DISASTER PREPAREDNESSRESOURCE GUIDEfor Child Welfare Agencies

The Annie E. Casey Foundation

Prepared by Rebecca Berne

© 2009, The Annie E. Casey Foundation, Baltimore, Maryland

The Annie E. Casey Foundation is a private charitable organization dedicated to helping build better futures for disadvantagedchildren in the United States. It was established in 1948 by Jim Casey, one of the founders of UPS, and his siblings, who named theFoundation in honor of their mother. The primary mission of the Foundation is to foster public policies, human-service reforms, andcommunity supports that more effectively meet the needs of today’s vulnerable children and families. In pursuit of this goal, theFoundation makes grants that help states, cities, and neighborhoods fashion more innovative, cost-effective responses to these needs.

CONTENTS

Introduction

Checklist

Detailed List of Recommendations

I. Mitigation and Preparedness

1. Assess Agency Preparedness and Evaluate Current Disaster Management Plans

2. Determine Biggest Threats and Consider “All-Hazards”

3. Allocate Responsibilities to Agency Staff Members

4. Put Disaster Management Plans in Writing

5. Budget for Disaster Management

6. Coordinate Disaster Management with Other Agencies, with Providers, and with Community Organizations

7. Prepare to Manage Disasters that Strike an Agency Office

8. Ensure that Families and Providers Have ViableDisaster Plans

9. Prepare to Protect the Families of Agency Staff Members Essential to Disaster Response

10. Ensure that Agency Staff Members Have ViablePersonal Disaster Plans

11. Prepare to Communicate with Agency Staff,Providers, Children, and Families During and After a Disaster

12. Prepare to Preserve and Access Essential RecordsDuring and After a Disaster

13. Prepare to Serve Children Who Enter the State Because of Disasters Elsewhere

14. Practice Disaster Response Plans

II. Response

15. Enact Disaster Response Plans When Needed

16. Address the Urgent Needs of Children and Families Immediately After a Disaster

17. Identify and Assist Children Newly in Need of Child Welfare Services

III. Recovery

18. Reevaluate Staffing to Accommodate a Disaster’s Impact

19. Support Agency Staff throughout Disaster Recovery

20. Help to Connect Children and Families with Disaster Recovery Funds

21. Continue the Work of the Agency

22. Coordinate Mental Health Treatment for Children and Families

23. Coordinate Treatment of Children’s Physical Health

24. Help Ensure that Displaced Children and Families Find Housing

25. Help Ensure that Children Attend School Regularly

26. Manage Through and Minimize Foster Parent Attrition After a Disaster

27. Capture Lessons Learned and Regularly Update Disaster Management Plans

Appendix: Pandemic Preparedness

Index of Resources

Endnotes

References

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INTRODUCTION

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Recent disasters, especially HurricaneKatrina, have all too clearly demonstrated whatcan happen when disaster management plansare not strong enough. After Katrina, state childwelfare offices lost contact with large numbers of foster and biological families. Amidst thedestruction brought by the hurricane, contact tooksignificant time to reestablish. The Annie E. CaseyFoundation’s experience supporting Louisianafollowing hurricanes Katrina and Rita, along withthe Foundation’s broader goal of protectingvulnerable children across the nation, has broughtabout this guide, which aims to help agenciesacross the country to prepare for future disasters.

This guide offers best practices for disastermanagement at child welfare agencies. Its recom-mendations are firmly rooted in published disaster-related research and the advice of human serviceand preparedness experts. It is not a reinventionof disaster management—much quality work hasbeen done in this field—but a synthesis of experts’recommendations, geared specifically towardchild welfare agencies. A number of previouslypublished resources on disaster managementhelped to inform this guide’s recommendationsand they are referenced throughout the guideand in the Index of Resources. The guide’srecommendations are meant to be adaptablefor use by agencies in states and tribes acrossthe United States.

The Child and Family Services Improvement Act of2006 federally mandates that all agencies havea disaster plan in place to address such basicand important issues as keeping in contact withfoster families during and after a disaster. But,what is the best way to do this? Would it be thesame during a terrorist attack or an earthquake? What would need to be done in advance of adisaster to make sure communication is possible? Because disasters and their effects are largely

unpredictable—and because many disaster plansare guided by the disasters that have alreadyoccurred—this guide aims to help agencies todevelop a comprehensive and dynamic disastermanagement plan. The hypothetical scenariosthat begin each section of the guide are designedto prompt agencies to consider the full range ofpossible disasters (“all-hazards”) alongside themost likely events. And the guide highlights waysin which each element of a disaster managementplan must suit the particular challenges faced bychild welfare populations. It is organized accord-ing to common phases of disaster management:mitigation and preparedness, response, andrecovery. But it is important to note that all ofthese phases must be planned for before adisaster occurs.

How can agencies, often pressed for time andresources, prepare for disasters that may happenfar in the future, if at all? One answer lies in themany “dual-use” recommendations offered in thisguide. Many preparedness measures can alsoserve to strengthen the agency’s ability to servechildren and families on an everyday basis.

Many child welfare agencies are dangerouslyunderprepared for the kinds of large-scalecatastrophes that we are likely to see in thefuture. But agencies are also expert at protectingchildren from emergencies they face in theireveryday lives. Hopefully, this guide can helpagencies harness this expertise to offer vulnerablechildren and families protection from disasters.

This guide is not intended to be read sequentially,cover-to-cover. It is a toolkit that contains recom-mendations as well as numerous previouslypublished preparedness resources. Readers mayopen this kit and turn from section to section toselect its most useful tools as they build, repair, andstrengthen agency disaster management plans.

CHECKLIST

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Given the gap that may exist between whatideally would be done to prepare for disasterand what may practically be accomplished, theChecklist and Detailed List of Recommendationsthat follow aim to help readers navigate thisguide and produce a strong disaster manage-ment plan.

The Checklist provides a starting point to helpreaders set some priorities. The four-pageDetailed List of Recommendations will helpreaders quickly determine which sections of theguide will assist them as they work towardpreparedness.

The following ten-item checklist is a starting pointfor agency staff members who are tackling whatmay seem to be an overwhelming task. It canhelp agencies determine the most urgent pre-paredness needs as they consider what level ofplanning may realistically be carried out.

Develop a disaster response plan.(Who will do what when disaster strikes?)

Coordinate disaster management with federal,state, and local agencies, as well as withcontracted providers. (Have memoranda ofunderstanding in place before a disasteroccurs.)

Train staff members to carry out the plan.

Conduct exercises to practice and improve theplan.

Plan to track and communicate with familiesduring and after a disaster.

Plan to preserve and access essential recordsduring and after a disaster.

Plan to accommodate children and familiesentering the state during disasters elsewhere.

Ensure that families have adequate individualdisaster plans.

Plan to get necessary funds to children andfamilies during and after a disaster.

Plan to help children and families beingserved to recover from the effects of a disaster.

DETAILED LIST OF

RECOMMENDATIONS

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I . MITIGATION AND PREPAREDNESS

Section 1: Assess Agency Preparedness andEvaluate Current Disaster Management Plans

• Work together to protect children and familiesserved by child welfare agencies from majordisasters.

• Use this guide and its resources to improve childwelfare agencies’ disaster management plans.

Section 2: Determine Biggest Threats andConsider “All-Hazards”

• Determine which disasters are most likely tooccur in the region and learn how these threatsmight affect the agency.

• Become familiar with potential effects of the fullrange of disasters.

• Prepare for “all-hazards.”

Section 3: Allocate Responsibilities to AgencyStaff Members

• Assign a specific staff member(s) to coordinatedisaster management.

• Anticipate staffing needs required duringdisaster response.

• Inform staff members what is expected of themduring and immediately following a disaster.

• Make sure an adequate number of alternatesare assigned to each role.

• Prepare to perform Emergency SupportFunctions required by federal and stategovernments as well as to enact plans toprotect children and families being served bythe agency.

Section 4: Put Disaster Management Plans inWriting

• Put agency plans in writing.

• Keep written plans handy and at the forefrontof the minds of agency staff members.

• Address all phases of disaster management inwritten plans.

• Write disaster response plans in a concise andclear format.

Section 5: Budget for Disaster Management

• Keep budget limitations in mind when designingdisaster plans.

• Maximize the utility of funds by simultaneouslyimproving agency preparedness and day-to-day operations.

• Advocate for and apply for funds to improvedisaster preparedness and management plans.

Section 6: Coordinate Disaster Managementwith Other Agencies, with Providers, and withCommunity Organizations

• Coordinate preparedness efforts with states.

• Coordinate preparedness efforts with Offices ofEmergency Management.

• Coordinate disaster preparedness withcontracted providers.

• Make sure that child welfare agencies are fullpartners with other social service agencies atthe state level and active partners at the locallevel.

• Establish written memoranda of understandingwith police departments, fire departments, andschools.

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• Collaborate with school authorities concerningindividual children in state care.

• Coordinate disaster preparedness with otherstates’ child welfare agencies, and establishmemoranda of understanding to facilitatedisaster response and recovery.

• Collaborate with community groups to ensurethat vulnerable children and families are pro-tected as well as possible during a disaster.

• Coordinate plans for disaster response andrecovery with courts.

• Coordinate disaster management plans withgovernment plans for a national disasterresponse.

• Coordinate plans for disaster response andrecovery with relief organizations such as theAmerican Red Cross.

• Incorporate government standardized disastermanagement terms and practices into agencyplans.

• Remember to forge and nurture relationships inadvance of a disaster.

Section 7: Prepare to Manage Disasters thatStrike an Agency Office

• Plan to manage disasters that strike officesdirectly.

• Minimize the office building’s susceptibility todamage caused by disasters.

• Post emergency instructions for the full range ofpossible disasters where everyone in the officecan easily read and reference them.

• Integrate disaster response plans for theagency’s office building into the larger disastermanagement plan.

Section 8: Ensure that Families and ProvidersHave Viable Disaster Plans

• Ensure that biological families, foster families,and group care facilities have disaster plans inplace.

• Ensure that family and provider preparedness isroutine and required.

• Ensure that families have an adequate supply ofprescription medication in their disaster kits.

• Urge families strongly to consider the followingsuggestions when making their plans: bothshort- and longer-term evacuation plans (forhurricanes, terrorist attacks, and many otherlarge-scale disasters) should be established.

• Educate caregivers about how to discuss theirdisaster plan and its various contingencies withchildren in a sensitive and age-appropriatemanner.

• Inform families which supplies are necessary forevacuation and for shelter-in-place.

• Carefully consider situations involving possibledomestic violence when monitoring familydisaster response plans.

• Help families to plan to care for their pets.

Section 9: Prepare to Protect the Families ofAgency Staff Members Essential to DisasterResponse

• Some agency staff members will be essentialwhile a disaster is unfolding.

• Speak with essential staff about what theirfamilies would need to be safe.

Section 10: Ensure that Agency Staff MembersHave Viable Personal Disaster Response Plans

• Require that agency staff members createstrong personal disaster plans.

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• Make sure staff members know how to contactthe agency in the event of a disaster.

• Verify that staff members’ disaster plans arecompatible with their work responsibilitiesduring a disaster.

• Keep staff members’ disaster plans on file andupdate them regularly.

Section 11: Prepare to Communicate withAgency Staff, Providers, Children, and FamiliesDuring and After a Disaster

• Establish redundant systems of communicationsfor use during and after a disaster.

• Make sure you have the necessary technologyto operationalize communications systems.

• Record contact information electronically, onlineand in out-of-area locations.

• Establish out-of-state 800 numbers in advanceof a disaster and publicize the numbers.

• In addition to phone lines, provide other clearways for staff members, providers, children, andfamilies to access information.

• Educate staff about the National EmergencyChild Locator Center, established by theNational Center for Missing & ExploitedChildren (NCMEC).

• Channel all information to the public througha Principal Information Officer (PIO) orspokesperson.

Section 12: Prepare to Preserve and AccessEssential Records During and After a Disaster

• Make essential records electronic and backthem up out of state.

• Establish a procedure to make sure onlinerecords are updated and backed-up frequentlyand regularly.

• Protect paper files.

• Collaborate with other agencies that holdessential records about children and familiesbeing served.

• Plan to document agency activities duringdisaster response.

• Consider confidentiality when planning howand where to store, access, and shareinformation.

Section 13: Prepare to Serve Children WhoEnter the State Because of Disasters Elsewhere

• Plan to receive and serve children from otherstates.

• Plan specifically to accommodate youth whoare in state care already and coming from otherjurisdictions.

Section 14: Practice Disaster Response Plans

• Conduct agency-wide emergency exercises.

• Participate in national, state, local, andcommunity exercises.

• Evaluate exercises and make improvementsto disaster management plans.

• Be very cautious if conducting any exercisesinvolving children.

I I . RESPONSE

Section 15: Enact Disaster Response PlansWhen Needed

• Enact the disaster management plan.

• Adjust the plan as needed.

Section 16: Address the Urgent Needs ofChildren and Families Immediately After aDisaster.

• Plan to get regular payments to children andfamilies who will surely need them.

• Assess the needs of children and familiesimmediately after a disaster.

• Disburse funds for urgent needs such as daycare and emergency housing.

Section 17: Identify and Assist Children Newlyin Need of Child Welfare Services

• Plan to locate and serve vulnerable childrenaffected by the disaster.

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I I I . RECOVERY

Section 18: Reevaluate Staffing toAccommodate a Disaster’s Impact

• Make sure that staff members’ caseloads aremanageable after a disaster.

• If staff members are in short supply, try to attractnew staff.

Section 19: Support Agency Staff throughoutDisaster Recovery

• Make on-scene disaster leadership an explicitpart of the job description for the agency’s topadministrator(s).

• Ensure that staff members receive their paychecks.

• Safeguard staff members’ mental health.

• Provide encouragement, celebrate successes,and promote wellness.

Section 20: Help to Connect Children andFamilies with Disaster Recovery Funds

• Help to connect children and families withavailable disaster recovery funds.

• Be equitable and systematic when distributingany agency funds for recovery.

Section 21: Continue the Work of the Agency

• Decide how staff should strategically prioritize work.

• Reevaluate each child’s permanency plan andcontinue work toward long-term goals.

• Make use of post-disaster services provided bynonprofits and the government.

Section 22: Coordinate Mental HealthTreatment for Children and Families

• Contract with needed mental health profession-als, who may likely be scarce after a disaster.

• Provide opportunities for staff members to refreshtheir knowledge about trauma symptoms.

• Train child welfare workers to serve as a first lineof defense against untreated mental health prob-lems among children and families in their care.

• Have staff members educate parents andcaregivers about how to monitor for mentaldistress in children.

• Instruct parents and caregivers how to talk withchildren about disasters—before, during, andafter they occur.

• Remind parents and caregivers to safeguardtheir own mental health.

• Be aware of the stigma that mental healthservices sometimes carry.

• Be sure that mental health services are deliveredin a culturally sensitive manner.

• Consider mental health when planning for everyphase of response and recovery.

Section 23: Coordinate Treatment of Children’sPhysical Health

• Make sure that children and families can usetheir health insurance and receive medical careafter a disaster.

• Help children and families find a “medical home.”

Section 24: Help Ensure that DisplacedChildren and Families Find Housing

• Help find stable living situations for all childrenand families being served.

Section 25: Help Ensure that Children AttendSchool Regularly

• Make sure that children attend school regularly.

• Help to locate an educational environment thatcan help children recover from a disaster.

Section 26: Manage Through and MinimizeFoster Parent Attrition After a Disaster

• Anticipate foster parent attrition after a disaster,and make plans to manage the situation.

• Make use of federally available funds to recruitfoster families for displaced children.

Section 27: Capture Lessons Learned andRegularly Update Disaster Management Plans

• Capture lessons learned in an accessible anduser-friendly format, and share the lessons withstakeholders.

• Review disaster management plans regularly.

MITIGATION AND

PREPAREDNESS

IPART

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LIKELY OBSTACLES

When up against major disasters, even goodplans become inadequate. Planning is neverfinished. Even agencies that meet federal require-ments for planning designated by the Child andFamily Services Improvement Act of 2006 maylikely need to be better prepared.1

Many people will be taking care of themselveswhen disasters strike, so vulnerable popu-lations need special attention. Children andfamilies served by the nation’s child welfareagencies are among the Americans mostvulnerable to disasters.

Many individuals—those living outsidehurricane or earthquake zones, for example—may falsely conclude that they are immune toa disaster. This is simply not true; agencies in allgeographic areas are vulnerable to disasters,both natural and manmade.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Work together to protect children and familiesserved by child welfare agencies from majordisasters. Agencies work hard every day to keepchildren safe, and this job becomes both moreurgent and more complicated during and after amajor disaster. Disaster management should be acollaborative effort and a priority.

Use this guide and its resources to improvechild welfare agencies’ disaster managementplans. The sections that follow outline likelyobstacles and recommendations for all phases ofdisaster management, including mitigation andpreparedness, response, and recovery. From startto finish, each of these phases requires carefulplanning, and the resources listed at the end ofeach section (and in the Index of Resources) willhelp agency staff members tasked with disastermanagement to design and implement plans toincrease disaster preparedness, to respond todisasters, and to recover from disasters.

1that a child welfare agency located in a hurricane-prone region has a disaster

management plan in place to deal with brief evacuations and limited damage to homes and infrastructure.The plan has served the agency well over the last decade, when several serious storms have come andgone without major consequences. But, suppose that a hurricane of much larger magnitude sweeps thearea, causing major damage and requiring long-term evacuation by hundreds of thousands of families.Despite being well prepared for past disasters, the agency does not have the right plans in place toweather this catastrophic event. Staff members do not know where foster families have evacuated and ifthey are safe. They do not have access to files containing key information about children being served.They do not know how they will get crucial medicine to children and families, now out of state, who cannotuse their state-specific Medicaid cards.

