families is concerning, given the systematic impact of COVID-19 on Black families and communities (Horsford et al., 2021). It is imperative that future research is grounded in culturally relevant theoretical frameworks that have been designed specifically to understand the development and psychosocial functioning of Black youth (e.g., García Coll et al., 1996; Spencer, 1995). Research should focus on identifying not only risks and vulnerability but also assets and protective factors (Dupree et al., 2015). Research questions, hypotheses, and analyses of research findings should be developed with an understanding of the inequitable, structurally determined conditions that exacerbate the impact of the COVID-19 on Black youth and shape the responses available to them as they cope with and recover from the pandemic (e.g., Heard-Garris et al., 2021; Neblett, 2019). It is also imperative that future researchers utilize methods that give study participants a voice and not only describe but humanize the lived experiences of participants. For example, mixed-methods designs can be used to ensure that research findings are grounded in the lived experiences of participants (Mayoh & Onwuegbuzie, 2015). Finally, there is a critical need for research that utilizes the Intersectional perspective (P. H. Collins, 2015) to delineate the impact of overlapping sources of oppression faced by Black children and adolescents, and the complexities of the effects of the pandemic as shaped by their experiences.

Research questions, hypotheses, and analyses of research findings should be developed with an understanding of the inequitable, structurally determined conditions that exacerbate the impact of the COVID-19 on Black youth.

Recommendations for funding agencies

Funding agencies should prioritize funding the work of Black researchers who are building on existing bodies of knowledge pertaining to the needs and strengths of Black children, youth, and families given the funding disparity that affects scholars of African descent (see Ginther et al., 2011; Hoppe et al., 2019). Funding agencies should also prioritize funding interdisciplinary teams that examine disparities related to the COVID-19 pandemic from different disciplinary perspectives, apply a range of methodological techniques, and have expertise in a range of topics; interdisciplinary teams with these characteristics are best equipped to examine the cross-cutting issues and concomitant challenges imposed by the pandemic. In addition, much research from “hard to reach” communities that are disproportionately impacted by the pandemic is missing and needed, which is the result of the funding disparity (see Erosheva, 2020; Hoppe et al., 2019). Funding agencies should fund community-engaged research and research by those with expertise in community-based participatory research strategies, as doing so will allow for a more holistic understanding of the challenges facing the Black community, and where resources and support are most needed (Nguyen et al., 2021). Finally, funding agencies should promote data sharing to increase efficiency in research studies, promote innovative approaches to data analysis, and ensure that researchers have access to relevant and up-to-date information to understand changes and trends related to the pandemic's impact on Black families.

Funding agencies should prioritize funding the work of Black researchers who are building on existing bodies of knowledge pertaining to the needs and strengths of Black children, youth, and families.

Policy recommendations

To mitigate the disparate and deleterious effects of COVID-19, policy efforts should commit to (a) upholding laws that address racism and support equitable access (e.g., quality education, home ownership, and employment) and (b) fully addressing the needs of Black American children and families. The following are recommendations for addressing the economic impact of the pandemic on Black children and families:

• Provide long-term federal and state financial support to families with children (Shrivastava & Thompson, 2022). Between July to December 2021, the Child Tax Credit expansion, which provided a monthly child allowance to families, reduced poverty among Black children by 25% (Parolin et al., 2022). The success of this policy demonstrates that by providing longer-term and more robust financial support will ensure that a majority of Black families and families from other racial backgrounds, will be able to meet their basic needs. This tax credit expired in January 2022.

• At the state and local levels, reallocate crime reduction funds to improve education and social services (e.g., more job opportunities, better accessibility, availability, and quality of health and mental health services, more youth academic enrichment programming) in under-resourced Black communities (Gaylord-Harden et al., 2020).

• Address racial inequities in economic loss by (a) providing a living wage, paid leave, and hazard pay to essential workers to ensure that Black families are able to thrive, not just survive, financially; (b) providing free, high-quality childcare and meals to reduce the risk of employment disruptions due to needing childcare while reducing the disproportionate number of Black children experiencing food insecurity; (c) creating a federal job guarantee or a federal jobs program that ensures full employment for all Black families; (d) creating a more equitable distribution of tax subsidies to help Black families build wealth (Davis et al., 2021; Derenoncourt & Montialoux, 2020; Langston et al., 2020; Sethi et al., 2020).

• Address racial inequities in health care by (a) moving toward universal health care coverage which will significantly increase the accessibility, availability, and quality of health services among Black families and population; (b) increasing access to quality health care services in Black neighborhoods; (c) investing in minority-serving hospitals and health care institutions, which have been historically underfunded (Williams & Cooper, 2019).

