After ten years of unrelenting and unprecedented disasters -- what will be remembered as The Disaster Decade -- only seven states meet Save the Children's four minimum safety standards to care for the 67 million kids who are in child care or school on any given day.
Throughout this Disaster Decade, children watched or experienced skyscrapers collapsing, cities flooded, neighborhoods burning to the ground and bedrock economic institutions collapsing, forcing families from their homes.
The report and state-by-state scorecard shows how state governments have responded to the Disaster Decade and examines existing disaster preparedness requirements for child care facilities in each state, including their plans for evacuation, for family unification and for special needs kids. We also looked at whether K-12 schools have multi-hazard disaster plans.
Simply put, the most vulnerable Americans in the most vulnerable setting are made more vulnerable because government isn't doing its job to protect them.
We also looked at the economic disaster. Indeed, through a child's eyes, if his or her family is kicked out of their home because of twelve feet of water or twelve feet of debt, it's still traumatic. While there's anecdotal evidence of increased demand for food aid and a rise in child abuse, there is no comprehensive study of the recession's effect on children.
So we're advocating for change.
The Disaster Decade report includes a five-point plan for positive change.
First, we want the federal government to find a way to tie federal child care and education dollars to the four basic criteria in the report, giving states an economic incentive to protect their children.
Second, we want a new Office of Children's Advocacy -- or a Kid's Desk -- at FEMA. Right now, FEMA has only one person handling what are called "special needs" -- which means that the needs of the 25 percent of the population that are kids get lumped with the needs of other groups.
Third, following a major event, child care centers have taken a backseat to other recovery efforts, making it harder for parents to get back to work and back on track with their lives. We want to make child care centers eligible for federal disaster aid for the first time ever.
Fourth, so that we better understand how the economic disaster is affecting kids, a White House Commission on the Effects of the Economy on Children could begin to reveal the effects of the recession on kids so that we can provide them with the support they need and deserve.
Finally, most families are unaware of the unique needs of children during disasters. So a Public Service Announcement campaign would go a long way toward making families more aware of what we need to do to help kids.
After our visit to the child care center we went to Capitol Hill to lobby for enactment of our plan and we already got a very positive response from the Obama Administration.
These steps are low-cost, common sense measures. And their enactment will help ensure that when disaster strikes -- and they will -- the effects on our children don't become a disaster in their own right.
You can help us be a voice for change by signing this petition asking Congress and the Obama Administration to adopt our five-point plan for change. With your help we can ensure a safer reality for America's children.
Mark Shriver: The Lessons of Christchurch
"UNITED STATES-WHEN A DOMESTIC EMERGENCY THREATENS THE
SAFETY OF A SIGNIFICANT NUMBER OF CHILDREN, SAVE THE
CHILDREN'S DOMESTIC EMERGENCY UNIT RESPONDS. OUR TEAMS
PROVIDE CHILDREN AND THEIR FAMILIES WITH NECESSITIES AND
ADDRESS CHILDREN'S UNIQUE NEEDS INCLUDING REUNIFICATION
WITH FAMILIES; SAFE ENVIRONMENTS FOR LEARNING AND PLAYING;
MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES; RESTORATION OF CHILD CARE SERVICES; AND THE CONTINUITY OF SCHOOL."
Or is it that you want more funding from the Federal Government.
You received in 2008:
Dept. Education: 2,027,027
Dept. State: 3,152,467
Dept. Labor: 3,041,25
Agency for Internation Development:22,758,870 and 97,931,538
All other Government Grants: 2,582,892
The thing that the Right-Wing never got is that I would rather have effective government programs to handle many of these issues. See in a Democracy (which is what America still is no thanks to conservatives) the people are the government and the government is the people. You get the government that you ask for and demand. When the government screws up we can all vote, but when a big multinational corporation works to screw us over there is NOTHING we can do. That is why we have government and these things called LAWS, but then again the right-wing never had much use for laws or intelligence.
Are You Disaster Ready?
What do you expect in case of loss? Who cares? Who has disaster preparedness/recovery money for that?
I don't have all the answers, but I do have this one:
A letter pertaining to disaster (hurricane, earthquake, tornado, flood, fire, etc.) has been sent to President Obama on behalf of all insurance policyholders. As a matter of transparency on the record of insurance consumer protection, any response by President Obama will be posted on the following Website for review: http://www.disasterprepared.net/president.html
Qui potest et debet vetare, jubet: (Law Maxim)
HE WHO CAN AND OUGHT TO FORBID A THING [IF HE DO NOT FORBID IT] DIRECTS IT
Can you put your money where your typing is? Or is "change we can believe in" simply signing your name?
Besides, what parents would want Government intervention in the lives of their children.
Anytime a parent reads about their kids and Govt. in the same paragraph, they need to grab their children and hide.
"Finally, most families are unaware of the unique needs of children during disasters. So a Public Service Announcement campaign would go a long way toward making families more aware of what we need to do to help kids. "
Most families are unaware of the unique needs of children? What? I think most parents are acutely aware of the needs of their children and government funded public service announcements would do one thing expend federal funds on a useless program.