Photo: FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate (at podium) addresses questions about childrens’ needs during disasters along with Mark Shriver (left) at the 2009 National Press Club in Washington, D.C.

In one of Craig Fugate’s earliest public comments as Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) administrator, he acknowledged what those of us in the disaster relief community have been saying for years: The unique needs of children are too often ignored during disaster relief efforts and we need to do much more to protect them. This was a powerful and promising embrace of change for an untenable situation.
   
From 9/11 to Hurricane Katrina to the California wildfires, those of us in the child advocacy community or on the front lines of disasters have witnessed firsthand the devastating effects of a relief and recovery system that often has failed our children.
   
For example, children are rarely counted separately from adults in shelter facilities, making it difficult to provide services that meet their needs and keep them safe. There is often a shortage of diapers, wipes and cribs — items essential to a baby’s well-being — and bathrooms are too often inaccessible or not closely monitored for safety and security.  
   
In a new report from Save the Children’s U.S. Programs, The Disaster Decade: Lessons Unlearned for the United States, we surveyed the disaster preparedness requirements that are currently in place in the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Specifically we looked to see if they met four basic standards for protecting children who are in schools or child-care facilities during disasters: plans for parent-child reunification, evacuation measures, plans to accommodate children with special needs and multihazard disaster plans.
   
We found that just seven states have implemented all four of these minimal standards. The lack of preparedness is astonishing when you consider that there are 67 million children in schools and child-care facilities on any given day during the week.
   
There are steps that can be taken now to protect our children. Save the Children is advocating a five-point plan for positive change on this issue that includes tying federal child care and education dollars to the four basic criteria outlined in the report and creating a “kids desk” at FEMA. We want to make child-care centers eligible for federal disaster aid for the first time ever.

But we can all play a role in helping to make change. Emergency providers are among the most powerful and credible advocates on behalf of better disaster policy. So it’s crucial that the emergency management community work closely with local child-care providers and regulators to ensure that they have basic plans in place to protect kids during disasters.
   
When it comes to robust and effective disaster relief, there is probably nothing more important than effective and thorough planning by everyone — from families to governments. And with good planning, we can ensure that emergency providers are able to do what they do best: protect people. Now is the time to take action so that the next disaster response doesn’t become a disaster in its own right.

Mark Shriver leads Save the Children’s domestic emergency response programs to ensure childrens’ needs are incorporated into disaster preparedness, response and recovery plans. 

[Photo courtesy of FEMA/Bill Koplitz.]