Suppose

S E C T I O N

SECTION 1: ASSESS AGENCY PREPAREDNESS AND EVALUATE CURRENT DISASTERMANAGEMENT PLANS Evaluate disaster management plans and make improvements.

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RESOURCES

National Child Welfare Resource Center forOrganizational Improvement: Coping withDisasters and Strengthening Systems: AFramework for Child Welfare Agencies

What: This report details important measuresthat child welfare agencies should takebefore, during, and after a disaster. It includesextensive child-welfare-specific advice andcontains detailed checklists to assist withagency disaster preparedness.

Where: http://muskie.usm.maine.edu/helpkids/rcpdfs/copingwithdisasters.pdf

Child Welfare Information Gateway: DisasterPreparedness and Response

What: This website provides links to manydisaster-related resources for child welfareagencies.

Where: www.childwelfare.gov/highlights/disaster/prepare.cfm

Child Welfare League of America: Summary ofS. 3525, the Children and Families ServicesImprovement Act of 2006

What: This concise report summarizesS. 3525, including its section on disasterpreparedness.

Where: www.cwla.org/advocacy/pssfsummary06.htm

“NO ONE IS IMMUNETO THE EFFECTSOF A DISASTER—AND IT ISIMPORTANT WETAKE STEPS TOPREPARE.”Emergency Preparedness Guide: A Resource for Families, published

by Casey Family Services and the Annie E. Casey Foundation.

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LIKELY OBSTACLES

There may never be enough resourcesallocated to child welfare agencies for disasterplanning. This makes knowledge of likelydisasters coupled with commitment to an “all-hazards” plan even more essential.

Child welfare agencies, like many organiza-tions, may think more about the kinds ofdisasters that have occurred recently, over-looking other possible threats. An agency likethe one described above may be extremely wellprepared for some disasters and still be hit hardby other kinds of disasters.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Determine which disasters are most likelyto occur in the region and learn how thesethreats might affect the agency. “Brainstormingsessions” may be helpful, but a “more formalapproach is required” to “obtain the mostaccurate hazard analysis,” explains Jane’s SchoolSafety Handbook. Agencies might choose to

perform a “tactical site survey” that assesses thevulnerabilities of residential facilities and agencyoffice buildings, as schools would. Of course, riskassessment is also necessary to protect childrenliving with foster families. There are many ways todetermine vulnerabilities and their potentialimpact on specific agencies, from hiring consult-ants to conducting self-assessments. Methodsvary widely in cost. Agencies may choose to takeadvantage of community hazard assessmentsalready performed by local offices of emergencymanagement or public safety departments.2

Become familiar with potential effects of thefull range of disasters. The Federal EmergencyManagement Agency includes the followingthreats on its list of possible natural and man-made disasters: “Chemical; Dam Failure;Earthquake; Fire; Flood; [Hazardous] Material;Heat; Hurricane; Landslide; Nuclear; Terrorism;Thunderstorm; Tornado; Tsunami; Volcano;Wildfire.”3

Prepare for “all-hazards.” “All-hazards” disastermanagement has become standard practice indisaster preparedness. It is important to have adisaster plan that accommodates the full range of

2that a child welfare agency in a West Coast state is evaluating its written disaster plan

and making improvements. With recent large-scale disasters in other parts of the country fresh in mind,administrators take an important step: they append their longstanding earthquake response plan to readythe agency for the kind of longer-term evacuation that might be required if huge storms or floods strikethe region. Several months after the plan is updated, terrorists use a “dirty bomb” (also called a radiologicaldispersal device, or RDD) to attack a building near where many foster children live. Despite its newlyupdated disaster management plan, the agency is caught almost completely unprepared. Though provisionsexist for serving families during short- and longer-term evacuations, staff and families are untrained in theprocedures of “shelter-in-place.” The agency has no predetermined plan to reach out to families seekingsafety within their homes.

Suppose

S E C T I O N

SECTION 2: DETERMINE BIGGEST THREATS AND CONSIDER “ALL-HAZARDS” While planning carefully for disasters that are most likely to strike a region, prepare an “all-hazards” disaster

management plan that is adaptable to the widest range of possible events.

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possible catastrophes. Agencies should plan forboth localized disasters and events that affect alarge geographical area; for both evacuation orshelter-in-place; and for brief and long-termevents.4

RESOURCES

Ready America: Ready.gov

What: An extensive disaster preparednesswebsite. The “Be Informed” page explains thecauses and effects of various natural andmanmade disasters. The “Local Information”page provides a list of local agencies withpreparedness responsibilities.

Where: www.ready.gov

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:Emergency Preparedness & Response

What: A disaster preparedness website thatincludes disaster-specific pages with informa-tion about chemical agents, diseases, andother threats, from Anthrax to Wildfires.

Where: www.bt.cdc.gov

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration:NOAA All-Hazards Monitor

What: This website gives “detailed, currentinformation on high-risk hazards as theyoccur,” including current radar and otherweather data, and disaster alerts.

Where: www.noaawatch.gov

Department of Homeland Security: Homeland Security Advisory System

What: This website lets the public know thecountry’s current threat level (Low, Guarded,Elevated, High, Severe) and discusses specificthreats. In addition to the current threat level,the site lists “recommended activities” for thepublic.

Where: www.dhs.gov/xinfoshare/programs/Copy_of_press_release_0046.shtm

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LIKELY OBSTACLES

If disaster management responsibilities arenot allocated carefully, response plans maybackfire. Amidst the chaos of a disaster, every-thing will become more difficult and stressful thanusual. If jobs are not filled, or if the chain of com-mand breaks down, safety will be jeopardized.

It is impossible to predict who will beavailable to work during a disaster. Staffmembers may be on vacation, or tending tofamily. Without built-in alternates, some disasterresponse jobs are bound to fall through thecracks, as in the above example.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Assign a specific staff member(s) to coordi-nate disaster management. For disaster pre-paredness to be efficient and effective, specificindividuals must be charged with disastermanagement planning. This means coordinatingall phases of disaster management: mitigation

and preparedness, response, and recovery—andplanning before a disaster occurs. This musthappen at the system-wide level as well as withinfield operations.

Anticipate staffing needs required duringdisaster response. One useful strategy would beto form a central office team composed of front-line personnel, supervisors, regional managers,local managers, and others to address and planfor staffing issues, such as: reallocation of staffduring and after a disaster, deployment of stafffrom other offices to pick up children of essentialpersonnel at first sign of a disaster, the staffing ofemergency shelters (if required of the agency), etc.

Inform staff members what is expected ofthem during and immediately following adisaster. What will the agency need to do torespond to the disaster? What is the chain ofcommand? Who is qualified to perform eachtask? What are the essential functions of theagency? What day-to-day work must continue no matter what? Who will accomplish this work?When possible, align staff members’ disasterresponsibilities with their job descriptions.

3that an agency has taken the important measure of assigning essential staff roles and

responsibilities for disaster response. “Mike,” a supervisor, is in charge of initiating a phone tree to confirmthat all staff members are safe. When a train carrying toxic chemicals derails in the area, Mike takes theappropriate measure by sheltering-in-place. His home phone is out of order so he cannot begin the phonetree. No other staff members know that someone needs to begin placing calls. Hours pass before agencyadministrators begin a haphazard attempt to contact everyone.

Suppose

S E C T I O N

SECTION 3: ALLOCATE RESPONSIBILITIES TO AGENCY STAFF MEMBERS Assign clear

roles and responsibilities for disaster management to staff, and build in redundancy.

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Make sure that an adequate number ofalternates are assigned to each role. Buildin redundancy. Planning should include anorganizational succession plan in case theplanned chain of command collapses. Decidewho will perform a task if the person assigned isunable? And if the next person is unable?

Prepare to perform Emergency SupportFunctions required by federal and state govern-ments as well as to enact plans to protectchildren and families being served by theagency. In addition to protecting the childrenand families they serve, child welfare agencieswill more than likely be required to play a role inthe broader emergency response. The federalgovernment organizes the national emergencyresponse around the National Response Frame-work (NRF), which details the various EmergencySupport Functions (ESFs) that must be carried outby various agencies. Depending on the state,child welfare agencies may be responsible for anESF—such as staffing emergency shelters, as is thecase in Louisiana—and these responsibilities mustbe handled at the same time that agencies carryout the work of protecting children and familiesin state care. See Section 6 for further informationabout the National Response Framework andEmergency Support Functions.

“DISASTER PLANSSHOULD USE ANALL-HAZARDSFRAMEWORK.”Tara Hill, Management & Program Analyst, U.S. Department of

Education’s Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools.

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LIKELY OBSTACLES

Unwritten disaster plans could be quicklyforgotten with frequent agency staff turnover.If a plan is not written down, how will new staffmembers learn it?

Disaster plans that are written down can belengthy and cumbersome, making themdifficult to learn and follow. Long and denseplans that rely heavily on jargon, codes, andacronyms—like the one described in the scenarioabove—may end up being misunderstood or mayremain unread. Ada Dolch, who was Principal ofthe High School of Public Service in New YorkCity during the September 11 attacks, explainsthat “viable safety plans must be genuine tools ofmanagement,” and warns that very long plansare likely to be “submitted and then not usedbecause of their length.”5

Overtaxed agencies might feel they do nothave the time to write out thorough disastermanagement plans. Child welfare agencyadministrators and staff who are burdened withpressing work may balk at the idea of taking thetime to write out plans that reach beyond mini-mum requirements of a bare-bones disasterresponse. They may be under the false impression

that a disaster could never strike their area. Or,they may be so busy on a day-to-day basis thatthey find it very difficult to focus on possible crisesin the future.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Put agency plans in writing. In coordinationwith other offices, each office should have writtenplans for disaster response that are specific totheir own circumstances and staffing—plans thatinclude telephone trees, chains of command, listsof essential staff members, etc. Information abouteach office’s disaster response plan should be onfile at a central location, and backed upelectronically.

Keep written plans handy and at the forefrontof the minds of agency staff members. Plans,though written down, should also be part of theeveryday lives of agency staff. Once the writtendisaster response plan is developed, essentialstaff are identified, and roles are established, itmay be a good idea to create a succinct “cheatsheet” for each essential staff member to keepavailable—at work and at home, in written andelectronic forms.

4that a child welfare agency makes an extraordinary effort to assess its current disaster

plan and revise it thoroughly. Agency staff members take the essential measure of writing down the newplan, which offers a detailed account of how the agency will mitigate and prepare, respond to a disaster,and help families recover from the full range of possible events. The agency prints its disaster plan anddistributes it to all agency staff. After this tremendous effort, however, the plan just sits on a shelf. At anoverwhelming length of 200 pages, the plan remains unread by many. And, as months pass and staff turnover, fewer and fewer people at the agency are knowledgeable about the plan. When disaster strikes,everyone is caught unprepared.

Suppose

S E C T I O N

SECTION 4: PUT DISASTER MANAGEMENT PLANS IN WRITING Plans addressing all

phases of disaster management should be captured in a concise, clearly written document and kept at all staff

members’ fingertips.

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Address all phases of disaster management inwritten plans. It is crucial to put in writing thesteps an agency will take during all phases ofdisaster management: mitigation and prepared-ness, response, and recovery. Each phaserequires planning. In addition to knowing that theagency will have to get children back in schoolsduring the recovery phase, for example, agenciesmust plan and document how they will make thishappen.

Write disaster response plans in a concise andclear format. Keep disaster plans as simple andaccessible as possible, with as little jargon and asfew acronyms as possible.

RESOURCES

Emergency Response and Crisis ManagementTechnical Assistance Center of the U.S.Department of Education: Creating EmergencyManagement Plans

What: This article in ERCMExpress includes asection called “Creating Plans Based on theFour Phases of Emergency Management.” Itgives clear descriptions of each phase, alongwith suggestions for schools, which may beadaptable to similarly child-centered childwelfare settings.

Where: http://rems.ed.gov/views/documents/CreatingPlans.pdf

Disaster Recovery Journal: Disaster RecoveryPlanning (Part II of III)

What: This article, written by Geoffrey H.Wold, contains two helpful sections onformatting and writing a disaster plan (scrolldown to “Standard Format” and “WritingMethod”).

It also contains useful suggestions such as“use position titles (rather than personalnames of individuals) to reduce maintenanceand revision requirements.”

Where: www.drj.com/new2dr/w2_003.htm

“DUPLICATION ISNOT OVERKILL IN DISASTERPLANNING.”Marketa Gautreau, Assistant Secretary for the Louisiana Office

of Community Service.

18

5S E C T I O N

LIKELY OBSTACLES

Ignoring budgeting constraints could makedisaster management plans unfeasible.Proposing plans that are too expensive maymean that fewer preparations are made, asoccurs in the example above.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Keep budget limitations in mind when design-ing disaster plans. Create the best possibledisaster management plan with the resourcesavailable. “What you don’t want is unfundedmandates,” explains Dr. George Foltin, AssociateProfessor of Pediatrics and Emergency Medicineat New York University Langone Medical Centerand co-editor of Pediatric Terrorism and DisasterPreparedness. “Figure out what your gaps are andwhat money is available, and make intelligentdecisions.”6

Maximize the utility of funds by simultaneouslyimproving agency preparedness and day-to-day operations. Many disaster preparednessmeasures can serve a “dual-use,” explains DavidBerman, Associate Director of the New York

University Center for Catastrophe Preparednessand Response.7 Training agency staff to monitorchildren for trauma and help them cope withbereavement can also be beneficial when thereis no major disaster, for example.

Advocate for and apply for funds to improvedisaster preparedness and management plans.Whenever possible, agency administrators shouldmake funding for disaster management planninga priority.

RESOURCES

Congressional Research Service: Federal DisasterRecovery Programs: Brief Summaries

What: This report “summarizes federal disasterassistance programs for possible use byMembers of Congress and staff in helpingaddress the needs of constituents.” It may helpalert child welfare administrators to grantsavailable for improving disaster preparedness.

Where: www.fas.org/sgp/crs/homesec/RL31734.pdf

that a local child welfare agency decides to take the important step of assessing andimproving its disaster management plan. A team of five staff members reviews the agency’s existing planand makes numerous recommendations. The team suggests: holding emergency planning training sessionsfor staff and families, equipping each child welfare manager with a satellite phone, hiring a new staffmember to maintain the disaster management plan, overhauling the agency’s record-keeping software,and stocking each foster family’s home with a disaster supply kit. Each of these measures would surelyimprove preparedness or facilitate disaster response. To enact them at once, however, would prove verycostly. Though many big improvements to the agency’s disaster management plan are proposed, none isactually carried out.

SECTION 5: BUDGET FOR DISASTER MANAGEMENT Determine priorities, in order to create the

best possible disaster management plan within the existing budget, and take measures to increase funds, when

needed and possible.

Suppose

19

LIKELY OBSTACLES

Child welfare agencies that do not coordinateand collaborate with other human servicesagencies and community groups may sacrificethe safety of children, families, or staff. Withoutcollaboration, families might not receive neededincome maintenance, as in the scenario above.Even a strong disaster management plan weak-ens if it conflicts with other agencies’ responses.

Child welfare agencies are likely to have atleast two sets of responsibilities during adisaster. As described in Section 3, agencies maybe charged with fulfilling an Emergency SupportFunction as part of the national disaster response,while also needing to carry out plans to protectchildren and families being served by theiragencies. Without coordination, disaster responsemay be hindered.

Child welfare agencies that do not collaboratewith other state and local agencies on disasterplanning and response may miss an importantopportunity to discourage the practice ofseparating children from families duringevacuation. During the Hurricane Katrina

evacuation, many children were separated fromtheir families. This left even the youngest childrenscared and alone at shelters, while also creatingbureaucratic problems for child welfare staff.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Coordinate preparedness efforts with states.Don Winstead, Deputy Secretary of theDepartment of Children and Families in Florida,a state that has weathered numerous serioushurricanes during the past several decades,recommends vertical and horizontal alignmentof child welfare agency disaster response planswith robust state plans as well as with the plansof contracted providers. Winstead suggests onepossible way to accomplish this alignment:providers’ plans may be appended to theagency’s plan, which in turn may be appendedto a state plan.8 Working with states, agenciesmay also wish to have policy waivers andexecutive orders in place in advance of adisaster—waiving select licensure requirementsduring recovery, for example—to help them servechildren and families.

6S E C T I O N

SECTION 6: COORDINATE DISASTER MANAGEMENT WITH OTHER AGENCIES, WITHPROVIDERS, AND WITH COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS Collaborate with others to strengthen

disaster management plans.

that a child welfare agency has a strong disaster plan in place. But when otheragencies meet to devise state evacuation plans, the child welfare agency does not participate. Then, amajor disaster strikes, separating hundreds of children from their families and scattering them to sheltersacross the state. Many of these children are preverbal and cannot tell shelter workers their names. Plansto protect children in state care are fully derailed when the agency is suddenly responsible for hundredsof new children. When this situation is resolved, the agency realizes there is another major flaw in its plan.Because it did not collaborate with other agencies, some families do not receive TANF and cannot use their Medicaid cards. Families out of state are unclear which agency—old or new—they should work with.The disaster plan, strong in isolation, quickly unravels when other agencies are involved.

Suppose

20

Coordinate preparedness efforts with Officesof Emergency Management. These offices maybe able to help facilitate and simplify importantphases of disaster planning, for example, bysharing hazard vulnerability analysis and familypreparedness materials.

