Since the Nation-wide lockdown was announced on the 25^th of March 2020, our team has had to relook and rework the way we provide our services to the communities we work with. Aaheli Gupta, a Senior Project Co-ordinator at our Anti-Trafficking Center has been working on creating linkages among our beneficiaries and the various organizations working to provide relief during COVID-19. Here is an interview with Aaheli sharing more about the needs we’ve observed within the marginalized communities and the importance of linkages and collaborations.

1.  What are the needs we’ve observed in the communities we are working with?
Aaheli: Post the lockdown we began conducting regular telephonic follow-ups with the families we work with. During these conversations, we realized that the families lacked the most basic of resources. They had no source of income as they live off the daily wages earned and had no supply of food or ration. While the families had access to COVID-19 related information through news announcements, from local sources, the Prerana Team, and the internet, they didn’t have access to provisions to fulfill their most basic needs.

2.  How have we been addressing the need for ration and essential supplies?
Aaheli: We began by contacting the organizations we work with and are connected to. We discussed the issue and the assistance they were providing through their relief work. These organizations would further share contacts of other organizations and individuals working on COVID-19 relief work. We also contacted many individual groups, most of which were found online. We wrote to these organizations and got on calls with them to better understand the kind of assistance (ration, cooked food, medicines, or monetary assistance) they would be able to provide and the procedure for the same. We then created a data bank with details of the organizations, the areas they are working in, and the services they provide. We spent the last 2 months collating this data while simultaneously linking the organizations with the families who were in need.
In March and April, we have contacted 25+ organizations working in Mumbai. Through these linkages, we were able to reach out to 800+ families who were provided with ration and essential supplies during March and April.
During our recent follow-ups we realized that while some families did receive ration, they didn’t have cooking fuel. Some families facing health issues didn’t have money to buy medication and, in some cases, prescriptions were outdated. Our priority is to provide the families with the necessary supplies – ration, other provisions for sanitation, or medication. However, in the absence of these or in certain cases in addition to these on a case to case basis, families have been assisted economically by providing small monetary reliefs. We have been able to contact organizations providing monetary assistance in certain cases and provided them with the bank account details of the beneficiaries. One of our concerns with regard to monetary assistance had been its utilization if the amount would be used to purchase essential resources and not by some people in the family for substance misuse or to cater to other addictions. To ensure this, each case was discussed within the team, and decisions were made accordingly.
Aside from working with families living in Mumbai, we have also been in touch with our clients and their family members residing out of Mumbai through telephonic calls. We inquired about their situation and needs and have been working on linking them up with an organization in the area providing relief materials. This was also a priority for us when compiling our datasheet as linkages are important when working with families that are dispersed and not located in a close physical proximity/neighborhood. Connecting them to a local organization ensures that they receive the assistance they require, especially when we can’t directly assist them.

3.  What are some of the needs we’ve seen in the Child Care Institutions (CCI) we work with?
Aaheli: During our telephonic conversation with our clients in the CCIs, many shared concerns about their family’s wellbeing as well as about the status of their restoration/discharge from the CCI now that the lockdown has been imposed. The clients who were appearing for their exams weren’t sure what would happen, they weren’t sure if they would have to repeat the academic year. Due to the need for social distancing and the Nationwide lockdown, the children haven’t been able to meet their parents, and aren’t able to telephonically connect with them regularly as well. Initially, this created a sense of anxiety among them as they didn’t have an update on their family’s well being.
The staff at the CCIs have shared that as there have been no visitors the children don’t have a lot of activities to keep them engaged and busy. Due to this, there has been a change in their regular schedule, the girls now sleep later in the night thus waking up later in the day. Aside from this, during our telephonic conversations with the staff, they have also shared various needs that the CCI has in terms of ration and other essential supplies.

4. How are we addressing the needs at the CCI’s?
Aaheli: Keeping the current situation in mind we know CCI’s are working under several constraints so we’ve decided to assist them in whatever capacities we can. It’s important to understand that the CCIs are short on staff and most times overworked. To ensure we continue to follow up with our clients, we call the CCI staff at a pre-decided time and discuss the well-being of the clients. In April, we were able to conduct video calls with the clients at the CCIs. If there is an immediate need the CCI staff directly calls to share an update. At one of the CCIs, a child consumed ‘phenyl’ (a liquid cleaning detergent) in April. During the time we were in constant contact with the CCI to follow-up on the child’s well-being, provided the assistance we could, and also linked them up with the required resources.
We now conduct case management meetings through video calls among all the stakeholders working in the CCI. During these meetings, we encourage the CCI staff to share the challenges they are facing as well as if they need any assistance. Each organization working at the particular CCI also shares how they can meet the needs of providing rations and other essentials required at the CCI. Through WhatsApp groups, the organizations updated what they would be providing, to ensure that everyone else is in the loop as well.
To ensure regular follow up with the clients, we have been conducting telephonic follow-up’s wherein the social worker speaks to the client every 15 days (since May we have been speaking to the girls on a weekly basis). The counselor conducts tele-counselling sessions for each girl twice a month to provide them psycho-social support during such testing circumstances. We also share updates about their families and address any concerns they might have about their restoration/ discharge.
We are working on creating a schedule for the girls, to ensure they are active and there is some sort of normalcy in their routine. We have collated lists of activities the girls have expressed interest in such as art activities, games, movies, etc. While collating this list we are also collaborating with the organizations working in the home who may be able to provide recreational materials (like coloring books, board games, etc.) to the CCIs as well as to conduct sessions with the girls via video conferencing.

