Disaster Planning and Response

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Examples of Various States' Emergency Preparedness Plans for Early Childhood Programs
These examples, gathered by the National Child Care Information and Technical Assistance Center (NCCIC), do not include plans from all states, but are meant to represent a range of approaches States have taken to develop/implement emergency preparedness plans for early childhood programs - http://nccic.acf.hhs.gov/poptopics/disasterprep.html (Posted January 6, 2010)

This Web page provides resources to assist individuals working with children and families to prevent, prepare for, respond to, and recover from natural disasters or other emergency situations.

(See also our Homelessness Web page, which contains resources to assist individuals working with families and children who are homeless.)

Resources from the Department of Education and Other Federal Agencies

The Department of Education's Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools provides information to help schools prepare for and respond to a variety of possible emergencies, including natural disasters, violent incidents, health emergencies and more - http://www2.ed.gov/admins/lead/safety/emergencyplan/index.html
The Child Care Bureau at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) provides resources to help parents, providers and policymakers develop emergency preparedness, response and recovery plans - http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ccb/initiatives/emergency/index.htm. See also, the special section on Disaster Preparedness in the June 2008 issue of the Children's Bureau Express - http://cbexpress.acf.hhs.gov/index.cfm?event=website.viewSection&issueID=95&subsectionID=12
The Office of Human Services Emergency Preparedness and Response (OHSEPR) at the HHS has developed resources related to disaster preparedness activities and planning for children in all settings - http://www.acf.hhs.gov/ohsepr/children/about_children.html
The Child Welfare Information Gateway has information to help States and jurisdictions develop comprehensive disaster preparedness plans and respond to emergencies quickly and effectively to protect children and families - http://www.childwelfare.gov/systemwide/disaster_preparedness/
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has a Web site on Helping Children Cope with Disaster at http://www.fema.gov/rebuild/recover/cope_child.shtm. See also, FEMA's paper entitled Preparing for Disaster for People with Disabilities and Other Special Needs (2004), at http://www.fema.gov/library/viewRecord.do?id=1442

Helping Families and Children, Including Those with Disabilities, Cope with Disasters

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) offers a variety of resources for families and children on disaster preparedness and other health and safety topics - http://www.aap.org/disasters/families.cfm. See also the AAP policy statement on Disaster Planning for Schools (2008) - http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/abstract/122/4/895
The Council for Exceptional Children has published an article entitled Help Students Cope with Fear and Feelings Following Disaster (2005). It includes a section on special care for students with disabilities and strategies to help students with specific disabilities - http://www.cec.sped.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Search&template=/CM/HTMLDisplay.cfm&ContentID=3999
The Florida Institute for Family Involvement has published a guide entitled Disaster Preparedness for Families of Children with Special Needs (Retrieved March 2006) to help families of children with special needs be prepared in the event of an emergency, disaster, or acts of terrorism. Although it is Florida oriented, much of the information is useful for all families and children with special needs - http://www.fifionline.org/resources/disaster_english.pdf (PDF: 6,871kb)
The National Child Care Information and Technical Assistance Center (NCCIC) has gathered examples of a range of approaches states have taken to develop/implement emergency preparedness plans for early childhood programs - http://nccic.acf.hhs.gov/poptopics/disasterprep.html (posted January 6, 2010). NCCIC also provides links to resources for adults working with children who have experienced traumatic events - http://nccic.acf.hhs.gov/poptopics/disasters.html
The National Association of School Psychologists (NASP) has resources available to help children and youth cope with traumatic events - http://www.nasponline.org/resources/crisis_safety/
ZERO TO THREE has resources to support parents and caregivers in helping infants and toddlers cope with and recover from traumatic and stressful experiences - http://www.zerotothree.org/site/PageServer?pagename=key_disaster&AddInterest=1142

Links on this site are verified monthly. This page content was last updated on 01/21/2010.