For months, child welfare organizations have been dealing with the pandemic and its impact on at-risk children.
But now, CNN reports workers have a new thorn in their sides: the QAnon conspiracy theory.
It casts President Donald Trump as the hero in a fight against the 'deep state' and a sinister cabal of Democratic politicians and celebrities who abuse children.
Child abuse hotline workers say believers in such unfounded theories are jamming up the lines, preventing true reports and children in need from getting through.
What's more, when QAnon believers invoke the names of reputable organizations in their rhetoric, it tarnishes the good names of child welfare professionals.
More than 100 anti-trafficking and child welfare organizations have already published an open letter warning of the dangers QAnon poses to their work.