It's been four years since Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. Remarkably, we have barely learned some crucial lessons from this tragedy, particularly its effects on children. Following Katrina, 37 percent of displaced Louisiana children experienced clinically diagnosed depression, anxiety or behavior disorder, according to the National Center for Disaster Preparedness. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children reported that roughly 1,300 children were registered as missing a full two and a half months after the storm hit. In some cases it took up to six months to reunite children with their families.
When disaster strikes, it is crucial to protect the 67 million children who are in school or child care facilities. Save the Children's U.S. Programs recently released a report examining whether all 50 states and the District of Columbia have in place four basic disaster safety standards for protecting children in child care facilities and schools.
Given the unprecedented number of catastrophes that occurred in the United States and abroad during the last 10 years -- September 11, Hurricane Katrina, the California Wildfires, the tsunami in Southeast Asia and the Earthquake in Pakistan -- we expected the "Disaster Decade" would have prompted us to act. But our report found a shocking lack of preparedness across the nation.
Eleven states, including Louisiana, did not meet any of the four standards and only seven states met all four. Among the standards for child care facilities were requirements for evacuation plans that included relocation to a safe place, a written plan to notify parents of an emergency, and a written plan for accommodating children with special needs. And for schools, we looked at state requirements for a multi-hazard disaster plan.
These standards are common sense and low cost. Everyone who cares about protecting our children would expect them to be in place.
Louisiana has taken some steps toward protecting children from disasters, such as providing guidelines to child care facilities on family reunification planning. But only by requiring the four basic standards at every school and child care facility can parents know that their children are protected. Alabama has met all four standards, and Mississippi has met three of the four; given the threat Louisiana faces every hurricane season, the same should be done for the Pelican State's children.
There are also some basic steps that can help affect change at the federal level, including tying federal child care dollars to enactment of the four safety standards. There should be a "Kids Desk" at FEMA so that the unique needs of kids are addressed in disaster planning and response. And we can make child care facilities eligible for disaster relief dollars so that parents can get their lives back on track without worrying about who's going to care for their children.
The new FEMA Director, Craig Fugate, has embraced including children's unique needs in disaster planning. We are confident that his office will produce significant change in the coming months. Under Sen. Mary Landrieu's leadership, a hearing was held on the issue that drew the attention of the national press and leading advocates for disaster preparedness. Sen. Landrieu has promised a follow-up hearing and change. But we need the child care community, schools and state governments to do their part.
We must insist that federal, state and local government ensure that the most vulnerable Americans in the most vulnerable settings are made less vulnerable to the effects of disasters. Four years is too long show that we have learned the Katrina's lessons.
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Mark K. Shriver is vice president and managing director of U.S.Programs for Save the Children.