Coordinate disaster management plans withcontracted providers. All contracted providersshould have disaster plans that follow a commonformat and are on file with their primary contract-ing agency.

Make sure that child welfare agencies are fullpartners with other social service agencies atthe state level and active partners at the locallevel. Participate in collaborative disaster man-agement planning and drills on the state andlocal levels whenever possible. This providesagencies with a good opportunity to learn bestpractices from other agencies. For example, with-out written agreements that permit families toreceive an emergency Medicaid card in anotherstate, the health of children and families may beat serious risk.9 Because the incidence of domesticviolence will likely increase following a disaster,child welfare agencies should collaborate withagencies and providers working to prevent domes-tic violence to protect victims after a disaster.10

Regarding agency collaboration in general, theFinance Project recommends: “Integrating man-agement of emergency response and recoveryefforts; Engaging in collaborative disaster plan-ning and preparation; Developing partnerships toaddress unmet needs or vulnerabilities; Building inoperating flexibility; Cross-training staff; Co-locat-ing essential human services to make them moreaccessible to those in need; and, Developingshared information and communication systems.”11

Establish written memoranda of understand-ing with police departments, fire departments,and schools. Developing such written agree-ments at the local level will help ensure thesmoothest possible disaster response.

Collaborate with school authorities concern-ing individual children in state care. Becausechildren spend much of their time in schools,social workers, parents, or foster parents will wantto share personal disaster response plans withschool authorities to ensure that children arereunited with parents and caregivers in the eventof a disaster.

Coordinate disaster preparedness with otherstates’ child welfare agencies, and establishmemoranda of understanding to facilitatedisaster response and recovery. In the event ofmajor disasters, children have in the past beenmoved to other states. Should this happen in theabsence of stable relationships among agencies,tracking and serving children in their new tempo-rary or permanent locations may prove extremelydifficult. Thinking about how such a situationmight unfold and establishing written agreementswith other state child welfare agencies in advanceof an incident may be the minimum measurerequired to prevent conflict over jurisdiction andto provide necessary services to children andfamilies. On occasion, agencies may be calledupon to assist neighboring jurisdictions duringand after a disaster. It may be helpful to deter-mine in advance which staff members can lendhelp without interrupting services to families in theagency’s own jurisdiction. Agencies in states thatshare a border with Canada or Mexico shouldplan accordingly.

Collaborate with community groups to ensurethat vulnerable children and families are pro-tected as well as possible during a disaster.These organizations often have close relationshipswith vulnerable children and families. If anagency does not work with these organizations,disaster management may be less effective.

Coordinate plans for disaster response andrecovery with courts. Agencies should antici-pate limited access to courts following a disaster,and plan accordingly. Memoranda of under-standing should be established with the courtsdetailing alternate ways of taking children intocare after a disaster. And because court servicesare essential to children in the care of the state,agencies will want to learn where a court willmove if hit directly by a disaster. They may alsowant to find out how essential court records willbe preserved, what kinds of cases will be contin-ued, and what kind of laws will be temporarilysuspended in the event of a disaster. Also, withthe help of the court, agencies may want to thinkabout what kind of confidentiality issues will raiseobstacles to disaster response and recoveryefforts, as well as how they can best preservechild confidentiality when an emergency occurs.As the Honorable Ernestine S. Gray, Judge of theOrleans Parish Juvenile Court in New Orleans

21

explains, it is important to think about how courtswill hold hearings. Will there be video confer-encing, for example? If so, is the necessaryequipment available?12

Coordinate disaster management plans withgovernment plans for a national disasterresponse. Current federal disaster plans, detailedin the National Response Framework (NRF), callfor numerous Emergency Support Functions (ESFs)to be fulfilled by various agencies. Agency staffmembers should be fully aware of their agency’srole in the national response, whether it bestaffing special needs shelters—as was requiredof child welfare staff in Louisiana after HurricaneKatrina—or providing other services. Agenciesshould consider these responsibilities whendesigning or revising their disaster plans. SeeSection 3 for more information on the NRF and ESFs.

Coordinate plans for disaster response andrecovery with relief organizations such as theAmerican Red Cross. The Red Cross mayhandle ESFs—like sheltering—similar to thosesometimes held by child welfare agencies. Inaddition, local chapters of the Red Cross willoften accept invitations to offer disaster prepared-ness seminars. Such sessions may be useful forstaff members and for children and families.

Incorporate government standardized disastermanagement terms and practices into agencyplans. The NRF relies on several related systemsto standardize disaster response across states andagencies. If a disaster were to strike a residentialfacility, as in the above example, these systemsare intended to help organizations to offer a uni-fied response without confusion about language,chain of command, and equipment. The NationalIncident Management System (NIMS) “representsa core set of doctrine, concepts, principles, termi-nology, and organizational processes thatenables effective, efficient, and collaborativeincident management.”13 NIMS is written to beadaptable to emergencies of all varieties andmagnitudes. It aims to help jurisdictions andorganizations to coordinate with one anotherduring a disaster. Agencies may want to offerNIMS training to staff members with key disasterplanning and response responsibilities.

Remember to forge and nurture relationshipsin advance of a disaster. “The time to engage intraining and build relationships is not the day

after a disaster,” explains Theresa A. Bischoff,CEO, American Red Cross in Greater New York.14

Agencies may want to designate liaisons whocan build and maintain these relationships. Giventhe likelihood of staff turnover both within theagency and within other organizations, contactshould be made early and often.

RESOURCES

The Finance Project: Managing in Emergencies:Enhancing Collaboration for Human Services

What: This 12-page report offers informationand advice about collaboration duringdisasters. It also provides specific strategiesfor readers and further resources on“Collaboration and the Provision ofEmergency Human Services.”

Where: http://76.12.61.196/publications/feskatrina1.pdf

U.S. Department of Homeland Security: TheNational Response Framework (NRF) ResourceCenter

What: This website “focuses on response andshort-term recovery, articulates the doctrine,principles and architecture by which ournation prepares for and responds to all-hazard disasters across all levels of govern-ment and all sectors of communities.”15 Thesite includes extensive information about theNRF along with an annex detailingEmergency Support Functions.

Where: www.fema.gov/emergency/nrf

Federal Emergency Management Agency: TheNational Incident Management Systems (NIMS)

What: This website is a portal to resourcesrelated to NIMS, which was developed so“the responders from different jurisdictionsand disciplines can work together better torespond to natural disasters and emergen-cies, including acts of terrorism.”

Where: www.fema.gov/emergency/nims

22

LIKELY OBSTACLES

A disaster that strikes an agency office can bedangerous for everyone in the building. Anunmanaged emergency puts the staff ’s safety atgreater risk.

If a disaster affecting the greater communityalso shuts down the agency office, as in theexample above, it may become difficult for theagency to enact its disaster response plan. Ifthe plan does not accommodate a possible officeshutdown, the agency may not be able to protectchildren and families as well as it might have.

If a disaster shuts down an agency office, cru-cial services to children and families may bedisrupted during recovery. Without planning,agency work may become difficult to impossiblefollowing the loss of usual office space.

Children and families may be visiting theagency office during a disaster. They may be at risk if not incorporated into the office’s disasterresponse plan.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Plan to manage disasters that strike officesdirectly. Make plans to respond to all hazardsthat may affect the building. Disaster manage-ment planners should consider basic questionssuch as how power or water can be shut off ifnecessary, whether there are phones that workwithout electricity, whether emergency exits areclearly marked, etc. Agencies should consider: ifchildren and families may be in the building, howwill they be kept safe?

Minimize the office building’s susceptibility todamage caused by disasters. Make sure paperfiles are as protected as possible from possibleflood or fire, for example. It might also be a goodidea to share office blueprints with police or firedepartments.

Post emergency instructions for the full rangeof possible disasters where everyone in theoffice can easily read and reference them. Whendisaster strikes, people may be overwhelmed andforget what to do. A colorful instruction sheet mayhelp keep staff members safe.

7that large storms hit a city that houses the state child welfare office. The office, which

is in a high-rise building, is flooded, and needs to be evacuated. The storms also affect several adjacentneighborhoods, where a third of the city’s foster children live. It is time to activate the agency’s disasterresponse plan, but staff must evacuate the office. Staff members are unable to gather essential disastermanagement documents, files, and communication equipment without risking their safety. Because theagency did not prepare to manage a disaster from an alternative location, staff members cannot carry outplans to protect children and families from the storms and floods.

Suppose

S E C T I O N

SECTION 7: PREPARE TO MANAGE DISASTERS THAT STRIKE AN AGENCY OFFICE Plan to protect staff and carry out disaster management plans, even in the event that a disaster directly strikes

agency offices.

23

Integrate disaster response plans for theagency’s office building into the larger disas-ter management plan. If disaster strikes theoffice and the larger community, agencies needto be prepared to protect staff members andforge ahead with the response. Be prepared foran evacuation. Consider: Where will staff go tocontinue work? What will they bring? How willthey be accounted for? Prepare to shelter-in-place at the office, if this is required. How will thebuilding be sealed? What supplies—includingfood and water—will be stocked in the office?Will emergency generators be required? How willstaff members with special needs be helpedduring an evacuation or shelter-in-place?

RESOURCES

U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safetyand Health Administration: Evacuation Plans andProcedures eTool

What: This website aims to help small busi-nesses to write an Emergency Action Plan,and it may be of some help to agencies whoneed to incorporate office disaster manage-ment into their larger disaster managementplan.

Where: www.osha.gov/SLTC/etools/evacuation/index.html

U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safetyand Health Administration: Fact Sheet: EvacuatingHigh-Rise Buildings

What: This two-page fact sheet offers infor-mation about evacuating buildings taller than75 feet in the event of a disaster. It includeschecklists for both employers and staff.

Where: www.osha.gov/OshDoc/data_General_Facts/evacuating-highrise-factsheet.pdf

“THE TIME TOENGAGE INTRAINING ANDBUILD RELATION-SHIPS IS NOT THEDAY AFTER ADISASTER.”Theresa A. Bischoff, CEO, American Red Cross in Greater New York.

24

LIKELY OBSTACLES

Families served by the child welfare systemoften have limited financial resources, whichcan make both evacuation and shelter-in-placemore difficult. Being prepared for disasters canbe costly. Evacuating, even for short time periods,can require spending extra money on transporta-tion and food. People with less money are lesslikely to have friends and family outside theirimmediate area, which may mean spending moremoney on a place to stay. Preparing to shelter-in-place also requires funds for supplies. The biggera disaster is, the larger the disadvantage thesechildren and families face. These considerationsapply both to foster families as well as biologicalfamilies receiving supervision and other servicesfrom the child welfare agency.

Providers who are responsible for services tochildren and families in agency care may nothave an adequate disaster management plan.Without such a plan, children and families will bein greater danger during a disaster. The case ofresidential educational facilities for foster youththat were struck by the California wildfires ofOctober 2007 reminds us that providers arevulnerable too. Providers also must perform the

same disaster management planning undertakenby the agency and families. Such planning couldbe required as part of the contract process.

Children in state care often face new and dif-ferent surroundings. While other children mightbe familiar with their home’s safest areas andknow where their parents are likely to be found inan emergency, children like “Megan” need to betaught early and reminded often about theirfoster family’s disaster plan.

Children in foster care may also want to stay intouch with biological families during and aftera disaster. Children evacuating or sheltering-in-place with their foster families may also beanxious to know that their biological parents andsiblings are safe, and vice versa. This may requirea higher level of coordination than other families’disaster plans.

Domestic violence has been shown to increaseduring and after disasters. As reported in a1997 study of Florida’s major 1992 hurricane,Hurricane Andrew, “The pressures of coping inpost-Andrew south Florida sometimes escalateinto acts of violence. In a survey of 1,200 homesconducted for the Florida Department ofRehabilitative Services two months after Andrew,

8that “Megan” (age 4) is new to the child welfare system when a tornado warning is

issued in the Midwestern town where she lives. Megan, who has not yet adjusted to her home and fosterfamily, is frightened, and she resists her foster mother’s efforts to bring her to the basement. Though Meganand her foster mother eventually find safety from harm downstairs, a tornado causes significant damageto the house, destroying its roof and scattering its contents. Megan is suddenly without all of her importantdocuments—including her birth certificate and immunization history—and the asthma inhaler she needs.

Suppose

S E C T I O N

SECTION 8: ENSURE THAT FAMILIES AND PROVIDERS HAVE VIABLE DISASTERPLANS Help families and providers to develop individualized disaster plans, and stay up-to-date as these

plans change.

25

35 percent reported that someone in their homehad recently been stressed to the point of losingverbal or physical control . . .Reports of domesticviolence increased . . .The switchboard of Miami’sHelpline reported a 50 percent increase in spousalabuse calls.”16 Accessing local law enforcementas well as the domestic violence providercommunity will become more difficult during andafter a disaster. Some child welfare cases involvedomestic violence, including those cases wherechildren remain in the home. If this is not accountedfor in disaster plans, children and families may bein jeopardy.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Ensure that biological families, foster families,and group care facilities have disaster plans inplace. Preparedness may be daunting to super-vise, considering the caseload of agency staffmembers. At a minimum, however, families—fosterfamilies as well as biological families receivingservices from the agency—and group care facili-ties must have essential supplies for sheltering-in-place as well as a basic evacuation plan thatincludes the provision of medical coverage attheir destination. In addition, the needs of med-ically fragile children in foster and biologicalhomes should be specifically addressed by eachfamily’s disaster response plan. If agencies wanthelp with preparedness education, local chaptersof the American Red Cross are often willing tocome to offices to conduct preparedness seminarsand offer advice.

Ensure that family and provider preparednessis routine and required. Determine how theagency will educate biological families, fosterfamilies, and group care facility administratorsabout the most important elements of prepared-ness, namely plans for evacuation and shelter-in-place. Making disaster planning a routine partof foster parent training and certification is onerecommended option. As part of this process,staff members may want to inquire about afamily’s kin connections; they could be importantto a successful plan. It is also critical to establisha system to receive regular updates from all care-givers, whether biological families, foster families,or group care facilities. Updates should be

scheduled at the beginning of storm season, if there is one in the area, and at a minimum ofonce each year in any location.

Ensure that families have an adequate supplyof prescription medication in their disasterkits. Families should refill necessary medicineswell before their supply runs out. Prescription refillregulations may vary by medication, region, or insurance company. Double refills may beallowed during storm season and some insurancecompanies may suspend refill waiting periodswhen a storm watch is in effect.

Urge families strongly to consider the follow-ing suggestions when making their plans: bothshort- and longer-term evacuation plans (forhurricanes, terrorist attacks, and many otherlarge-scale disasters) should be established.In both instances, families should decide wherethey will evacuate, how they will get there, andwhat they will bring. Selecting one nearby andone out-of-town meeting point should helpaccommodate a range of possible disasters.Families and providers should also make shelter-in-place plans (for some chemical threats andother localized disasters, for example). Familiesshould discuss how they will secure their homesand providers should decide how they will securetheir facilities in the event that it is safest to waitout a disaster there. Families should decide howthey will find each other in the event of a disaster.Each family member should carry with him or her(perhaps on a laminated card) emergency con-tact numbers and email addresses for the otherfoster and biological family members. Also usefulwould be contact information for a friend orrelative in another area who might help familymembers find each other if in-area calling isimpossible. Families with individuals with specialneeds should make necessary plans to accommo-date these needs.

Educate caregivers about how to discuss theirdisaster plan and its various contingencieswith children in a sensitive and age-appropriate manner. Disaster planning shouldbe approached carefully so children will not beunduly frightened. But, plans may need to beexplained in order for children to remember andfollow them.

26

Inform families which supplies are necessaryfor evacuation and for shelter-in-place.Supplies should be collected in advance andstored in one easily accessible, waterproof loca-tion. Items required for evacuation should be keptin a portable bag, for example, a backpack. TheAmerican Red Cross and FEMA recommend thatthe following items all be included in disaster kits:“Three-day supply of non-perishable food andmanual can-opener; three-day supply of water(one gallon of water per person per day);portable, battery-powered radio or television andextra batteries; flashlight and extra batteries; first-aid kit and manual; sanitation and hygiene items;matches in water-proof container; whistle; extraclothing and blankets; photocopies of identifica-tion and credit cards; cash and coins; specialitems such as prescription medications, eyeglasses, contact lens solution, and hearing aidbatteries; tools, pet supplies, a map of the localarea, and other items to meet your unique familyneeds.”17 Agencies may want to consider provid-ing selected essential supplies to biological andfoster families, if this is viable within budget con-straints. Encourage families to include in disastersupply kits a few items that might calm childrenduring a disaster. Disasters can be frightening tochildren and small comforts may be especiallywelcome. Families may also want to take steps tosafeguard children’s irreplaceable photos orkeepsakes.

Carefully consider situations involving possi-ble domestic violence when monitoring familydisaster response plans. In Florida, a state thathas been struck by numerous serious hurricanes inrecent decades, domestic violence has beenshown to increase after a disaster.18 It is thereforeimportant to keep in mind the safety of those atrisk of domestic violence when helping familiesdevise disaster response plans.

Help families to plan to care for their pets.Since the Gulf Coast hurricanes, area disasterplans are more frequently including pet sheltersthat coordinate record keeping with shelters forhumans, so that pet owners do not lose track oftheir pets. A list of such shelters may be madeavailable to families.

RESOURCES

Casey Family Services and the Annie E. CaseyFoundation: Emergency Preparedness Guide:A Resource for Families

What: This 9-page guide offers practicaladvice to help families be prepared for adisaster. It contains clear step-by-step instruc-tions for evacuation and shelter-in-place.

