IF YOU ARE FULLY VACCINATED
CDC has updated its guidance for people who are fully vaccinated. See Recommendations for Fully Vaccinated People.
IMPORTANT UPDATE FOR SCHOOLS
CDC recommends schools continue to use the current COVID-19 prevention strategies for the 2020-2021 school year. Learn more
Important update: Healthcare facilities
CDC has updated select ways to operate healthcare systems effectively in response to COVID-19 vaccination. Learn more
UPDATE
Getting vaccinated prevents severe illness, hospitalizations, and death. Unvaccinated people should get vaccinated and continue masking until they are fully vaccinated. With the Delta variant, this is more urgent than ever. CDC has updated guidance for fully vaccinated people based on new evidence on the Delta variant.
UPDATE
Given new evidence on the B.1.617.2 (Delta) variant, CDC has updated the guidance for fully vaccinated people. CDC recommends universal indoor masking for all teachers, staff, students, and visitors to K-12 schools, regardless of vaccination status. Children should return to full-time in-person learning in the fall with layered prevention strategies in place.

COVID-19 Parental Resources Kit

COVID-19 Parental Resources Kit

Ensuring Children and Young People’s Social, Emotional, and Mental Well-being

Children and Young People’s Social, Emotional, and Mental Health

School psychologist with smart boy

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) can affect children and young people directly and indirectly. Beyond getting sick, many young people’s social, emotional, and mental well-being has been impacted by the pandemic. Trauma faced at this developmental stage can continue to affect them across their lifespan.

Some of the challenges children and young people face during the COVID-19 pandemic relate to:

  • Changes in their routines (e.g., having to physically distance from family, friends, worship community)
  • Breaks in continuity of learning (e.g., virtual learning environments, technology access and connectivity issues)
  • Breaks in continuity of health care (e.g., missed well-child and immunization visits, limited access to mental, speech, and occupational health services)
  • Missed significant life events (e.g., grief of missing celebrations, vacation plans, and/or milestone life events)
  • Lost security and safety (e.g., housing and food insecurity, increased exposure to violence and online harms, threat of physical illness and uncertainty for the future)

CDC developed this COVID-19 Parental Resource Kit: Ensuring Children and Young People’s Social, Emotional, and Mental Well-being to help support parents, caregivers, and other adults serving children and young people in recognizing children and young people’s social, emotional, and mental health challenges and helping to ensure their well-being.

Resources, by Age Group

Learn about the social, emotional, and mental health challenges faced by each age group, find out what you can do to help, and access age-group specific resources to get you started.

Early Childhood (0-5y) | Childhood (6-12y) | Adolescence (13-17y) | Young Adults (18-24y)

Lifespan timeline from includes early childhood (birth-5y) Childhood (6-12y) Adolescence (13-17y) Young Adults (18-24y)

Resources

Explore different types of resources available to help you support young people’s social, emotional, and mental well-being across the lifespan.