• Make permanent the U.S. Department of Agriculture′s (USDA) waiver of income requirements for the Summer Food Service Program, which provides children with free meals when school is not in session (Duncan & LeBarre, 2022; USDA, 2021). Such a policy will ensure that Black children have adequate meals all year round during a time when families are struggling to buy groceries due to high levels of inflation, and the disproportionate, and negative impact of the pandemic on Black families′ household incomes (Duncan & LeBarre, 2022).

• Increase job training and guidance related to navigating the job market during economically uncertain times for adolescents seeking job opportunities. Such local policy efforts to allocate funding for increased job training would result in an increase in employed Black youth (Williams & Cooper, 2019).

To address the academic impact of the pandemic on Black children, educational systems should use the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funding provided by the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (DOE, 2021) to institute policies such as the following:

• Increase investment in school infrastructure and remote learning resources to ensure that Black children in under-resourced communities have access to electronic devices and high-speed internet, as well as other essential learning supports (Gaylord-Harden et al., 2020).

• Ensure that teachers serving Black children have the necessary professional training and resources to provide effective remote instruction, including technology skills; online communication skills; curriculum design skills for engaged, interactive instruction; online assessment and evaluation skills; and skills to address the unique socioemotional needs associated with online learning (Gaylord-Harden et al., 2020).

• Provide school districts with funding to enhance instruction that is responsive to Black students′ individual academic needs, including support for regular formative assessment of progress during and after the pandemic, to ensure Black youth are experiencing positive academic outcomes (Gaylord-Harden et al., 2020).

• Develop universally administered measures that can accurately assess the short-term and long-term effects of the pandemic on children′s learning, and ensure these measures are valid for racially diverse student populations (Hamilton & Ercikan, 2022). Administering these measures would allow researchers to capture the effects of the pandemic on Black children's learning and identify ways to support educators in adapting teaching to address learning gaps.

• Equip educators with the training and tools to help students cope with losses and stresses related to the pandemic, police brutality, and other racial traumas (U.S. Department of Education, 2021). Trained educators will be able to consider how racial trauma may impact academic achievement and provide support to Black children.

• Develop additional educational opportunities to enable students who fell behind academically during the pandemic to regain as much learning as possible (Dworkin & Lewis, 2021). Educators planning such opportunities should consider the point of intervention for Black students following the pandemic, as appropriate support and learning opportunities must take into account the contextual, family, and individual challenges that Black students have experienced and are still facing.

• Develop programs to provide tutoring to Black children during and after the pandemic to ensure Black students have the support necessary to be academically successful (Gaylord-Harden et al., 2020). Collaboration with community educational organizations and higher education institutions, especially those serving Black students, could increase the resources for tutoring in under-resourced areas.

• Invest in socioemotional learning programs in educational systems (Jagers et al., 2018; Yoder et al., 2020, p. 18). Providing students with the opportunity to exercise socioemotional skills can help bolster Black children′s ability to cope with grief, loss, and pandemic-related stressors and undergird academic learning across domains (Jagers et al., 2018).

• Invest resources in school-based health centers to provide high-quality health care and mental health care in underserved Black communities to ensure Black families, who are likely to experience disproportionate levels of stress, have the support needed to increase their well-being and capacity to cope with multiple stressors (Gaylord-Harden et al., 2020).

• Develop programs that facilitate partnerships between schools, community organizations, and social service agencies to provide support to Black families experiencing economic hardship, and those in need of building their support networks within the school and communities in which they are raising their children (Magnuson, 2022).

• Create funding streams through the American Rescue Plan to retool out-of-school time programming so that it is culturally responsive and offers a diverse menu of programming for Black youth, particularly those in under-resourced and struggling schools (Adams-Bass, 2015; Simpkins et al., 2017).

• Implement fair tax strategies for education to provide funding for public schools that is equitable and adequate for student success instead of relying on geographically based tax revenues, which leads to inequitable funding and fewer resources allocated to Black families (Hill et al., 2021).

• Reexamine and eliminate punitive policies designed to address rule infractions and students′ behavioral issues and implement transformative restorative justice models. Given the stressors that Black children have experienced over the last 2 years and pre-pandemic racial inequities, this approach to school discipline is necessary to implement in learning contexts in which many students may yet be experiencing trauma (Winn, 2018).

• Require comprehensive Black history content as part of the standard public school curriculum. Currently, Black history content is incomplete, inaccurate, or absent. Early career teachers have reported feeling inadequately prepared to engage in conversations about racism or to address in-school racial encounters (Bentley-Edwards et al., 2020). Providing comprehensive Black history content is key to students having critical conversations about current events and issues around race that impact communities of color.