Where: www.aecf.org/~/media/Pubs/Topics/Community%20Change/Other/EmergencyPreparednessGuideAResourceforFamilie/Resource%208A.pdf

Federal Emergency Management Agency and theAmerican Red Cross: Preparing for Disaster

What: This 14-page guide offers families step-by-step instructions on how to (1) getinformed, (2) make a plan, (3) assemble a kit,and (4) maintain your plan and kit. It is clearand comprehensive, with information onnatural disasters and terrorism, on evacuationand shelter-in-place. Agency staff may needto supplement with information on how toprepare children in a sensitive manner.

Where: www.redcross.org/images/pdfs/preparedness/A4600.pdf

Federal Emergency Management Agency and the American Red Cross: Helping Children Copewith Disaster

What: This 12-page guide instructs parentsand caregivers how to help children preparefor and cope with disasters. It providesinstructions tailored to specific age groups.

Where: www.fema.gov/pdf/library/children.pdf

27

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services:Disasters and Emergencies

What: This website provides information forfamilies (as well as for businesses andresponders) on how to plan for, prepare for,and respond to natural and manmadedisasters. The “Natural Disaster” page and“Man-Made Disaster” page include a compi-lation of user-friendly fact sheets about howto respond to specific disasters from the CDC,the EPA, FEMA, and other organizations.

Where: www.hhs.gov/disasters

American Academy of Pediatrics: FamilyReadiness Kit

What: This 35-page kit is a colorful andaccessible resource that instructs families onthe nuts and bolts of being prepared fornatural disasters. It includes preparationchecklists for different natural disasters. Alsoavailable in Spanish (without checklists).

Where: www.aap.org/family/frk/frkit.htm

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: KeepIt With You: Personal Medical Information Form

What: This two-sided form is intended to be a“temporary record” detailing medical historyand care for use during disasters, whenrecords might be inaccessible. It is a simpleform that can be partially filled out inadvance and included in disaster kits.

Where: www.bt.cdc.gov/disasters/kiwy.asp

Ready America: Family Emergency PlanWorksheet

What: This two-page form can help familiesto design and remember their emergencyplans. It asks for contact names and tele-phone numbers, the location of the regionalmeeting place, an evacuation location, etc.

It also includes templates for wallet-sizedemergency plan cards that can be cut outand laminated.

Where: www.ready.gov/america/makeaplan

Florida Department of Children and Families andFlorida’s Coalition Against Domestic Violence:Survive Domestic Violence AFTER the Hurricane

What: This brochure discusses the increasedrisk of domestic violence following a naturaldisaster and provides concrete advice for at-risk individuals.

Where: www.aecf.org/~/media/PDFFiles/DisasterGuide/Resource%208H.pdf

National Center for Missing & Exploited Children:Know the Rules: Safety Tips for ChildrenDisplaced in Natural Disasters and TheirCaregivers

What: This tipsheet offers basic guidelines forkeeping children safe during a disaster. Itcould be usefully posted in shelters.

Where: www.missingkids.com/en_US/publications/NC158.pdf

PETS 911: Pets911.com

What: This website offers a directory of localemergency veterinary clinics, which is search-able by zip code, that may be able to helpfamilies protect their pets during a disaster.

Where: www.pets911.com

28

LIKELY OBSTACLES

Fear for the safety of their own families maylikely keep agency staff members with essen-tial jobs from reporting to work. Even as staffmembers search for a safe place for foster fami-lies to live, they also may, like “Jillian,” be lookingfor a place for their own families to stay. A 2005study of over 6,000 health care workers in NewYork found that between roughly 20 and 50 per-cent of workers would be unwilling to report towork during a disaster, with highest absenteeismfor biological and radiological events. Workersnamed “concern for family” as the number onebarrier to their willingness to work.19 Just as manyphysicians need to know that their loved ones aresafe in order to do their important work, manychild welfare agency staff members require thesame. If staff members are unwilling to report towork during a disaster, response and recoveryplans may be entirely ineffective.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Some agency staff members will be essentialwhile a disaster is unfolding. Determine whothese staff members are and plan to bring theirfamilies and pets to safety quickly so that staffmembers can concentrate on their jobs. Thoughthis may seem to some administrators like anextravagance, these provisions may be the bareminimum required for staff members to workeffectively or at all during a disaster.

Speak with essential staff about what theirfamilies would need to be safe. Finding out staffmembers’ biggest concerns may improve workerturnout when disaster strikes.

9major floods hit a southeastern coastal region. Child welfare caseworker “Jillian” has

an essential role in her agency’s disaster plan, but also wants to make sure her family is safe. Though Jillianis a dedicated worker, she evacuates with her husband and young daughter to a relative’s house 200 milesaway, planning to return as soon as her family is safely settled. Travel is more difficult than Jillian anticipates,and it takes her four days to get back home. Jillian’s essential disaster response role, keeping track ofchildren put in state care as a result of the disaster, remains unfilled.

Suppose

S E C T I O N

SECTION 9: PREPARE TO PROTECT THE FAMILIES OF AGENCY STAFF MEMBERSESSENTIAL TO DISASTER RESPONSE Protect the families of staff members with essential roles in

the agency’s disaster response so that these staff members can report to work and focus on their jobs.

29

LIKELY OBSTACLES

Dedicated child welfare staff members whohelp children and families to prepare fordisasters may nevertheless neglect theirdisaster plans. “Only seven percent of Americansare prepared,” reports Theresa Bischoff, CEO,American Red Cross in Greater New York. If staffmembers like “Neal” fail to keep themselves safe,they will not be able to help others.20

RECOMMENDATIONS

Require that agency staff members createstrong personal disaster plans. Staff membersshould be held to the same high standard as chil-dren and families being served, and they shouldfollow the same recommendations (more informa-tion may be found in Section 9) for designating anemergency contact, planning for evacuation,planning for shelter-in-place, assembling disastersupplies, planning to protect pets, accounting forspecial needs, etc.

Make sure staff members know how to contactthe agency in the event of a disaster. Whomshould they call to check in? Do they have celland home phone numbers of supervisors and otherleaders? What if the phones are not working?More information may be found in Section 11.

Verify that staff members’ disaster plans arecompatible with their work responsibilitiesduring a disaster. Hopefully, the agency will beprepared to protect the children and families ofstaff members who must work during disasters(more information may be found in Section 9). These plans should be taken into account in staffmembers’ personal disaster plans. Many agencystaff members will have disaster managementresponsibilities, and staff members’ personal plansshould fit with their jobs as well.

Keep staff members’ disaster plans on file andupdate them regularly. Plans, which shouldinclude out-of-area emergency contact informa-tion, a designated location where the worker willevacuate, and other important information, shouldbe filed with the agency office and kept current.

10that “Neal,” a dedicated child welfare caseworker, is very diligent about soliciting

disaster plans from the children and families he serves. Importantly, he keeps families’ contact informationcurrent, advises families to refresh disaster supplies, and makes sure family disaster plans are explained tochildren in a sensitive manner. Despite taking these essential measures, he, like the doctor who doesn’tmake time for his or her own check-up, somehow never gets around to creating a disaster plan for himselfand his family. When disaster strikes, Neal is injured. When immediate danger has passed and Neal issupposed to report to work, he is unable to do his job because he must address his family’s needs.

Suppose

S E C T I O N

SECTION 10: ENSURE THAT AGENCY STAFF MEMBERS HAVE VIABLE PERSONALDISASTER RESPONSE PLANS Require agency staff members to develop personal and family disaster

plans that keep them safe and allow them to return to work when needed.

30

LIKELY OBSTACLES

Communication systems may fail. During andafter natural or man-made disasters, usualmethods of communication—including landlines,mobile telephones, text messages, PDA messages,traditional email, websites, television, and radio—may be partially or entirely inoperable, as in the above example. If agencies are unable tocommunicate with staff, providers, or with childrenand families, they may be unable to enactdisaster response plans or to monitor the safety of staff and individuals being served.

The unique needs of the child welfare popula-tion make communication during a disasterboth more important and more complicated.Agency staff, foster parents, residential facilitystaff, and biological families will all be concernedabout and may be responsible for the safety ofchildren in the agency’s care during a disaster. If communications systems are down or contactinformation is unknown, it may be extremelydifficult for agencies to keep track of and helpeveryone.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Establish redundant systems of communica-tions for use during and after a disaster.Agencies will need to create a communicationsplan that accounts for the major technologicalconsiderations—thus, it is not just a public affairsplan, but a communications plan designed tosupport operational integrity and coordination ofefforts on behalf of children and families. As theFinance Project’s strategy brief Managing inEmergencies states, “shared information and com-munication systems are essential to coordinatedisaster response and recovery efforts. Groups onthe ground need access to real-time informationas a disaster unfolds so they can assess and pri-oritize needs, coordinate their efforts with others,and address unanticipated developments. One ofthe tragic lessons of 9/11 was that the failure toproperly equip emergency responders with com-munication devices in New York City significantlyundermined the efficacy of the first respondersbecause they could not obtain accurate informa-tion about the disaster and recovery efforts.”21

Make sure you have the necessary technologyto operationalize communications systems.Because it is impossible to predict exactly which

11that one child welfare agency has established what seems to be a strong disaster

communications plan: the agency has designed a phone tree to track staff members and initiate its disasterresponse plan; it has contracted an out-of-state company to operate and staff a toll-free number thatfamilies may call during and after a disaster; and it has assembled a database of current emergencytelephone numbers for all staff, providers, foster families, and biological families. When a major disasterstrikes the area, landline telephones stop working, and mobile phones are jammed within the local areacode. Without sufficient communication systems available, the agency is slow to enact its disaster responseplan. Frantic biological parents must wait to hear that their children are safe, and weeks pass before theagency makes contact with all families being served.

Suppose

S E C T I O N

SECTION 11: PREPARE TO COMMUNICATE WITH AGENCY STAFF, PROVIDERS,CHILDREN, AND FAMILIES DURING AND AFTER A DISASTER Establish specific and

redundant plans to track and communicate with staff, providers, children, and families during a disaster.

31

communications systems will be working, agen-cies should plan to employ at least several. Theywill likely need to provide special equipment toagency staff. “Satellite phones can be a more reli-able means of communication than cell phones,depending on the circumstances,” suggestsCarolyn Atwell-Davis at the National Center forMissing & Exploited Children which deployed“Team Adam” to help reunify displaced childrenwith their families after hurricane Katrina.22

Agencies may want to consider establishing aphone tree, a mass email system, and/or a textmessage blast to communicate with agency staffand families. Coping with Disasters and StrengtheningSystems advises that agencies take the followingmeasures: laptops will most likely be a compo-nent for a strong communications plan—make sureadequate battery power is available; “exploregetting computers or mobile computing technologyinto the hands of as many staff and managers aspossible”; in addition to satellite phones andcomputers, text messaging, blackberries, radios,powerful walkie-talkies, and GPS locators (ifstreets become unmarked) may be an importantpart of a strong disaster communications plan.23

Record contact information electronically,online and in out-of-area locations. If agencyoffices are shut down during a disaster, agencieswill still need information to contact staff mem-bers, children, and families. Agencies might con-sider providing administrators with thumb drivescontaining emergency contact information, sug-gests Don Winstead, Deputy Secretary of theFlorida Department of Children and Families.24 SeeSection 12 for further advice about electronic records.

Establish out-of-state 800 numbers in advanceof a disaster and publicize the numbers. Thecall center contracted should be located out ofstate, toll-free from any location, and accessibleto people with disabilities. Coping with Disastersand Strengthening Systems: A Framework for ChildWelfare Agencies recommends: “It is helpful todraft scripts specifying what information you wantfrom families, providers and youth who call in(e.g., Are you safe? Where are you? How longdo you plan to stay? Any problems we can helpyou with?). Also consider what information youwant to provide (e.g., how to access services,information on the status of siblings, parents orchildren).”25

In addition to phone lines, provide other clearways for staff members, providers, children, andfamilies to access information. Agencies shouldpost information for staff members, providers, chil-dren, and families on a central website. Considerpreparing pre-recorded television and radiomessages that can be accessed and shared withthe media during a disaster. It is a good idea forcontracts with providers to be specific aboutrequirements for disaster communications.

Educate staff about the National EmergencyChild Locator Center (NECLC), established bythe National Center for Missing & ExploitedChildren (NCMEC). Federal law established theNECLC within NCMEC and set forth a number ofresponsibilities, including the operation of an 800number staffed 24 hours per day during disasters.The NECLC was activated during the Californiawildfires of 2007 and hurricanes Ike and Gustavin 2008.26

Channel all information to the public through aPrincipal Information Officer (PIO) or spokes-person. This “will maximize the likelihood of pre-senting consistent and accurate information to thepublic,” the Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schoolsadvises.27 Agencies should help the media to helpthem. Internet and television news can be power-ful tools for reuniting any separated children andfamilies, explains Carolyn Atwell-Davis, Directorof Legislative Affairs for the National Center forMissing & Exploited Children.28 Children’s privacyand confidentiality need to be carefully safe-guarded during this process.

RESOURCES

JustPartners Inc. for the Annie E. Casey Foundation:Creating an Online Lifeline: A Web Portal forEmergency Preparedness and Disaster Recovery

What: This toolkit provides instructions forcommunities and organizations on how todevelop a web portal for communicatingcritical information before, during, and after adisaster. Each of the seven sections beginswith an easy reference preview of the content.

Where: www.aecf.org/~/media/PublicationFiles/AECF_Online_Lifeline_Final1.pdf

32

LIKELY OBSTACLES

Paper files may be destroyed during adisaster. Disasters of all kinds can render paperrecords temporarily inaccessible or permanentlyruined, as in the example above.

Without access to crucial contact informationduring and after a disaster, an agency may beunable to locate children and families or keepthem safe. If agencies no longer have access toinformation, children may be in danger. When theimmediate effects of the disaster have passed,agencies without any records may be unable toresume their important work.

Electronic records, when kept by agencies, areoften out of date. Some child welfare agenciesare not as diligent as they ought to be aboutupdating electronic records.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Make essential records electronic and backthem up out of state. Agencies must improve useof SACWIS or implement new systems to makesure that essential information is stored in elec-tronic format, and that this information can beaccessed from safe locations during and after adisaster.

Establish a procedure to make sure onlinerecords are updated and backed-up frequentlyand regularly. Administrators should implement asystem to ensure that electronic records areupdated thoroughly and regularly. Even whenSACWIS systems are used optimally, there isalways some delay before new information isinputted. It is therefore particularly important forstaff members to update placement information,so they can determine whether a child or family isin a location affected by a disaster. Some jurisdic-tions require that social workers keep an updatedpaper copy of their caseload, with placementinformation, readily accessible. They require thisinformation also to be shared with a disastermanagement coordinator in their office, who in

12that wild fires engulf an entire region, decimating two child welfare offices. Thanks to

the agency’s disaster response plan, no one is injured. But, all of the agency’s records, stored at its offices,are destroyed. Without information about children’s case histories, current placements, special needs, courtdeadlines, and permanency plans, the agency is in utter chaos. Months pass before all children beingserved are back on track.

Suppose

S E C T I O N

SECTION 12: PREPARE TO PRESERVE AND ACCESS ESSENTIAL RECORDS DURINGAND AFTER A DISASTER Back up essential records and protect them from disaster-related damage so

that they may be accessed when needed.

33

turn shares the information with a centralized—county or state—disaster coordinator monthly. Thisserves as a back-up to the SACWIS system andalso ensures the information is in at least twophysical locations, in case disaster strikes anoffice directly.

Protect paper files. Paper files, including casefiles, should be kept as safe as possible fromdamage—particularly by fire and water—duringa disaster.

Collaborate with other agencies that holdessential records about children and familiesbeing served. Plans to store and access essen-tial information for use during and after a disasterwill be more efficient if coordinated with otheragencies, for example, with courts. As records areprotected or even salvaged, ensure that confiden-tiality is preserved as well. Regularly collectingbasic components of school records, which maybecome inaccessible as a result of disaster, maybe a good idea. This is a “dual-use” recommen-dation that could be helpful even in non-disastersituations.

Plan to document agency activities duringdisaster response. Even if caseworkers are ableto access data from records backed-up at analternate site, they may still be unable to inputnew information without access to their officesand computers. For this reason, it is important tohave an interim protocol for documentation, sothat services to children and families during adisaster can be recorded for later inclusion inrecords. In addition, such recording may becrucial as agencies apply to recover lost fundsfollowing a disaster.

Consider confidentiality when planning howand where to store, access, and share informa-tion. Redundancy and accessibility of informationduring a disaster is very important, but this mustbe carried out with confidentiality issues in mind.

RESOURCES

The National Archives: Disaster Response andRecovery

What: This webpage lists numerous records’preservation and salvage resources. Itincludes many links, including websitesoffering instructions about dealing with wetdocuments, books, photos, and othermaterials; lists of vendors offering recoveryand salvage services; and a sample plan forpreserving records.

Where: www.archives.gov/preservation/disaster-response

34

LIKELY OBSTACLES

Agencies focused on their own vulnerabilitiesmay be unprepared to receive children fromother states in need of services after a disas-ter. The Government Accountability Office recom-mended in 2006 that states create better plansfor “placing children from other states.”29 Withoutsuch plans in place, as in the example above,children may be at risk.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Plan to receive and serve children from otherstates. Consider how agencies will assign thesenew cases, and how jurisdiction will be decided.Designate office liaisons to develop and maintainrelationships with agencies from other states.Draft memoranda of understanding to facilitateinterstate cooperation in the event of a disaster.See Section 6 for Resources to develop memorandaof understanding with other states.

