Report: 10 Years after Hurricane Katrina, U.S. Children Still at Risk

Four in Five recommendations by the National Commission on Children and Disasters Created after Hurricane Katrina Remain Unfulfilled, New Save the Children Report Finds

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Save the Children

Jul 14, 2015, 06:00 ET

WASHINGTON, July 14, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Ten years after Hurricane Katrina exposed the widespread neglect of children in U.S. emergency planning, most recommendations of the national commission created to address those gaps remain unfulfilled, a new Save the Children report shows.

Nearly four in five of the recommendations issued by the National Commission on Children and Disasters in its 2010 final report have not been fully met, according to the new national disaster report card, titled: "Still at Risk: U.S. Children 10 Years After Hurricane Katrina."

Save the Children video, "Still at Risk: US Children 10 Years After Hurricane Katrina."

Save the Children's "Stay Connected" campaign calls on parents to create emergency contact cards. These can serve as a lifeline to children when disasters separate families. After Hurricane Katrina, there were 5,000 reports of missing children. Credit: Susan Warner/Save the Children

Hurricane Katrina had a devastating impact on children, displacing hundreds of thousands of kids from their homes, schools and communities, stranding many in unsafe sheltering and temporary housing conditions -- sometimes separated from their families for weeks at a time -- and leaving tens of thousands of traumatized children without adequate services to help them recover.

A subsequent investigation by the bipartisan National Commission on Children and Disasters, appointed by President George W. Bush and Congress, identified major gaps in the nation's ability to protect U.S. children across 11 areas of disaster planning – including mental health, emergency medical services, child care, education, sheltering, housing and evacuation.

In the first comprehensive review of the commission's 81 recommendations to address those gaps, the new report finds that only 17 have been fully met, with an additional 44 still a work in progress. The remaining recommendations – 20 in all – have not been addressed.

"A decade after the nation's Katrina wake-up call, it's unacceptable that children across the country still face unnecessary risks to their safety, health, emotional wellbeing and long-term development should disaster strike," said Carolyn Miles, president and CEO of Save the Children. "We know children's unique needs make them especially vulnerable during and after emergencies. Our nation's children deserve better without further delay."

Despite important efforts to address children's disaster-related needs at federal agencies, the new report concludes that more significant progress on the commission's recommendations has been hampered by: 1) a lack of leadership and accountability on children in disasters, including designated point-people at the White House and every relevant federal agency; 2) inadequate Congressional funding; and 3) insufficient coordination between federal, state and local governments.

Among the most urgently needed federal actions cited by the new report:

Improve emergency pediatric health capacity and transport coordination so that health systems are prepared to manage large numbers of injured or sick children following a massive emergency. Currently less than half of all hospitals specifically address the care of children in their emergency planning.
Restore Congressional cuts and strengthen support for community and school mental health programs that can offer distressed children immediate and continued access to counseling and guidance after a disaster.
Encourage greater inclusion of children's needs and child-serving institutions in state emergency planning. States have dedicated less than one penny for every $10 of federal preparedness grants toward children's needs in recent years.
Widely disseminate new guidance to communities that will help them quickly reunite families with their children after a major emergency. After Hurricane Katrina, more than 5,000 cases of missing children were reported and it was seven months before the last child was reunited with her family. Daily, 69 million children are separated from their parents while at school or child care.

The report finds some significant progress on the commission's recommendations, including:

Improvements in emergency planning at the nation's schools and child care. This year, three new states – Kansas, Oregon and South Carolina – meet all four minimum planning standards for schools and child care providers that Save the Children has tracked annually. That brings the total up to 32 states from 4 since 2008. Iowa is now the only state that fails to meet any of the four standards, and it is joined by only D.C., Missouri and North Dakota in missing the schools-specific standard. However, the report also finds that federal cuts to school emergency planning grants has hampered implementation.
New standards to protect children's physical safety and to support their recovery in emergency shelters, including specific guidance on providing age-appropriate supplies for infants and toddlers, such as diapers, formula and cribs. However, the report finds new standards are still not implemented consistently.

"Even 10 years later, many young people continue to struggle with the deep and enduring impact Hurricane Katrina had on their childhood," Miles said. "The commission created a national roadmap to better protect children from disaster and to help them bounce back. Our leaders must finish the job."

Save the Children also encourages families to take action. Its new "Stay Connected" campaign urges parents to create emergency contact cards with a free online tool. These can serve as a lifeline to children if disaster strikes.

Download the report and find additional resources at www.SavetheChildren.org/Katrina10.

Save the Children invests in childhood – every day, in times of crisis and for our future. In the United States and around the world, we give children a healthy start, the opportunity to learn and protection from harm. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.