• Require colleges and universities with teacher education programs to include a series of Black history and human development courses for degree completion (Adams-Bass & Chapman-Hilliard, 2021; Chapman-Hilliard & Adams-Bass, 2016). A review of the 2021 US News & World Report's top 20 schools of education revealed that twelve schools do not require a human development course for degree completion. Human development courses help teachers understand the developmental norms and nuances that they observe in class among Black children.

The failure of schools and teachers to recognize or acknowledge how racism across multiple levels impacts the educational experiences of Black students inevitably contributes to the educational disparities, which have become pronounced because of COVID-19. The recommended policy changes to K–16 curriculum requirements can support long-term changes in the educational experiences of Black children and youth. Below are recommendations to address the consequences of the pandemic on the psychosocial functioning of Black children:

• Incorporate antiracist training and cultural sensitivity training into specific licensure, accreditation, and certification requirements for mental health providers (Alang, 2019).

• Increase the availability of mental health providers in Black communities by offering tuition waivers, tax breaks, or loan forgiveness to medical and professional students studying mental health, and by developing Black mental health provider programs to train Black community residents to provide mental health care to their communities (Alang, 2019).

• Invest resources in community-based mental health centers and social support agencies so that they may continue providing virtual mental health services (e.g., individual counseling, group counseling, family counseling, and social skills groups) for Black children and families to help them cope with losses and stresses related to the pandemic, police brutality, and other types of racial trauma (Shim & Starks, 2021).

• Create more accessible urban green spaces in Black neighborhoods. Green space exposure has been shown to have a positive association with the mental health of children and adolescents (Vanaken & Danckaerts, 2018). Exposure to green space is particularly important for Black families who may be experiencing heightened stress, disproportionately, during the pandemic.

• Invest in resources to create specialized crisis intervention teams trained to address and deescalate emergency mental health situations and divert mental health calls in Black communities away from police to mental health professionals (Butler & Sheriff, 2020; M. E. Kim et al., 2021).

Conclusion

Racism penetrates every level of the ecology of Black children and youth, and the pandemic has merely highlighted the ways that racism continues to cause inequities for Black Americans. This stain on the fabric of American society has resulted in Black Americans disproportionately bearing the physical, economic, and educational brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic. The exposure of the fractures and flaws in the systems supporting our children and youth serves as a call to action and provides an opportunity for lawmakers, researchers, and educators to work collectively to dismantle the structures that have systematically precluded Black Americans from experiencing a truly equitable, equal, and just America. Ignoring this opportunity would not only be a breach of the promise of justice but would result in the perpetuation of inequality across domains affecting the daily lives of Black Americans as well as future generations. As we near a turning point in the COVID-19 pandemic and lean into a brighter tomorrow, we implore our nation′s leaders to consider this manuscript a road map for addressing the country′s historical failures by setting an agenda, including developing and implementing sustainable policies, that will fully empower Black families and children.

Biographies

• Dr. Erin Bogan is a developmental psychologist with over 10 years of deep content expertise and experience working at the nexus of research, practice, and policy. Prior to joining CASEL as the Director of Evaluation Research, Dr. Bogan served as a researcher at the American Institutes for Research where she led large-scale evaluations, research projects, and strategic partnerships with states and districts, educational programs, and schools. As a Vice Provost Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Bogan was a member of the Penn Child Researcher Center and led research partnerships with Children′s Hospital of Philadelphia, Early Head Start, and the School District of Philadelphia. Dr. Bogan has also continued to contribute to the field through research and has received grants from the American Education Research Association and the Society for Research on Child Development to lead independent research exploring parenting, social-emotional learning competencies, and school readiness among Black children and families. Dr. Bogan has earned a Ph.D. in Education and in Psychology from the University of Michigan, a Master′s in Education from the University of Pennsylvania, a Master′s in Psychology from the University Michigan, and a Bachelor′s in Education and in Social Welfare from UC Berkeley.

• Dr. Valerie N. Adams-Bass is a developmental psychologist and an assistant professor of Youth and Social Innovation, in the School of Education and Human Development at the University of Virginia. Dr. Adams-Bass′ research centers on Black children and youth. She is most interested in examining how media exposure influences inter-personal interactions and self-concept and how racial/ethnic socialization experiences are related to the process of identity development and social and academic experiences. Dr. Adams-Bass regularly trains youth development professionals to use culturally relevant practices when working with African American children and youth. She is a faculty affiliate of the Racial Empowerment Collaborative of the University of Pennsylvania′s Graduate School of Education, the Youth-Nex Center to Promote Effective Youth Development, and The Center for the Study of Race and Public Education in the South at the University of Virginia.