Plan specifically to accommodate youth whoare in state care already and coming fromother jurisdictions. Written disaster plans shouldmention the need to handle such childrencarefully until the sending state provides recordsabout each child’s specific characteristics andcase history. For example, the hazard of housinga physically or sexually aggressive child withother more vulnerable children needs to beconsidered.

13that an earthquake in California causes massive damage to the state’s infrastructure,

necessitating a large-scale evacuation. Across the country, child welfare agency staff members in NewYork, though sincerely sympathetic to Californians, breathe a sigh of relief at the fact that this catastrophehas not struck their area. Displaced Californians evacuate to Nevada. When Nevada’s facilities becomeovercrowded, however, people are evacuated by air to destinations all around the country. Several daysafter the quake, the New York agency has a sudden onslaught of new cases. They are caught unprepared.

Suppose

S E C T I O N

SECTION 13: PREPARE TO SERVE CHILDREN WHO ENTER THE STATE BECAUSE OFDISASTERS ELSEWHERE Plan to accommodate children displaced from other states.

35

LIKELY OBSTACLES

Without practice, an agency may not be ableto carry out its own disaster management planor to participate effectively in the nationalresponse. Agency staff members who have notpracticed the plan, like those described in theexample above, may not know what to do amidstthe chaos of a disaster. This could put the safetyof staff members, children, and families at risk.

Agencies that do not conduct emergencyexercises will be less likely to identify andameliorate weaknesses in their plans. Testingplans may be the best way—or sometimes theonly way—to bring to light issues in an agency’splanned disaster response. If not caught inadvance, these issues could be very dangerousduring a disaster.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Conduct agency-wide emergency exercises.There are a variety of ways to practice and testdisaster response plans. The U.S. Department ofEducation and other federal agencies recommend

the following types of emergency exercises: orien-tations, which are introductions to a crisis man-agement program; drills, which allow participantsto practice and test an element of the emergencyplan; tabletop exercises, in which participants“analyze an emergency event in an informal,stress-free environment”; functional exercises,which test one or more functions of an emergencyresponse during “an interactive, time-pressured,simulated event”; and full-scale exercises, which“evaluate the operational capability of emergencymanagement systems in a highly stressful environ-ment that simulates actual conditions.”30

Participate in national, state, local, and commu-nity exercises. Exercising with other agencies isimportant to a smooth disaster response. Exercisesmay also help to determine whether an agency’sown disaster management plan is compatiblewith fulfillment of its Emergency Support Function(ESF) within the national plan. See Section 3 forfurther information about ESFs.

Evaluate exercises and make improvements todisaster management plans. Agencies shoulduse what they learn during exercises to improvethe development and execution of their disastermanagement plans.

14that a child welfare agency has just written its disaster management plan. The agency

sends staff a detailed memo about the plan and holds a daylong orientation; both are important measuresto take. Agency administrators then assume that staff members know the ins and outs of the plan. Whena winter storm of record-breaking magnitude strikes the area, however, administrators find that staffmembers, who have not practiced the plan, do not really know what to do. And the agency learns too latethat the plan, which requires staff to work out of two buildings across town from one another, is flawedbecause snow makes it impossible to move between the two locations. Though this problem may havebeen discovered during an emergency exercise, now the response is hindered.

Suppose

S E C T I O N

SECTION 14: PRACTICE DISASTER RESPONSE PLANS Conduct and participate in emergency

exercises to teach the plan and try to identify its flaws.

36

Be very cautious if conducting any exercisesinvolving children. Though drilling and exercis-ing with children may be a good idea in somesituations, a lot of care should be taken not toupset young people. “You have to realize that nomatter how well you do it, a drill might sensitizechildren. After 9/11, some children were cryingin the stairwell after a regular fire drill,” explainsDr. David Schonfeld, Director of the NationalCenter for School Crisis and Bereavement.31

RESOURCES

Emergency Response and Crisis ManagementTechnical Assistance Center of the U.S. Departmentof Education: Emergency Exercises: An EffectiveWay to Validate School Safety Plans

What: Though geared toward schools, thisarticle in ERCMExpress may help child welfareagencies learn about the importance andimplementation of disaster exercises. Itincludes a detailed explanation of variouskinds of emergency management exercisesand instructions for using these exercises toimprove disaster preparedness and response.

Where: http://rems.ed.gov/views/documents/Emergency_NewsletterV2I3.pdf

U.S. Department of Homeland Security: TheHomeland Security Exercise and EvaluationProgram (HSEEP)

What: HSEEP is an “exercise program whichprovides a standardized policy, methodology,and terminology for exercise design, develop-ment, conduct, evaluation, and improvementplanning.” It offers detailed information aboutexercises conducted by the Department ofHomeland Security and some other agencies.

Where: http://hseep.dhs.gov/pages/1001_HSEEP7.aspx

“NO MATTER HOWWELL YOU DO IT, ADRILL MIGHT SEN-SITIZE CHILDREN.”Dr. David Schonfeld, Director of the National Center for

School Crisis and Bereavement at Cincinnati Children’s

Hospital Medical Center.

RESPONSE

IIPART

38

LIKELY OBSTACLES

No disaster can be anticipated completely.Each specific disaster is accompanied byits own challenges, as demonstrated by theexample above. When it becomes time toactivate an emergency response plan, there willbe fear, an abundance of unfamiliar situations,and—potentially—many other complications.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Enact the disaster management plan. Whendisaster strikes, agencies should activate theirplans to get in contact with staff members, protectthe families of staff members, perform theirEmergency Support Functions (ESFs), track childrenand families, access crucial data, prepare forrecovery, etc. See Sections 3 and 6 for further infor-mation about ESFs and their role in the NationalResponse Framework.

Adjust the plan as needed. Marketa Gautreau,Assistant Secretary for the Louisiana Office ofCommunity Services and the head of childwelfare in her state, reports that the agencyneeded to maintain a policy of “rigid flexibility”to manage through hurricanes Katrina and Rita.32

15that administrators at one state’s child welfare agency have spent a considerable

amount of effort preparing disaster management plans. Wisely, they have considered all-hazards, heldtraining exercises, collected emergency contact information, and updated communications systems. Staffmembers at the agency feel prepared for anything that comes their way. When a bioterrorist attack islaunched upon their state, however, they find that the general plan, designed to fit the widest possiblerange of likely disasters as well as to adapt to specific threats, needs more adapting than they would havethought. There is some confusion as to who should evacuate and who should shelter-in-place. There isgeneral fear about the yet-unidentified biohazard. And, last but not least, a large number of agency staffmembers are out of town at a conference, making staff scarce. Staff on hand do their best to adapt tochanging circumstances.

Suppose

S E C T I O N

SECTION 15: ENACT DISASTER RESPONSE PLANS WHEN NEEDED When disaster strikes,

agencies should enact their plans and adapt to unanticipated situations.

39

LIKELY OBSTACLES

Families (and staff members) may be withoutmoney or essentials during and immediatelyafter a disaster. Disasters can lead to monu-mental loss. In the aftermath, staff members andfamilies like “Cameron’s” may be in desperateneed of money for basic items like clothing.

Payment to families and staff members may bedifficult to make in post-disaster conditions.It may be hard or impossible to know where tosend paper checks. Mail services may be slow.Bank branches may be closed. The Louisianachild welfare system was using paper checks atthe time of hurricanes Katrina and Rita, whichmade it very difficult to disburse much-neededmoney to families, who were hard to locate, togive one example.33

RECOMMENDATIONS

Plan to get regular payments to children andfamilies who will surely need them. TheNational Child Welfare Resource Center forOrganizational Improvement recommends “usingdirect deposit to pay workers and providers sochecks will automatically go to their bank accountsduring disasters.”34 Information about collaboratingon disaster planning with agencies that might offerhelp to foster families after a disaster—TANF, forexample—can be found in Section 6. Informationabout connecting families with available stabilizationor recovery funds— from FEMA or TANF, for exam-ple—can be found in Section 21.

Assess the needs of children and familiesimmediately after a disaster. When hurricanesonce again hit the Louisiana Gulf Coast duringthe summer of 2008, child welfare agency staffmembers had a system of forms and proceduresin place to assess families’ situations and deter-mine their most dire needs. This enabled theagency to better serve children and families,reported Charlotte Frilot, Assistant RegionalAdministrator Jefferson District/Greater NewOrleans Region, Office of Community Services.35

16that “Cameron” (age 16) and his foster family are forced to evacuate Chicago suddenly

when a major disaster strikes their city. Because these events are, of course, entirely unexpected, Cameronand his family have only the clothes they are wearing and the cash in their wallets (very little) when theyleave town. They are bussed to a shelter 200 miles from home. Once there, Cameron’s foster parents emptytheir checking accounts to replace the winter coats the family left behind during the emergency evacuation.Six days later, it becomes clear that weeks will pass before the family can return home. In the meantime,they have not received their regular checks from the child welfare agency. They have no cash and nochange of clothes.

Suppose

S E C T I O N

SECTION 16: ADDRESS THE URGENT NEEDS OF CHILDREN AND FAMILIESIMMEDIATELY AFTER A DISASTER Ensure that families receive routine income maintenance and

disburse funding to address immediate and pressing needs, if possible.

40

Disburse funds for urgent needs such as daycare and emergency housing. Before disasterstrikes, determine the agency’s role in providingsuch disaster services, and prepare accordingly.Decide how the agency will disburse discre-tionary emergency funds during and immediatelyfollowing a disaster, if at all. Establish whethersome agency money has been or may be setaside for helping foster families with dire situationsduring major events. Consider the fact that a littlespending might allow foster families who haveexperienced a catastrophic loss to continue tofoster, rather than giving up a child who wouldthen need a new foster placement. (More informa-tion on managing through foster parent attrition canbe found in Section 26.)

Marketa Gautreau, Assistant Secretary for theOffice of Community Service in Louisiana and thehead of child welfare during Hurricane Katrina,advises making some key decisions before disas-ter strikes.36 Consider: If the agency is going toprovide individuals with clothes or personal items,what purchases will be permitted? Who willauthorize those purchases? Will purchases overa certain amount need to be cleared with anadministrator? How will agencies get money tofamilies? Will they have the capacity to writechecks? Who will have to sign off? In states wherechild welfare is county run, local agencies—whowill best be able to assess loss—should securethis authority. Rigorous documentation regardingthe use of funds during and after an emergencywill be important when agencies apply to recouplosses.

RESOURCES

Electronic Payments Network and NACHA—the Electronic Payments Association:Electronicpayments.org

What: This website is intended to “educateindividuals, business professionals, andemployees of financial institutions aboutelectronic payments processed through theACH network, including Direct Deposit, DirectPayment, and check conversion applications.”It includes basic information about howemployers and individuals use direct deposit.

Where: www.electronicpayments.org

41

LIKELY OBSTACLES

Agencies focused on protecting the childrenand families already in their care may notanticipate that many new children may needservices during and after a disaster. Childrennot previously part of the child welfare populationmay be in need of sudden aid, as in the exampleabove. After Hurricane Katrina, the LouisianaOffice of Community Services was called upon toopen and staff a children’s shelter to house themany children who had been separated fromtheir families during evacuation. This wasunprecedented and unanticipated.37

RECOMMENDATIONS

Plan to locate and serve vulnerable childrenaffected by the disaster. A 2006 GovernmentAccountability Office (GAO) report names theidentification of new children and families in needof services as a top priority for state child welfareagencies.38 The Child and Family Services Improve-ment Act of 2006 now requires states to havesuch a plan in place.39 Agencies will want toconsider how they will identify displaced children,where the children will be housed, and how theywill assign staff members to these new cases. It isimportant to note rules concerning the shelteringof unaccompanied children with adults, forexample.

17that a government building that houses an unemployment office is bombed heavily.

Inside the building at the time of the disaster are many economically disadvantaged parents. Though fewof them have been previously served by the child welfare agency, many lack an extensive support system.Some of their children will now need, because of the day’s events, services or placement. The agency,which has long had plans in place to protect the children it already serves in the event of a disaster, isnonetheless unprepared to manage this sudden influx of new cases.

Suppose

S E C T I O N

SECTION 17: IDENTIFY AND ASSIST CHILDREN NEWLY IN NEED OF CHILD WELFARESERVICES Be ready to help children newly in need of placement or services because of a disaster.

RECOVERY

IIIPART

44

LIKELY OBSTACLES

If many families are displaced by a disaster,the number of cases handled by one childwelfare office may change dramatically, andnumbers may continue to fluctuate long aftera disaster. Agencies may no longer have theappropriate number of staff in each office.Reallocating staff to accommodate populationshifts may be difficult.

Agencies may have additional emergencyresponsibilities long after a disaster. MarketaGautreau, Assistant Secretary for the Office ofCommunity Service and head of Child Welfare inLouisiana, reports that while agency employees inher state usually staff special needs shelters forseveral days after a hurricane, many were onshelter duty for six months after Katrina and Rita.40

Disasters may create a staff shortage. “In NewYork after 9/11 there were not enough jobs forlocal residents; in New Orleans after HurricaneKatrina there are not enough residents and jobsgo begging,” writes David Dyssegaard Kallick,Senior Fellow of the Fiscal Policy Institute.41 Whenstaff members are in short supply in the general

community, and when area organizations beginto pay more, child welfare agencies may have ahard time competing for staff. If nearby schools ofsocial work shut down, the shortage may be com-pounded. If the disaster in question is a biologicalor chemical event, staff members may be sick andunable to work. Any staff leaves-of-absence mayhave an impact. In addition, a job shortage leadsto its own significant problems for families beingserved, and thus new challenges for agencies.

Evacuations may lead to confusion over thejurisdiction of a child welfare case. If childrenand families evacuate to another jurisdiction, asin the example above, questions will need to beanswered. How will case management be sharedbetween the family’s original and new states, forexample? If a family does not return, how muchtime will pass before the case is officially trans-ferred to the new state system?

Disasters may change the composition of acommunity, creating a need for new skillsamong agency staff members. After hurricanesKatrina and Rita, for example, the Spanish-speak-ing population in New Orleans rose dramatically.Many agency staff members who do not speak

18that a Tsunami strikes the West Coast. Families from flooded coastal communities

relocate inland, either in temporary housing or with family and friends. Staff members from one localagency return to their office to find it completely uninhabitable. The agency moves its headquarters to asuite in the upper floor of a high-rise hotel and begins the process of finding children and families. As timepasses, it becomes clear that most families will decide to relocate permanently. Staff members have fewcases remaining in the deserted area. Meanwhile, a community 100 miles east is now inundated withdisplaced foster families, and staff members from the affected area try to figure out which local agencyhas jurisdiction. State agency administrators are slow to reorganize and some children and families do notget the attention they need.

Suppose

S E C T I O N

SECTION 18: REEVALUATE STAFFING TO ACCOMMODATE A DISASTER’S IMPACTAfter a disaster, agencies should ensure that staff members have optimal workloads.

45

Spanish suddenly needed to learn the languagein order to communicate with children andfamilies being served, reports Charlotte Frilot,Assistant Regional Administrator JeffersonDistrict/Greater New Orleans Region, Office ofCommunity Services.42

RECOMMENDATIONS

Make sure that staff members’ caseloads aremanageable after a disaster. Hiring more staffmembers, allowing staff members affected by thedisaster to take leaves-of-absence, offering addi-tional training (in a new language, for example),and shuffling caseloads are among the measuresthat may be required to ensure that children andfamilies are being served. The state office role isalso critical when it comes to staffing, for it canbring in backup from unaffected areas.

If staff members are in short supply, try toattract new staff. If possible, agencies may wantto try to budget for more competitive startingsalaries, suggests Frilot.43 Agencies may want tobuild into contracts with private providers (whoprovide similar services such as case manage-ment) the option of contracting supplemental staffin the event of a disaster.

46

LIKELY OBSTACLES

Lack of moral support and leadership may bedamaging to agency morale and effectiveness.Staff members, who may have overcome greatobstacles and set aside thoughts of personalloss to return to work, may become disillusionedor angry if not sufficiently supported by theiragency’s administrators, as in the example above.

Staff members’ mental health may be at risk.Agency staff will likely be victims of the samedisaster with which they are helping others tocope, putting them at risk for both trauma andsecondary trauma, sometimes called CompassionFatigue (CF). Though staff members will beaccustomed to helping children and familiesthrough difficult and even traumatic circumstances,disasters will likely create a more intenseemotional environment. This may lead to CF,defined as “the experience of posttraumatic stresssymptoms in trauma counselors as a result oflistening to the trauma material of clients orexposure to a client’s or loved one’s trauma.”CF not only diminishes worker satisfaction, butalso increases the likelihood that staff membersmay make poor professional judgments.44

RECOMMENDATIONS

Make on-scene disaster leadership an explicitpart of the job description for the agency’stop administrator(s). An early appearance byleaders at the location of a disaster is important,past disasters have proven. Agency heads shouldwitness the extent of the disaster and find out first-hand what help is needed most. They may wantto conduct debriefing sessions, tour the area, andshow signs of encouragement and appreciation.

Ensure that staff members receive their pay-checks. Banking may be significantly disruptedafter a disaster, but staff members will requirefinancial support to return to work.

Safeguard staff members’ mental health.Agency staff should be offered treatment fortrauma and secondary trauma. Social workersmay not feel they need such services, but theyshould be strongly encouraged by supervisors toparticipate. April Naturale, former StatewideDirector for Project Liberty, the Crisis CounselingProgram that was founded in response to theWorld Trade Center attacks of September 11th,advises that stress-management—including “crisiscounseling, psychoeducation, narrative exercises,

19S E C T I O N

that a major disaster has severely debilitated the operations of a state’s child welfareagency. Staff members who have lost everything they own have nonetheless returned to their jobs. Supervisors who are hard at work at state offices appear to agency employees to be unconcerned withprogress at the site of this disaster. Also, weeks of trauma and devastation take an emotional toll on thevast majority of staff members. For some, low morale and stress begin to hinder their work, and, despitebest efforts, children are denied the help they badly need.

