COVID-19 Resources
Tools for Supporting Emotional Wellbeing in Children and Youth
Dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic has left many children and youth vulnerable to feeling stressed, anxious or depressed. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine website features information and tools for teaching skills that can help children and youth cope with some of the challenges associated with the pandemic such as:
- Changes in their routines
- Breaks in continuity of learning or health care
- Missed significant life events
- Lost security and safety
Individuals can explore the site’s tools focused on children or teens, learn more about the cognitive behavioral therapy practices that went into them, and find additional mental health and wellness resources. These resources are also available in Spanish.
Travel Considerations for People with Down Syndrome [COVID-19]
Information from Advocate Medical Group Adult Down Syndrome Center
The Tri-State Foodbank partners with southern Illinois agencies to provide food assistance in Alexander, Edwards, Gallatin, Hamilton, Hardin, Johnson, Lawrence, Massac, Pope, Pulaski, Richland, Saline, Union, Wabash, Wayne and White counties.
For information about program requirements and hours of operation, please contact the partner agencies directly.
U.S. Department of Education “Return to School Roadmap” for 2022-23 School Year
The U.S. Department of Education has released the “Return to School Roadmap,” a resource to support students, schools, educators, and communities as they prepare to return to safe, healthy in-person learning this fall and emerge from the pandemic stronger than before.
The Roadmap provides key resources and supports for students, parents, educators, and school communities to build excitement around returning to classrooms this school year and outlines how federal funding can support the safe and sustained return to in-person learning. It includes:
- A fact sheet for schools, families, and communities on the Return to School Roadmap
- A checklist that parents can use to prepare themselves and their children for a safe return to in-person learning this fall, leading with vaccinating eligible children and masking up if students are not yet vaccinated.
The Education Department also has two publications focusing on strategies and practices important for schools to use to regarding COVID and reopening safely.
Volume 1 provides families, schools and the community key health and safety measures for reopening schools. Volume 1 highlights factors that need to be addressed for specific groups of students, including students with disabilities, one of the groups hardest hit by the impact of COVID-19.
Volume 2 provides more specific practices for meeting the basic and other critical needs of students.
The U.S. Department of Education has issued resources specific to the education of students with disabilities in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and evolving prevention strategies as schools assess their policies to remain open for in-person learning for everyone.
You can access these documents at:
- Disability Rights | U.S. Department of Education (English and Spanish)
Additional information is available through the Agency’s Office of Special Education Programs at:
United Way of St. Clair County
Local food pantries, hours and guidelines
Unproven COVID-19 Products, Supplements and Medicines
If you see a treatment or cure for influenza or COVID-19 that looks too good to be true, it probably is.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warns families about fake or unapproved products that claim to protect people from catching influenza, COVID-19 or other viruses.
HealthyChildren.org, the parenting website of the American Academy of Pediatrics, provides these tips to help families stay safe from unsafe COVID-19 tests, medications and products.
V-Safe After Vaccination Health Checker
As more Illinois residents become eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine, the Illinois Department of Public Health is encouraging those who receive a COVID-19 vaccination to use the V-safe After Vaccination Health Checker.
V-safe is a smartphone-based tool from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that uses text messaging and web surveys to provide personalized health check-ins after you receive a COVID-19 vaccine. Through v-safe, you can quickly tell CDC if you have any side effects after getting the COVID-19 vaccine. Depending on your answers, someone from CDC may call to check on you and get more information. V-safe will also remind you to get your second COVID-19 vaccine dose if you need one.
Vaccine Appointment Call Center
The Illinois Department of Public Health has launched the Vaccine Appointment Call Center to help people who do not have access to or who have difficulty navigating online services in making appointments to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
The toll-free Vaccine Appointment Call Center phone number is (833) 621-1284 and can take TTY calls.
The call center is open seven days a week from 6 a.m. to midnight. The call center has English and Spanish-speaking call agents with the availability for translation into other languages.
Call agents will help individuals who do have access to online services navigate the various registration sites. However, if the individual does not have access to online services or is unable to navigate the site, the agent will make an appointment on their behalf.
Vaccine Considerations for People with Disabilities
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provides this information on what people with disabilities and their care providers need to know about the COVID-19 vaccine.