• Dr. Lori A. Francis is an associate professor of Biobehavioral Health at Penn State University and Director of the Family and Child Health Project. As a developmental health scientist, her research is at the intersection of developmental science and public health, and she examines biobehavioral underpinnings of cardiometabolic risk, with an emphasis on the ways in which individual differences in self-regulation or executive function moderate risk for obesity. Current projects focus on children exposed to family and household adversity, with a specific interest in children from households experiencing poverty. Dr. Francis graduated with a B.S. in Preventive Medicine from the State University of New York at Buffalo, and she received her M.S. and Ph.D. in Human Development and Family Studies from Penn State University.

• Dr. Noni K. Gaylord-Harden is a professor in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences and director of the Youth Rising Lab at Texas A&M University. Dr. Gaylord-Harden is a clinical psychologist who conducts quantitative research on traumatic stress and psychosocial functioning in Black youth and families in challenging contexts. Her most recent work focuses on the impact of exposure to community violence on Black adolescents in disinvested, urban communities. The overarching goals of her work are to address disparities in community violence exposure and traumatic loss, to understand the impact of emotional desensitization and physiological hypersensitization to violence, and to minimize the impact of violence exposure by enhancing existing strengths and assets embedded in Black youth, families, and communities. She has published several peer-reviewed research articles and presented numerous scientific conference presentations on these topics, and her team aims to utilize findings from this research to develop and implement culturally and contextually relevant interventions for Black adolescents and families. She has received funding from The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, the American Psychological Association, and the Institute of Education Sciences for her research efforts.

• Dr. Eleanor K. Seaton is a professor at Arizona State University. Dr. Seaton is a developmental psychologist who uses quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods to examine the following topics among Black adolescents and adults: (1) the impact of racism on mental health, (2) racial identity as a protective factor for racism, (3) the intersection of race, gender, and pubertal development, and (4) the biopsychosocial impacts of racism. Recently, Dr. Seaton initiated a project examining the impact of Chicago-style house music among Black adults who are members of Generation X. Dr. Seaton is the former chair of SRCD′s ERI Committee and SRA′s Diversity and Equity Committee, and currently serves on SRCD′s Governing Council. Dr. Seaton is dedicated to eradicating racism and enhancing the number of underrepresented scholars in developmental science. Dr. Seaton developed the Scholars Development Program, designed to increase the numbers of Black developmental scientists receiving NIH funding, a racial disparity that NIH acknowledges. Dr. Seaton currently co-hosts a television segment, titled Break it Down on AZ PBS where she discusses how racism impacts various facets of society. Dr. Seaton tends to journal, travel, bake desserts, shop, read, watch movies, and dance to Chicago-style house music when relaxing.

• Dr. Judith C. Scott is an assistant professor at the Boston University School of Social Work. Her research focuses on how trauma such as physical child maltreatment and racism (interpersonal and structural), protective processes including ethnic-racial socialization and coping, and contextual factors affects parenting and mental health among families across cultures. An interdisciplinary researcher, Dr. Scott uses community-based participatory approaches and qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods in her work. Her current and past research focus on Black and Asian children and families with consideration of ethnic variation and immigrant experiences. Her secondary research interest is providing program evaluations to small and medium non-profit community organizations serving families. Dr. Scott is a Consulting Editor for the Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology. She also is a member of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, Office of Youth and Young Adult Services Racial Equity Movement Advisory Board, and the Boston University School of Public Health Center of Excellence in Maternal and Child Health Advisory Board.

• Joanna L. Williams, Ph.D., is an associate professor in the Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology at Rutgers University. As a developmental psychologist, her primary interest is the period of adolescence. Her scholarship focuses on understanding the role of race and ethnicity in individual and interpersonal contexts and in school settings. Specific areas of interest include racial-ethnic identity, racial-ethnic diversity in adolescent friendship networks, and social network equity in diverse schools. Her current line of work is focused on co-producing research on these topics with young people. Dr. Williams is also involved in efforts to translate the science of adolescent development into useful recommendations and practices for parents, educators, and policymakers. She is co-director of the National Scientific Council on Adolescence and is a member of the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine′s Board of Children, Youth, and Families. She is also a faculty affiliate of Youth-Nex: The UVA Center to Promote Effective Youth Development, and the Center for Parent and Teen Communication, a multidisciplinary team based within the Division of Adolescent Medicine at Children′s Hospital of Philadelphia. Dr. Williams is the current chair of the Black Caucus of the Society for Research on Child Development (2021–2023).