Suppose

SECTION 19: SUPPORT AGENCY STAFF THROUGHOUT DISASTER RECOVERY Offer

leadership and on-scene moral support to agency staff after a disaster; staff members’ morale, mental health,

and effectiveness depend upon it.

47

stress management exercises, self-care instructions,post-deployment orientation, and evaluation”—can help social staff members cope with thestresses of disaster relief work.45 Also, knowledgeabout Compassion Fatigue can mitigate itseffects, explains Laura Campbell, a social workerwho has worked intensively with victims of hurri-canes Ivan and Katrina.46 Researchers at theUrban Institute who studied the long-term servicesoffered after 9/11 found that caseworkers bene-fited from periodic “debriefing” sessions or caseconferences to allow staff members to share theirown feelings and experiences, review problems,and receive help in handling troubling cases.47

Provide encouragement, celebrate successes,and promote wellness. “Workers need to bereminded that they may not see ‘the fruits of theirlabor,’ and the work is often about plantingseeds,” advises secondary trauma expert andchild welfare caseworker David Conrad. “Super-visors and administrators must provide opportuni-ties for caseworkers to celebrate their successes,and workers must be encouraged to embracetheir own physical, psychological, and spiritualwellness to achieve the emotional balance theyneed to do this difficult work.”48

48

LIKELY OBSTACLES

Bureaucracy may hinder the allocation ofrecovery funds to children and families. Moneyfrom the government and nonprofit organizationsoften flows to a region after a major disaster. But,if families or even agency staff members are notknowledgeable about all available funds, moneymay not be received where it is needed.

Demand for recovery assistance may likelysurpass supply, especially among vulnerablepopulations. Even though major disasters promptgovernment assistance and private philanthropy,there will likely be more need for help thanmoney available. “Individuals may bring multipleshort- and long-term needs,” and agencies mayneed to “enhance their staff capacity, expandtheir service delivery capacity,” and rebuild “socialservice infrastructure,” cautions a report from theFinance Project.49

RECOMMENDATIONS

Help to connect children and families withavailable disaster recovery funds. Because thevulnerable children and families protected by statechild welfare agencies are often economically

disadvantaged, it becomes especially importantfor them to receive available money to assist withrecovery. Agencies should help to educate fami-lies being served about what funding is out there,and help them to apply for it.

Be equitable and systematic when distributingany agency funds for recovery. Before disasterstrikes, agencies must have a general process inplace for disbursing emergency recovery funding,especially in states likely to experience wildfires,tornadoes, floods, and/or hurricanes.

RESOURCES

The Finance Project: Managing in Emergencies:Making Use of New Funds and Funding Flexibilityfor Human Services

What: This report offers information aboutemergency funding and human services, andincludes useful information about financingrecovery.

Where: http://76.12.61.196/publications/feskatrina2.pdf

See Section 5 for further Resources related to thefunding of disaster management.

20that major storms strike the Northeast, displacing hundreds of children and families

served by the child welfare agency. The federal government declares a disaster, making funding fromnumerous sources available to people in need. But many families, overwhelmed by the disaster, do notknow where to begin getting assistance. They are missing some of the important documents and informa-tion they need to complete applications for funding. Many families continue to struggle financially longafter the storms.

Suppose

S E C T I O N

SECTION 20: HELP TO CONNECT CHILDREN AND FAMILIES WITH DISASTERRECOVERY FUNDS Help families to navigate the bureaucracy of disaster recovery funding, connecting

them with needed funds for which they are eligible.

49

LIKELY OBSTACLES

Disasters may be extremely disruptive tolonger-term goals. Without proper planning, theexhausting and complex task of making accept-able temporary arrangements for affected childrenmay delay progress toward permanency.

A disaster will likely create a variety of newobstacles to permanency. After a large-scaleevacuation, children may be displaced, even toother states, as in the above example. They maybe living in a different region from their casework-ers or biological parents. Less severe disastersmay also have grave effects, including job loss forfoster, biological, or adoptive parents. Servicesoffered by providers may be discontinued. Theremay be damage to residential facilities. Fosterparents may be unwilling or unable to foster aftera disaster. The judge, lawyers, and social workersworking on children’s cases may be reassigned.Numerous and unpredictable disruptions mayoccur.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Decide how staff should strategically prioritizework. Will the agency turn first to children infoster care, then to open CPS cases, then to openCPS investigations, for example? If facing imprac-tical deadlines that the government will not waive,decide strategically how and when to conductvisits, reviews, etc. Prioritizing work may meanthat some deadlines or requirements are missed.

Reevaluate each child’s permanency plan andcontinue work toward long-term goals.Agencies should assess children’s placementand revise permanency goals to accommodatechanges brought about by the disaster. If thedisaster has displaced a child from his or hercaseworker’s jurisdiction, plans should be madeor deadlines set for his or her return or for thecase’s transfer.

Make use of post-disaster services providedby nonprofits and the government. A disasterwill likely mobilize the government, nonprofitorganizations, and even corporations to offergoods and services to people in the affectedarea. Agencies can help connect children andfamilies they serve with help. Of course, like all

21that a hurricane displaces area foster children to other parts of their state as well as

to neighboring states. Some children move with their foster families while others are placed in new homesand facilities. Because the agency’s offices have been hit directly, staff members are struggling to recoveressential files and reestablish the office in a new location. Throughout this difficult ordeal, the agency ishandling a steady stream of emergency situations and struggling just to avoid a complete breakdown ofagency work. Court deadlines come and go, and children’s reunification, adoption, and permanency plansbecome seriously derailed.

Suppose

S E C T I O N

SECTION 21: CONTINUE THE WORK OF THE AGENCYPrioritize work to strive toward long-term goals.

50

recovery measures recommended in this guide,the provision of post-disaster services should beplanned in advance. The Urban Institute recom-mends “incorporating longer-term services intodisaster planning.”50 Making lists of services thatmay be needed, determining possible eligibilityrequirements for such services, and compiling adirectory of groups who may offer them will helpagencies to jump-start the recovery process.

RESOURCES

AdoptUsKids: Case Planning Desk Reference forEmergency Situations

What: This 9-page guide contains a series ofchecklists aimed to help caseworkers gaugethe safety and permanency needs of childrendisplaced by a disaster and to help themmake recommendations to the court. It includesa general checklist as well as checklists for:when “reunification is the plan,” when “trans-fer to relative/guardianship is the plan,” when“adoption is the plan and the child/youth isavailable,” when “adoption is the plan butchild is not yet available,” and when “anotherplanned permanent living arrangement(APPLA) is the plan.”

Where: www.adoptuskids.org/images/professionalResourceCenter/documents/Case_Planning_Desk_Reference_FINAL.pdf

51

LIKELY OBSTACLES

Children in the care of child welfare agenciesare among those most vulnerable to mentalhealth problems following natural and unnatu-ral disasters, including Post-Traumatic StressDisorder (PTSD) and depression. While somepeople often conclude that foster children aremade more durable by their difficult experiences,in fact, the opposite can be true. Children whohave already suffered from trauma, loss, ordisplacement face bigger challenges than manyothers when coping with disasters and theiraftermath. New trauma or loss brought on bya disaster often compounds the old. Economicdisadvantage and a lack of stable routine canalso put children’s mental health at greater risk.51

And disasters can trigger “a cascade of multiplelosses and stressors”—separation from school andfriends, lack of a feeling of safety, pervasive fearamong caregivers, for example—that can builddangerously upon one another.52

Parents, too, may have suffered many lifelosses and traumas, and may require theservices of mental health professionals after adisaster. Without proper mental health attention,problems could escalate.

Mental health resources for children andfamilies can be difficult to find or may remainunused after disasters, especially amongeconomically disadvantaged people. Thoughmental health professionals usually arrive on thescene of disasters quickly, studies of September11th and Hurricane Katrina have shown that helpwas often not adequate to meet demand andmany parents do not seek mental health servicesfor children in need.53

Disasters can affect children geographicallynear to and far from the event: A child like“Nick,” in the above example, who is living acrossthe country from a public bus attack, may beafraid to ride the subway in his own city.54

Parents and caregivers want to believe thattheir child is coping well: Even attentive care-givers are sometimes overly optimistic aboutchildren’s resiliency and may miss more subtlesigns of mental distress. And PTSD manifests itselfdifferently in children of different ages. If a youngchild like “Alexandra” seems overly preoccupiedwith day-to-day routines, for example, it may bea sign that she is experiencing fear, trauma, orloss.55

22that terrorists attack a major West Coast metropolis, bombing public transportation

routes. Seven-year-old “Alexandra,” who takes the bus to school with her foster mother each morning, isheld with her classmates at school until evening, when the city is deemed safe and her foster mother canpick her up. In New York, 14-year-old “Nick,” also in foster care, watches many hours of television newscoverage following the attacks. Six months after the bombings, Alexandra appears to her foster parents tobe doing fine. She seems far more interested in her daily routine than in the possibility of future bombings,and she seems to ride the bus without fear, her foster parents report to their caseworker. Six months afterthe attacks, Nick is uncharacteristically acting out—skipping school. He pretends to get on the subway butspends the day at an arcade. Nick is normally a good student, and his foster parents cannot figure outwhat is causing his change in behavior.

Suppose

S E C T I O N

SECTION 22: COORDINATE MENTAL HEALTH TREATMENT FOR CHILDREN ANDFAMILIES Collaborate with mental health professionals and educate caregivers about how to monitor

children’s mental health and talk with children about disasters.

52

RECOMMENDATIONS

Contract with needed mental health profes-sionals, who may likely be scarce after adisaster. Though mental health services may bedifficult to find, problems are best caught as earlyas possible. Untreated trauma or difficulty copingwith bereavement are serious problems that maygrow over time. Local mental health professionalsmay be recovering from the very same disaster;bringing in help from outside the area may bea good idea.

Provide opportunities for staff members torefresh their knowledge about trauma symp-toms. Instruct staff to be especially attentive tosigns that children, parents, and caregivers aretroubled or that they are experiencing PTSD ordepression. There are certain periods followingdisasters when symptoms may reveal themselves.Symptoms vary according to age group, butsigns to watch for include: “Depressed or irritablemood; neediness, clinginess, and difficulty sepa-rating; resistant and defiant attitude; difficultyfocusing on tasks or activities; difficulties withclassmates and peer group; social isolation orwithdrawal; dramatic changes in academic per-formance; physical complaints (e.g., headaches,stomach aches); changes in appetite; sleepdisturbances; toileting problems.” Staff membersand caregivers should be especially attentive tochildren who have previously experienced traumaor bereavement and children who have pre-existing mental health problems.56

Train child welfare workers to serve as a firstline of defense against untreated mentalhealth problems among children and familiesin their care. Because children’s mental andemotional distress is often untreated after disas-ters, there is a movement in the pediatric com-munity to train pediatricians—who are morelikely than psychologists to see these children insignificant numbers—to monitor children’s mentalhealth.57 Agency staff members are similarly wellpositioned to check on the mental health ofchildren in the agency’s care and they shouldmonitor children when it is possible. Agenciesmay want to equip social workers with mentalhealth screening tools to facilitate this process.

Have staff members educate parents and caregivers about how to monitor for mentaldistress in children. Staff members will likely notbe able to monitor all children’s mental healthstatus vigilantly. Educating parents and caregivershow to monitor for symptoms according to eachchild’s developmental stage will help children getneeded help.

Instruct parents and caregivers how to talkwith children about disasters—before, during,and after they occur. A trusted adult who willlisten is often what children need most—there isno one right thing to say. Caregivers should listento children’s fears and questions, and respondtruthfully and reassuringly. During and after disas-ters, caregivers should be encouraged to limittelevision time because overexposure to disasternews may lead to problems down the road.58

Remind parents and caregivers to safeguardtheir own mental health. Parents need to takecare of themselves, both for their own sake andbecause children respond to adults’ fear andstress.59

Be aware of the stigma that mental healthservices sometimes carry. “Many individualsaffected by September 11 lacked personalexperiences with mental health services and werereluctant to seek such help,” reports the UrbanInstitute. Caseworkers should keep this in mindwhen connecting children and adults with mentalhealth professionals after a disaster. They maywant to offer a session introducing families tothese programs.60

Be sure that mental health services aredelivered in a culturally sensitive manner.It may be necessary to connect children andfamilies with bilingual professionals, or todistribute materials in languages other thanEnglish.61

Consider mental health when planning forevery phase of response and recovery. Theways in which any service is delivered can impactchildren’s mental health. Agencies should keepchildren’s mental health in mind as they decidehow to provide shelter and food, for example.62

53

RESOURCES

American Academy of Pediatrics: Children,Terrorism, and Disasters Toolkit

What: This two-page toolkit instructs pediatri-cians on how to teach parents and care-givers to help children to process the eventsof a disaster and to monitor children’s mentalhealth. Child welfare workers, like pediatri-cians, may also serve as early responders,making this a useful resource. It offers conciseand accessible guidelines about children andmental health.

Where: www.sccgov.org/SCC/docs%2FEmergency%20Services,%20Office%20of%20(DEP)%2Fattachments%2F124598PhysiciansSheet.pdf

National Center for Children Exposed to Violenceat the Yale Child Study Center: Parents’ Guide forHelping Children in the Wake of Disaster

What: This 10-page guide for disaster reliefworkers could help child welfare agency staffmembers to talk with children about disastersand to monitor children’s mental health them-selves. It could also help caseworkers to trainparents to do the same. The guide containsdetailed advice for speaking with childrenand a breakdown of symptoms according tostages of psychological development.

Where: www.nctsn.org/nctsn_assets/pdfs/edu_materials/Parents_Guide_Sept_%202005.pdf

New York University Child Study Center: Caringfor Kids after Trauma, Disaster, and Death

What: This 65-page guide, written by HaroldS. Koplewicz, M.D., et al., offers detailedinformation and guidelines for helping chil-dren through trauma, disaster, and the deathof a loved one. It includes separate sectionson trauma, bereavement, terrorism, andnatural disasters. It also has information onmemorials and anniversaries of deaths.

Where: www.aboutourkids.org/files/articles/crisis_guide02.pdf

54

LIKELY OBSTACLES

Lack of access to doctors and prescriptionmedicine can have serious consequences forthe health of children and their adult care-givers. Without proper planning, children andfamilies who receive Medicaid might not be ableto get needed medicine after an evacuation toanother state, for example. Even with insurance,health care providers may be scarce. AfterHurricane Katrina, for example, more than 6,000doctors left the Gulf Region.63

Disasters cause injury, especially to children.Disasters lead to injury in a myriad of ways.Children may be especially susceptible to theseinjuries. For instance, children’s body surface areato weight ratio, greater than adults’, is one of theseveral reasons that children’s prognosis afterchemical agent exposure may be worse, as in theexample above. Children who do not yet speakmay be unable to explain symptoms to doctorsafter any kind of disaster. Children, who havea higher baseline respiratory rate, are moresusceptible than adults to radioactive fallout.64

The list of children’s vulnerabilities to many kindsof disasters goes on.

As an often-used saying in health care goes,“children are not small adults,” and thus oftenrequire different treatment. Children havesignificant anatomic, physiologic, immunologic,and developmental differences from adults that“affect children’s vulnerability to injury andresponse in a disaster,” reports the Agency forHealthcare Research and Quality. “Failure toaccount for these differences… increase[es] thechild’s risk of serious harm and even death.”65

Poor health will likely be prevalent amongdisaster victims, especially those with fewerresources. Operation Assist’s 2006 survey ofresidents of FEMA-subsidized community housingin Louisiana six months after Hurricane Katrinafound that “nearly half the children who had apersonal medical doctor who knew their medicalhistory—a ‘medical home’—before Katrina did nothave one after the hurricane.” Many childrenrequiring medication and equipment—asthmainhalers and nebulizers, for example—could notget it. Some families had difficulty using theirinsurance in a new state.66

23that an industrial accident causes toxic chemicals to leak into a major metropolitan

area. Though families follow the proper procedures for evacuation and shelter-in-place, several dozenchildren, including some who are in the care of the child welfare system, are exposed. They are rushedto the hospital where they are treated by doctors knowledgeable about children’s particular vulnerabilitiesto toxins. But several exposed preverbal children are unable to describe their symptoms to caregivers.Valuable time passes before they are treated.

Suppose

S E C T I O N

SECTION 23: COORDINATE TREATMENT OF CHILDREN’S PHYSICAL HEALTH Help to

safeguard the physical health of children, who are often more vulnerable than adults to disaster-related injuries

and long-term health problems.

55

RECOMMENDATIONS

Make sure that children and families can usetheir health insurance and receive medicalcare after a disaster. Without planning and help,children and families may be unable to use theirMedicaid cards out of state, and may be withoutnecessary medication—insulin or psychotropicdrugs for example. (More information about estab-lishing memoranda of understanding in advance ofdisasters to provide Medicaid services in other statescan be found in Section 6.) Agencies must ensurethat children and families being served receivetreatment for injuries and illness during and aftera disaster. Medication, vaccination, and othertreatment may be required. Families may needhelp gaining access to doctors or using theirinsurance after a disaster. Doctors may be scarce,so it may be important to offer families extra helpfinding care.

Help children and families find a “medicalhome.” The continuity of care provided by amedical home can improve children’s health,according to current thinking among doctors.67

DISASTERS CAN TRIGGER “A CASCADE OF MULTIPLE LOSSES.”Dr. David Schonfeld, Director of the National Center for

School Crisis and Bereavement at Cincinnati Children’s

Hospital Medical Center.