5. Could you share a bit about the current functioning of the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) and how we have been collaborating with them?
Aaheli: Post the lockdown we reached out to the CWC to understand their situation amidst the crisis. Since the CWCs had not been physically conducting their sessions in their respective offices, we discussed their functioning during the lockdown i.e. if they were accepting new cases, conducting restorations, passing discharge orders, etc. The CWC shared that they would be working from home, conducting their regular follow-ups with the CCIs through video conferencing. The CWC further shared that they would be accepting new cases and would pass verbal orders for such cases.
During this conversation, we also offered our services. In March and April, we have been closely working with the CWC through our Help Desk initiative. We have been managing and updating an online data sheet of all the verbal Orders given by the Committee during the Lockdown. New cases received, restoration of children, details of the families, and police stations were also maintained in coordination with the CWC clerk. We have also created a list of organizations providing ration and safety kits to families residing in different areas and CCIs. This list was also circulated among the CCIs.
We discussed post-lockdown measures that should be taken. Since it was anticipated that post lockdown there would be an influx of cases at the CWC, a discussion to start a board system (cases to be discussed on a particular day would be decided in advance ensuring all cases were being looked at, in a systematic manner without creating chaos at the CWC) was initiated.
During this time, we also assisted drafting two Orders circulated to the 11 institutions which come under the Mumbai Suburban CWC. These Orders contained safety measures to be followed by the children and institution staff during the lockdown. Contact details of the help desk team, counseling services, and the CWC members were given.

6. There have been clients (who are minor victims of commercial sexual exploitation and trafficking) who have been restored/ discharged and currently living with their families, are these clients more vulnerable at this time?
Aaheli: During our calls, a constant request from the young women who have been restored/ discharged is that of ration requirements. Their families are daily wage earners, there is no job security and no source of income for them. Many of the young women who had been restored to their family in the last 6 months recently joined the workforce, but due to the lockdown, they lost their jobs and have no source of income. Their prime concern is surviving each day. This is definitely a red flag as they are once again vulnerable due to their dire economic condition. Their priority isn’t what they do to put food on the table, but just that they put food on the table.

In a recent blog post as a part of our #CovidStories series, Aaheli shared about the amplified risks to victims of intergenerational prostitution, which comprise of a number of girls we are currently working with. Read her blog here.

7. What are some of your concerns as a social worker who has been primarily field-based with regard to assisting the needs of the community?
Aaheli: It’s been hard as we have had to learn how to communicate with our clients through telephonic conversations. During these conversations, we’ve also noticed that for our clients, it has been extremely difficult for them to express what they are experiencing and feeling as they have to do it over the phone and may not have the kind of privacy they would have had when we had been visiting the CCIs. Many girls have also shared that they can’t talk about a particular situation and would wait to meet in person to discuss it. The girls aren’t comfortable discussing issues over the phone for various reasons, sometimes during our call, the supervisor of the CCI or caretake asks the girls to keep the phone on speaker. Sometimes the other girls from the CCI are around them and of course, the issue of them not being comfortable with this mode of connection through technology. There have been fights among the girls and it is hard for us as social workers to address these issues over the phone. It’s also hard to address the internal clashes that happen within the families as not everything can be discussed over the phone. We have had clients ask us when we’d visit them, but we can’t make any promises at a time like this. When updating a child about their family’s situation, it was important that we ensure they are able to handle disturbing news if given. During a few of our conversations, our clients have also expressed that they felt upset and worried due to such news being shared with them. At times like this, it is hard for us to intervene as we aren’t physically there.
Recently the TV at one of the CCIs stopped working and there wasn’t much we could do, due to the lockdown and because there was a restricted entry, we were unable to get an electrician to fix it. Because the TV wasn’t working the girls would sleep through the day as they didn’t have much to do. This being one of the many ways we haven’t been able to intervene and assist a situation as we’d like to.
One of our concerns is about what would happen post lockdown. How often will we be able to go on the field, will we be able to meet the children, will we be able to conduct activities with them? It takes time to build a relationship with the families, we don’t know if the current situation is going to affect that relationship, especially the families we haven’t been able to provide for.
We are all trying our best, but I can’t help but wonder if our best will be enough.