56

LIKELY OBSTACLES

Disasters of many kinds can displace familiesfor long periods of time, or even permanently.Disasters may force children like “Karen” to leavetheir homes, forfeiting valuable stability.

Some temporary housing arrangements maybe damaging to children’s well-being.Operation Assist’s 2006 survey of residents ofFEMA-subsidized community housing in Louisianasix months after Hurricane Katrina found that“frequent relocation since the hurricane made itimpossible for these families to become engagedin new health and education relationships andundermined the family’s ability to establish asense of a predictable routine that would helptheir children to better cope with this difficultsituation. On average, families moved 3.5 timessince the hurricane, with some moving as many asnine times. Heads of household were not able tomaintain their jobs, with no correspondingincrease in public benefits to compensate for thiseconomic loss.”68

RECOMMENDATIONS

Help find stable living situations for all childrenand families being served. Given the precarious-ness of life in temporary housing and the importance

of stability to the lives of foster children, helpingchildren and families being served to locate thebest possible living arrangements after a disastershould be a top agency priority.

RESOURCES

Federal Emergency Management Agency: Applyfor Assistance

What: This webpage explains how peoplecan apply for emergency assistance fromFEMA, and it includes information on housing.It is divided into sections: before you apply;apply for assistance; and after you apply.

Where: www.fema.gov/assistance/index.shtm

U.S. Department of Housing and UrbanDevelopment: HUD Newsroom

What: This website contains a catalogue ofHUD news stories. Press releases on this website may include links to informationabout HUD assistance for specific disasters.

Where: www.hud.gov/news/index.cfm

24that the home of “Karen’s” foster family is destroyed during a disaster. Karen and her

family are relocated to temporary housing, where conditions are suboptimal. Because of lack of availablepermanent housing, a short stay stretches into several months.

Suppose

S E C T I O N

SECTION 24: HELP ENSURE THAT DISPLACED CHILDREN AND FAMILIES FIND HOUSINGHelp to connect children and families with the safest and most stable living arrangements after a disaster.

57

LIKELY OBSTACLES

After a major disaster, children may have poorattendance rates or may not attend school atall. Numerous factors may keep children like“Pamela” from school: families may move fromone temporary location to another, traumatizedchildren may resist attending unfamiliar schools,or schools may be closed because of the disaster,for example. A study of children living in FEMA-subsidized community housing six months afterHurricane Katrina revealed that “over one-fifth ofthe school-age children who were displacedwere either not in school, or had missed 10 ormore days of school in the past month.”69

Interruption of education puts vulnerable chil-dren at greater risk. There are clear educationaldisadvantages of not going to school. In addition,schools offer children a sense of routine; they “are essential to a child’s return to normalcy.”70

By not attending school, children may also missout on available help. Schools often provide post-disaster services, like health care and counseling,to children and even parents.71

For children who do attend a new school,unfamiliar surroundings may require a difficultadjustment. Children may be lonely or fright-ened without their friends. Children may have tobecome accustomed to having a peer group with

an entirely different racial, ethnic, or religiousmakeup than they are used to. They may be at aschool where most other children were unaffectedby the disaster.

In some schools, students may find fewer post-disaster services than in others. The availabilityof recovery assistance for displaced students willdiffer from school to school. After HurricaneKatrina, for example, “districts varied widely withrespect to their ability to provide coordinatedhealth and other social services to the displacedpopulation . . . the opportunities for assistance stu-dents encountered was as much a matter of luckas planning,” reports Mary Driscoll, an AssociateProfessor of Educational Administration at NYU.72

RECOMMENDATIONS

Make sure children attend school regularly. Inmost cases, school-aged children need to beplaced in a stable educational environment assoon as possible after a disaster. Education, asense of routine, and school-based services areall essential to children’s success and well-being.“Refusal to return to school and ‘clinging’ behav-ior” might be signs that a child needs professionalhelp, advises the American Academy of Childand Adolescent Psychiatry.73 Caregivers may wish

25that a disaster completely shuts down a large section of a major Midwestern city.

“Pamela” (age 8) moves with her foster parents three times in the six weeks after the attack. She tries outtwo new schools during this time period, and neither has the bilingual classrooms she is accustomed to.Pamela, unable to function fully in her new school, is often absent. By missing school, she also misses out on available disaster recovery services.

Suppose

S E C T I O N

SECTION 25: HELP ENSURE THAT CHILDREN ATTEND SCHOOL REGULARLYHelp to connect children with the best possible educational arrangements.

58

to consider with professionals whether to keepa very young traumatized child at home with anurturing caregiver, if warranted.

Help to locate an educational environment thatcan help children recover from a disaster.Agency staff should be attentive to children’sspecial needs and to school diversity. Also, someargue that “it may benefit children if schoolsassign displaced students in schools together.”74

Available recovery assistance may vary widelyfrom school to school, and caseworkers shouldkeep this in mind when striving to make the bestpossible arrangements for children.

RESOURCES

National Center for Homeless Education: WhatRelief Agencies Should Know About theEducational Rights of Children Displaced byDisasters

What: This two-page brief explains that“students who are displaced by disasters aregenerally covered by the McKinney-VentoHomeless Assistance Act,” which protectschildren’s rights to education. It offersstraightforward details about this federal lawand directs readers to related resources.

Where: www.serve.org/nche/downloads/briefs/csds_relief.pdf

59

LIKELY OBSTACLES

Even the most dedicated foster parents maybe unable or unwilling to foster after a majordisaster. Economic hardship and other factorsmight cause families to stop fostering after adisaster, as in the example above. This can leadto a general shortage of foster homes. The percapita number of foster children in New Orleansrose by more than 50 percent after hurricanesKatrina and Rita, while the number of availablefoster care beds fell, according to USA Today.75

If foster parents stop fostering, children’s livescan be further disrupted by a damaging disas-ter. USA Today also reported the story of ShineWhite of New Orleans, who, after living in morethan 20 foster homes, found one where he couldflourish. Before Hurricane Katrina, Shine, an honorstudent, was calling his foster parents “Mom”and “Dad.” After the storms, Shine’s foster familydecided—at the urging of their biological son—that it was time to stop fostering.76

RECOMMENDATIONS

Anticipate foster parent attrition after adisaster, and make plans to manage thesituation. Agencies may want to talk with fosterfamilies in advance about how to continuefostering after a disaster. They may want toprepare in advance to launch foster parentrecruitment efforts during disaster recovery.Though some current foster parents may wish tostop fostering after a disaster, some new familiesmay be prompted by the disaster to considerfostering. Agencies should think about ways tochannel this goodwill.

Make use of federally available funds torecruit foster families for displaced children.Financial incentives might help this process.

26that “Anne” (age 11) has been in foster care on and off for three years. After a major

disaster hits her city, her foster family loses their house. They decide to make a fresh start in a new cityand, though they adore Anne, they determine that they will no longer serve as foster parents. Agency stafftry to find Anne a new placement, but there is a widespread shortage of foster beds because of thedisaster. Anne lands in a foster home where there really is not enough room for her. Anne’s situation,already unstable before the disaster, becomes very precarious.

Suppose

S E C T I O N

SECTION 26: MANAGE THROUGH AND MINIMIZE FOSTER PARENT ATTRITION AFTERA DISASTER Prepare to minimize foster parent attrition and recruit new foster families.

60

LIKELY OBSTACLES

The risk of another disaster always exists.As back-to-back Gulf Coast hurricanes and the post-September 11 anthrax threats demonstrate,another disaster may always be right aroundthe corner. If lessons learned are not captured,agencies may repeat grave mistakes in the eventof another emergency.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Capture lessons learned in an accessible anduser-friendly format, and share the lessonswith stakeholders. After-action reports or otherlessons learned documents should detail thestrengths and especially the weaknesses of anemergency response and make recommendationsfor improved disaster preparedness and planning.

Review disaster management plans regularly.Agencies may want to assemble a team—includ-ing staff at all levels—charged with reviewing thedisaster management plan annually. This keepsdisaster management on the minds of staff andrequires a review of which disasters are mostlikely to occur.

RESOURCES

U.S. Department of Education: After-ActionReports: Capturing Lessons Learned andIdentifying Areas for Improvement

What: This issue of Lessons Learned describesthe importance and key components of after-action reports. Though written with schoolsin mind, this document may likely help childwelfare agency staff members who arecharged with capturing lessons learned.

Where: www.eric.ed.gov/ERICDocs/data/ericdocs2sql/content_storage_01/0000019b/80/29/e4/a8.pdf

27that a complete power outage occurs during the height of summer in a major north-

ern city. Residents are without lights, air conditioning, and refrigeration for nearly a week. The child welfareagency discovers that their emergency communication system is seriously flawed, and staff members mustovercome enormous obstacles to make sure that children and families being served are safe and fed. Sixmonths later, a major disaster strikes the area. Even though the agency knows that its communications planwill fail, no updates have yet been made and the agency faces the very same, very dangerous problemsfor a second time.

Suppose

S E C T I O N

SECTION 27: CAPTURE LESSONS LEARNED AND REGULARLY UPDATE DISASTERMANAGEMENT PLANS Improve disaster management plans, incorporating lessons learned from

previous disasters.

APPENDIX

61

PANDEMIC PREPAREDNESS

While this disaster preparedness guide for childwelfare agencies offers guidance for “all-hazards”disaster management, at least one type of poten-tial disaster lies outside of the guide’s principalfocus: pandemic influenza. Pandemic flu “occurswhen a new influenza virus emerges for whichthere is little or no immunity and for which there isno vaccine. The disease spreads easily person-to-person, causes serious illness, and can sweepacross the country and around the world in avery short time.”77

As is evident from the preceding sections, to pre-pare for natural disasters such as hurricanes andfor most man-made disasters is to prepare forshort- and medium-term evacuation from orshelter-in-place within an affected geographicregion. To prepare for pandemic flu is to preparefor long-term shelter-in-place during a time ofwidespread illness and interruption and/or over-load of basic, essential services such as fooddelivery and medical care. For this reason, theresponse to a pandemic flu requires a differentbut related set of measures than those discussedthroughout this guide.

The exact likelihood, severity, and timing of afuture pandemic flu cannot be predicted withcertainty. Yet many scientists—who often cite thehistory and pattern of pandemic flus in thetwentieth century, in particular the 1918 pandemicflu, which took the lives of approximately 675,000Americans and 50,000,000 people worldwide—argue that pandemic flu poses a real and veryserious threat.78 For this reason, it would be wisefor child welfare agencies to consider pandemicflu when developing and improving disastermanagement plans.

Though pandemic flu preparedness is notaddressed explicitly in this guide’s recommenda-tions, the resources below offer a starting pointfor agency staff members charged with disastermanagement to consider how their agency mightprepare for and weather a possible pandemicflu and work to prevent the spread of infectionamong children and families, especially those inout-of-home care.

RESOURCES

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services:Flu.gov

What: This website provides “one-stop accessto U.S. Government H1N1, avian, andpandemic flu information.” It offers answersto Frequently Asked Questions, informationabout planning and response, data aboutcurrent outbreaks, updates about researchactivities, and other resources.

Where: http://flu.gov

INDEX OF RESOURCES

62

I . MITIGATION AND PREPAREDNESS

Section 1: Assess Agency Preparedness andEvaluate Current Disaster Management Plans

National Child Welfare Resource Center forOrganizational Improvement: Coping with Disastersand Strengthening Systems: A Framework for ChildWelfare Agencies. http://muskie.usm. maine.edu/helpkids/rcpdfs/copingwithdisasters.pdf

Child Welfare Information Gateway: DisasterPreparedness & Response. www.childwelfare.gov/highlights/disaster/prepare.cfm

Child Welfare League of America: Summary of S. 3525, the Children and Families Services Improvement Act of 2006.www.cwla.org/advocacy/pssfsummary 06.htm

Section 2: Determine Biggest Threats andConsider “All-Hazards”

Ready America: Ready.gov. www.ready.gov

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:Emergency Preparedness & Response. www.bt.cdc.gov

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration:NOAA Watch—NOAA All-Hazards Monitor.www.noaawatch.gov

Department of Homeland Security: HomelandSecurity Advisory System. www.dhs.gov/xinfoshare/programs/Copy_of_press_release_0046.shtm

Section 4: Put Disaster Management Plans inWriting

Emergency Response and Crisis ManagementTechnical Assistance Center of the U.S. Department

of Education: Creating Emergency Management Plans.http://rems.ed.gov/views/documents/CreatingPlans.pdf

Disaster Recovery Journal: Disaster Recovery Planning(Part II of III). www.drj.com/new2dr/w2_003.htm

Section 5: Budget for Disaster Management

Congressional Research Service: Federal DisasterRecovery Programs: Brief Summaries.www.fas.org/sgp/crs/homesec/RL31734.pdf

Section 6: Coordinate Disaster Management withOther Agencies, with Providers, and withCommunity Organizations

The Finance Project: Managing in Emergencies:Enhancing Collaboration for Human Services.http://76.12.61.196/publications/feskatrina1.pdf

U.S. Department of Homeland Security: The National Response Framework (NRF) Resource Center.www.fema.gov/emergency/nrf

Federal Emergency Management Agency: The National Incident Management Systems (NIMS).www.fema.gov/emergency/nims

Section 7: Prepare to Manage Disasters thatStrike an Agency Office

U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safetyand Health Administration: Evacuation Plans andProcedures. www.osha.gov/SLTC/etools/evacuation/index.html

U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safetyand Health Administration: Fact Sheet: EvacuatingHigh-Rise Buildings. www.osha.gov/OshDoc/data_General_Facts/evacuating-highrise-fact sheet.pdf

63

Section 8: Ensure that Families and ProvidersHave Viable Disaster Plans

Casey Family Services and the Annie E. CaseyFoundation: Emergency Preparedness Guide: AResource for Families. www.aecf.org/~/media/Pubs/Topics/Community%20Change/Other/EmergencyPreparednessGuideAResourceforFamilie/Resource%208A.pdf

Federal Emergency Management Agency and the American Red Cross: Preparing for Disaster.www.redcross.org/images/pdfs/preparedness/A4600.pdf

Federal Emergency Management Agency and theAmerican Red Cross: Helping Children Cope withDisaster. www.fema.gov/pdf/library/children.pdf

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services:Disasters and Emergencies. www.hhs.gov/disasters

American Academy of Pediatrics: Family ReadinessKit. www.aap.org/family/frk/frkit.htm

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Keep It With You: Personal Medical Information Form. www.bt.cdc.gov/disasters/kiwy.asp

Ready America: Family Emergency Plan Worksheet. www.ready.gov/america/makeaplan

Florida Department of Children and Families andFlorida’s Coalition Against Domestic Violence:Survive Domestic Violence AFTER the Hurricane.www.aecf.org/~/media/PDFFiles/DisasterGuide/Resource%208H.pdf

National Center for Missing & Exploited Children:Know the Rules: Safety Tips for Children Displaced inNatural Disasters and Their Caregivers. www.missingkids.com/en_US/publications/NC158.pdf

PETS 911: Pets911. www.pets911.com

Section 11: Prepare to Communicate with AgencyStaff, Providers, Children, and Families Duringand After a Disaster

JustPartners Inc. for the Annie E. Casey Foundation:Creating an Online Lifeline: A Web Portal forEmergency Preparedness and Disaster Recovery.www.aecf.org/~/media/PublicationFiles/AECF_Online_Lifeline_Final1.pdf

Section 12: Prepare to Preserve and AccessEssential Records During and After a Disaster

The National Archives: Disaster Response and Recovery.www.archives.gov/preservation/disaster-response

Section 14: Practice Disaster Response Plans

Emergency Response and Crisis ManagementTechnical Assistance Center of the U.S. Departmentof Education: Emergency Exercises: An Effective Way toValidate School Safety Plans. http://rems.ed.gov/views/documents/Emergency_NewsletterV2I3.pdf

U.S. Department of Homeland Security: The Home-land Security Exercise and Evaluation Program (HSEEP).http://hseep.dhs.gov/pages/1001_HSEEP7.aspx

I I . RESPONSE

Section 16: Address the Urgent Needs ofChildren and Families Immediately After aDisaster

Electronic Payments Network and NACHA–the Elec-tronic Payments Association: Electronicpayments.org.www.electronicpayments.org

64

I I I . RECOVERY

Section 20: Help to Connect Children andFamilies with Disaster Recovery Funds

The Finance Project: Managing in Emergencies:Making Use of New Funds and Funding Flexibility forHuman Services. http://76.12.61.196/publications/feskatrina2.pdf

Section 21: Continue the Work of the Agency

AdoptUsKids: Case Planning Desk Reference forEmergency Situations. www.adoptuskids.org/images/professionalResourceCenter/documents/Case_Planning_Desk_Reference_FINAL.pdf

Section 22: Coordinate Mental Health Treatmentfor Children and Families

American Academy of Pediatrics: Children, Terrorism,and Disasters Toolkit. www.sccgov.org/SCC/docs%2FEmergency%20Services,%20Office%20of%20(DEP)%2Fattachments%2F124598PhysiciansSheet.pdf

National Center for Children Exposed to Violenceat the Yale Child Study Center: Parents’ Guide forHelping Children in the Wake of Disaster.www.nctsn.org/nctsn_assets/pdfs/edu_materials/Parents_Guide_Sept_%202005.pdf

New York University Child Study Center: Caring forKids after Trauma, Disaster, and Death. www.aboutourkids.org/files/articles/crisis_guide02.pdf

Section 24: Help Ensure that Displaced Childrenand Families Find Suitable Housing

Federal Emergency Management Agency: Apply forAssistance. www.fema.gov/assistance/index.shtm

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development:HUD Newsroom. www.hud.gov/news/index.cfm

Section 25: Help Ensure that Children AttendSchool Regularly

National Center for Homeless Education: What ReliefAgencies Should Know About the Educational Rights ofChildren Displaced by Disasters. www.serve.org/nche/downloads/briefs/csds_relief.pdf

Section 27: Capture Lessons Learned andRegularly Update Disaster Management Plans

U.S. Department of Education: After-Action Reports:Capturing Lessons Learned and Identifying Areas forImprovement. www.eric.ed.gov/ERICDocs/data/ericdocs2sql/content_storage_01/0000019b/80/29/e4/a8.pdf

APPENDIX

Pandemic Preparedness

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services:Flu.gov. http://flu.gov

ENDNOTES

65

1 Public Law 109-288: The Child and Family ServicesImprovement Act of 2006, www.thomas.gov/bss/d109/d109laws.html.

2 Marlene Wong, Jane’s School Safety Handbook (Virginia:Jane’s Information Group, 2004), 22.

3 Federal Emergency Management Association website. (See References.)

4 Tara Hill, interview. (See References.)

5 Anne Degnan, et al., Uncommon Sense, UncommonCourage: How the New York City School System, Its Teachers,Leadership, and Students Responded to the Terror ofSeptember 11 (New York: The National Center for DisasterPreparedness at the Columbia Mailman School of PublicHealth, 2004), 88, www.ncdp.mailman.columbia.edu/files/9_11reportASSESSMENT.pdf.

6 Dr. George Foltin, interview. (See References.)

7 David Berman, interview. (See References.)

8 Don Winstead, interview. (See References.)

9 “Children, Families, and Workers: Facing Trauma in ChildWelfare,” Best Practice Next Practice, Winter 2002 (NewYork: The National Child Welfare Resource Center forFamily-Centered Practice), 2, www.hunter.cuny.edu/socwork/nrcfcpp/downloads/newsletter/BPNPWinter02.pdf.

10 Survive Domestic Violence AFTER the Hurricane. (See Index ofResources.)

11 Christianne Lind, “Introduction,” Managing in Emergencies:Enhancing Collaboration for Human Services (Washington,D.C.: The Finance Project, December 2005), 2,http://76.12.61.196/publications/feskatrina1.pdf.

12 The Honorable Ernestine Gray, interview. (See References.)

13 National Incident Management System: August 2007 DRAFT.(See Index of Resources.)

14 Theresa Bischoff, Working with Communities and ForgingPartnerships to Respond to Emergencies, Speech at the 2007National Summit on Primary Care EmergencyPreparedness, New York City, September 19, 2007.

15 “Draft National Response Framework Released for PublicComment” website, published by the U.S. Department ofHomeland Security, www.dhs.gov/xnews/releases/pr_1189450382144.shtm.

16 Walter Gillis Peacock, et al, ed., Hurricane Andrew: Ethnicity,Gender and the Sociology of Disasters (London: Routledge,1997), 158.

17 Preparing for Disaster website. (See Index of Resources.)

18 Survive Domestic Violence AFTER the Hurricane. (See Index ofResources.)

19 K. Qureshi, et al., “Health Care Workers’ Ability andWillingness to Report to Duty During CatastrophicDisasters,” Journal of Urban Health, Bulletin of the New YorkAcademy of Medicine, 82, no. 3 (2005): 378–388,www.gnyha.org/343/File.aspx.

20 Theresa Bischoff, Working with Communities and ForgingPartnerships to Respond to Emergencies, speech.

21 Christianne Lind, “Introduction,” 9.

22 Carolyn Atwell-Davis, interview. (See References.)

23 Mary O’Brien, et al., Coping with Disasters andStrengthening Systems: A Framework for Child WelfareAgencies (Maine: National Child Welfare Resource Centerfor Organizational Improvement at the Edmund S. MuskieSchool of Public Service at the University of SouthernMaine, February 2007), 24, http://muskie.usm.maine.edu/helpkids/rcpdfs/copingwithdisasters.pdf.

24 Don Winstead, interview. (See References.)

25 Mary O’Brien, et al., Coping with Disasters andStrengthening Systems: A Framework for Child WelfareAgencies, 23.

26 National Emergency Family Registry System and Child LocatorCenter Activated For California Fires, October 23, 2007,press release (Washington, D.C. Federal EmergencyManagement Agency), www.fema.gov/news/newsrelease.fema?id=41442.

27 Practical Information on Crisis Planning: A Guide for Schoolsand Communities (U.S. Department of Education’s Office ofSafe and Drug-Free Schools, 2007), 4, www.ed.gov/emergencyplan/crisisplanning.pdf.

28 Carolyn Atwell-Davis, interview. (See References.)

66

29 GAO-06-944, Child Welfare: Federal Action Needed toEnsure that States Have Plans to Safeguard Children In theChild Welfare System Displaced by Disasters (Washington,DC: Government Accountability Office, July 2006), 3,www.gao.gov/new.items/d06944.pdf.

30 “Emergency Exercises: An Effective Way to Validate SchoolSafety Plans,” 1. (See Index of Resources.)

31 Dr. David Schonfeld, interview. (See References.)

32 Marketa Gautreau, interview. (See References.)

33 Marketa Gautreau, interview. (See References.)

34 Mary O’Brien, “Coping with Disasters, Tips for ChildWelfare Agencies (Maine: The National Child WelfareResource Center for Organizational Improvement, Spring2006), 4, http://muskie.usm.maine.edu/helpkids/rcpdfs/cwmatters3.pdf.

35 Charlotte Frilot, interview. (See References.)

36 Marketa Gautreau, interview. (See References.)

37 Marketa Gautreau, interview. (See References.)

38 GAO-06-944, Child Welfare: Federal Action Needed toEnsure that States Have Plans to Safeguard Children In theChild Welfare System Displaced by Disasters, 33.

39 Public Law 109–288.

40 Moving From Disaster to Renewal and Recovery: TheLouisiana Child Welfare Experience, webcast, New York,hosted by the National Resource Center for Family-Centered Practice and Permanency Planning, March 27,2007, http://event.netbriefings.com/event/nrcfcpp/Archives/nrcfcppp11/.

41 David Dyssegaard Kallick, “Rebuilding a High RoadEconomy: What Works for Workers?” in Cities at Risk:Catastrophe, Recovery, and Renewal in New York and NewOrleans, Andrew White and Peter Eisinger, ed. (New York,Milano: The New School for Management and UrbanPolicy, 2006), 36, www.newschool.edu/milano/nycaffairs/documents/CitiesatRisk_Report.pdf.

42 Charlotte Frilot, interview. (See References.)

43 Charlotte Frilot, interview. (See References.)

44 April Naturale, “Secondary Traumatic Stress in SocialWorkers Responding to Disasters: Reports from the Field,”Clinical Social Work Journal, 35, no. 3 (September 2007):174.

45 April Naturale, “Secondary Traumatic Stress in SocialWorkers Responding to Disasters: Reports from the Field,”175.

46 Laura Campbell, “Utilizing Compassion Fatigue Educationin Hurricanes Ivan and Katrina,” Clinical Social WorkJournal, 35, no. 3 (September 2007): 165.

47 Carol J. De Vita and Elaine Morley, “Providing Long-TermServices after Major Disasters,” Charting Civil Society(Washington, DC: The Urban Institute, August 2007), 5,www.urban.org/url.cfm?ID=411519.

48 Mary O’Brien, “Supporting Child Welfare Workers: AnInterview with David Conrad, LCSW,” Child Welfare Matters(Maine: The National Child Welfare Resource Center forOrganizational Improvement, Spring 2006), 6,http://muskie.usm.maine.edu/helpkids/rcpdfs/cwmatters3.pdf.

49 Pamela Friedman, et al., Managing in Emergencies: MakingUse of New Funds and Funding Flexibility for Human Services(Washington, DC: The Finance Project, December 2005), 1,http://76.12.61.196/publications/feskatrina2.pdf.

50 Carol J. De Vita, et al., “Providing Long-Term Services AfterMajor Disasters,” 6.

51 Parents’ Guide for Helping Children in the Wake of a Disaster,1. (See Index of Resources.)

52 Dr. David Schonfeld, interview. (See References.)

53 David Abramson, et al., On the Edge: Children and FamiliesDisplaced by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita Face a LoomingMedical and Mental Health Crisis (New York: OperationAssist, The Children’s Health Fund, and the ColumbiaUniversity Mailman School of Public Health, 2006), 2,www.ncdp.mailman.columbia.edu/files/marshall_plan.pdf;Gerry Fairbrother, et al., Terrorism, Mental Health, andSeptember 11: Lessons Learned About Providing MentalHealth Services to a Traumatized Population (New York: TheCentury Foundation, 2005), 6, www.tcf.org/list.asp?type=PB&pubid=543.

54 Parents’ Guide for Helping Children in the Wake of a Disaster,5. (See Index of Resources.)

55 Dr. David Schonfeld, interview. (See References.)

56 Parents’ Guide for Helping Children in the Wake of a Disaster,1. (See Index of Resources.)

57 David Schonfeld, “Supporting Children After TerroristEvents: Potential Roles for Pediatricians,” Pediatric Annals,32, no. 3 (March 2003): 182–187.; American Academy ofPediatrics, Bioterrorism and Other Public Health Emergencies:A Resource for Pediatricians, Foltin, George, et al., eds.(Rockville, MD: Agency for Healthcare Research andQuality, 2006), 3.

58 Parents’ Guide to Helping Children in the Wake of a Disaster,8. (See Index of Resources.)

59 Harold S. Koplewicz, M.D., et al., Caring for Children AfterTrauma, Disaster, and Death: A Guide for Parents andProfessionals, 29. (See Index of Resources.)

60 Carol J. De Vita, et al., “Providing Long-Term Services afterMajor Disasters,” 2.

67

61 Carol J. De Vita, et al., “Providing Long-Term Services afterMajor Disasters,” 2.

62 Dr. David Schonfeld, interview. (See References.)

63 Irwin Redlener, “Biological and Health Vulnerabilities,”speech.

64 George Foltin, et al. Pediatric Terrorism and DisasterPreparedness: A Resource for Pediatricians (Maryland:Prepared by the American Academy of Pediatrics for theAgency for Health Care Research and Quality, 2006), 10,www.ahrq.gov/RESEARCH/PEDPREP/RESOURCE.HTM.

65 George Foltin, et al., Pediatric Terrorism and DisasterPreparedness: A Resource for Pediatricians, 1.

66 David Abramson, et al., On the Edge: Children and FamiliesDisplaced by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita Face a LoomingMedical and Mental Health Crisis, 2.

67 Responding to an Emerging Humanitarian Crisis in Louisiana and Mississippi: Urgent Need for a Health Care ”Marshall Plan,” (New York: The Children’s Health Fund and Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, April 2006), 2, www.ncdp.mailman.columbia.edu/files/marshall_plan.pdf.

68 Responding to an Emerging Humanitarian Crisis in Louisianaand Mississippi: Urgent Need for a Health Care “MarshallPlan,” 2.

69 David Abramson, et al., On the Edge: Children and FamiliesDisplaced by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita Face a LoomingMedical and Mental Health Crisis, 3.

70 Peek, Lori, et al., “Reconstructing Childhood: AnExploratory Study of Children in Hurricane Katrina,” Quick Response Research Report 186 (Colorado: Natural Hazards Center, April 2006), 10,www.colorado.edu/hazards/research/qr/qr186/qr186.html.

71 David Abramson, et al., On the Edge: Children and FamiliesDisplaced by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita Face a LoomingMedical and Mental Health Crisis, 4.

72 Mary Driscoll, “American Diaspora: Displaced Studentsand the Effects of Selected Educational Policies,” Post-Katrina Research Projects Presentations and Discussion,Conference program (New York: The Center forCatastrophe Preparedness and Response at New YorkUniversity, March 1, 2007), 10, www.nyu.edu/ccpr/katrina/katrinabooklet.pdf.

73 American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry:Facts for Families No.36: Helping Children After a Disaster,www.aacap.org/cs/root/facts_for_families/helping_children_after_a_disaster.

74 Lori Peek, et al., “Reconstructing Childhood: An ExploratoryStudy of Children in Hurricane Katrina,” 10.

75 Peter Eisler, “Katrina rips up the few roots foster childrenhad,” USA Today, April 23, 2007.

76 Peter Eisler, “Katrina rips up the few roots foster childrenhad.”

77 Flu.gov website. (See Index of Resources.)

78 Flu.gov website; as David Waltner-Toews writes in TheChickens Fight Back, “Avian influenza, the so-called bird flu,has been described, by various people who should knowthese things—spokespeople from the World HealthOrganization (WHO) and the United States’ Centers forDisease Control and Prevention—as the single biggestthreat facing the world. Not war, not starvation, not cata-strophic climate change. Bird flu,” The Chickens Fight Back:Pandemic Panics and Deadly Diseases that Jump from Animalsto Humans (Vancouver: Greystone Books, 2007), 6.

REFERENCES

68

Note: Sources listed as “available online” areavailable as of March 2009.

Atwell-Davis, Carolyn. Director of Legislative Affairs,the National Center for Missing & ExploitedChildren. Interview conducted September 5, 2007.

Berman, David. Associate Director, Center forCatastrophe Preparedness & Response, New YorkUniversity. Interview conducted July 16, 2007.

Driscoll, Mary. “American Diaspora: DisplacedStudents and the Effects of Selected EducationalPolicies.” Post-Katrina Research Projects Presenta-tions and Discussion. Conference program. New York. The Center for Catastrophe Preparedness and Response at New York University, March 1, 2007. Available online at www.nyu.edu/ccpr/katrina/katrinabooklet.pdf.

Emergency Preparedness in Dependency Courts:Ten Questions That Courts Serving Abused andNeglected Children Must Address website.Published by the Children’s Bureau of the Depart-ment of Health and Human Services. Accessedonline at www.icmeducation.org/katrina/ on June 5, 2007.

Emergency Response and Safety Guide.The Annie E. Casey Foundation. Unpublished.

Federal Emergency Management Associationwebsite. Accessed online at www.fema.gov onSeptember 7, 2007.

Foltin, George, M.D. Associate Professor ofPediatrics and Emergency Medicine at New YorkUniversity Langone Medical Center. Interviewconducted July 19, 2007.

Frilot, Charlotte, M.S.W., L.C.S.W. Assistant RegionalAdministrator, Jefferson District/Greater NewOrleans Region, Office of Community Services.

Interviews conduced August 7, 2007 and November7, 2008.

GAO-06-680R, Gulf Coast Hurricanes: LessonsLearned for Protecting and Educating Children.Washington, D.C. Government Accountability office. May 11, 2006. Available online atwww.gao.gov/new.items/d06680r.pdf.

Gautreau, Marketa. Assistant Secretary for theLouisiana Office of Community Services. Interviewconducted August 7, 2007.

Gebbie, Kristine, et al. Guide to Contracting PublicHealth Drills. New York. Columbia Mailman Schoolof Public Health. August 2006. Available online at www.ncdp.mailman.columbia.edu/files/contracting.pdf.

Gray, Ernestine. Orleans Parish Juvenile CourtJudge, New Orleans. Interview conducted August22, 2007.

Hill, Tara. Management & Program Analyst, Officeof Safe and Drug-Free Schools at the U.S.Department of Education. Interview conductedAugust 15, 2007.

Jordan, Mary, et al. Federal Disaster RecoveryPrograms: Brief Summaries, a CRS Report for Congress.Washington, D.C. Library of Congress. August 29,2005. Available online at www.fas.org/sgp/crs/homesec/RL31734.pdf.

Louisiana Department of Social Services’ FrequentlyAsked Questions website. Accessed online atwww.dss.state.la.us/departments/ocs/FAQ_-_Foster_Care.html on May 19, 2007.

69

Pandemic Influenza Preparedness and ResponseGuidance for Healthcare Workers and HealthcareEmployees. The Occupational Safety and HealthAdministration. Available online at www.osha.gov/Publications/OSHA_pandemic_health.pdf.

Penuel, K. Bradley. Director, Center for CatastrophePreparedness and Response, New York University.Interview conducted July 16, 2007.

Public Law 109–295. Department of HomelandSecurity Appropriations Act, 2007. Accessed online atwww.thomas.gov/bss/d109/d109laws.html onAugust 19, 2008.

Redlener, Irwin. “Biological and HealthVulnerabilities.” Speech. Disasters: Recipes andRemedies, a conference at the New School forSocial Research. New York, NY. November 1, 2007.

Re-establishing Normalcy: Helping Families Address theLong-Range Effects of Disaster through Case Manage-ment. The National Human Services Assembly.Available online at www.nassembly.org/nassembly/documents/casemanagementbrief.pdf.

Schonfeld, David, M.D. Director of the NationalCenter for School Crisis and Bereavement atCincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center.Interview conducted August 6, 2007.

Stekas, Lynn. Philanthropic Consultant. Interviewconducted November 28, 2007.

Weisner, Carmen. Will Your Agency Be Prepared fora Disaster? Summary of roundtable discussion heldat the Council on Accreditation Public AgencyRoundtable. Little Rock Arkansas. October 2005.Available online at www.coanet.org/Files/RoundtableLuncheon.pdf.

Winstead, Don. Deputy Secretary, Florida Depart-ment of Children and Families. Interview conductedNovember 7, 2008.

701 St. Paul StreetBaltimore, MD 21202410.547.6600410.547.6624 faxwww.aecf.org

The Annie E. Casey Foundation