Exploring Disaster Human Services for Children and Youth From Hurricane Katrina to the Paradise Wildfires: Proceedings of a Workshop Series (2021) / Chapter Skim
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1 Introduction
1 Introduction
Pages 1-20
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. From Hurricane Katrina in 2005 to the Paradise wildfires of 2018, recent disasters have exposed gaps in the capacity of the nation's critical child infrastructure (i.e., the existing systems and networks of social and human services that serve children and youth)
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• Understand the negative effects of disasters on children and youth that can be mitigated by the provision of social and human services. • Understand the current gaps and future opportunities for support ing coordinated delivery during, and restoration of services follow ing, a major federally declared natural disaster.
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. Additional areas of focus were the coordination of disaster response efforts and the transition to reestablishing routine service delivery programs postdisaster by human services, social services, and public health agencies at the state, local, tribal, and territorial levels.
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In addition to ACF being tasked by HHS to coordinate with other HHS operating divisions to develop this capacity, another outcome of the directive was the creation of OHSEPR to provide policy development, coordination, guidance, and support to the ACF assistant secretary and ACF regional offices. The focus of OHSEPR is to coordinate ACF programs in partnership with other social and human service providers (e.g., SAMHSA, the Health Resources and Services Administration, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, and ACL)
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Grant described how ACF's programs fit into the broader disaster response network through their focus on: • Integrated and holistic service delivery through community hubs, • Family-focused case management empowered by digital platforms, • Flexible policies and programs that foster innovation such as disaster waivers and flexibilities,2 and • A crisis management approach to changing human service delivery. Grant added that OHSEPR has also established three national priorities to build a coordinated national disaster human services capability.
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Grant noted that the office learned from previous disaster experiences and is • developing jurisdictional emergency management human service capability; • connecting health care, public health, and human services to create partnerships; • partnering with HHS operation divisions and other federal emer gency management components on predisaster readiness; and • developing the disaster human services science agenda. Regarding the latter, she explained that the goal is to initiate the development of a body of evidence-based knowledge for disaster human services.
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Recommendation 6.3 called for HHS to require disaster preparedness capabilities for Head Start centers and basic disaster mental health training for staff. In 2009, Head Start published the Head Start Emergency Preparedness Manual, which has since been updated and includes many resources.5 Furthermore, FEMA has since published an emergency preparedness guide for Head Start.6 Lavin said that despite this progress, there is room for improvement.
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Chapter 6 presents the reflections of workshop participants and speakers and explores ways to pursue the outcomes and objectives set forth by the workshop. CRITICAL CHILD INFRASTRUCTURE The first panel of the workshop provided an overview of critical child infrastructure and the framework of disaster response services for children.
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Administration for Children and Families and Steady State Preparation for Natural Disasters8 Deborah Bergeron, director of the Office of Head Start (OHS) and director of the Office of Early Childhood Development at ACF, discussed 8 Thissection is based on the presentation of Deborah Bergeron, director of OHS and director of the Office of Early Childhood Development at ACF.
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Family Youth Services Bureau The Family Youth Service Bureau addresses needs related to family violence and homeless youth during a disaster. The Family Violence Prevention and Services Act (FVPSA)
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identified flexibilities and waivers for grantees and developed an infographic titled "Preventing Human Trafficking: What Disaster Responders Need to Do."10 OTIP raises awareness that disasters increase the risk of human trafficking and provides guidance on disaster-related readiness, response, and recovery steps, said Bergeron. The office also conducted a literature review on human trafficking and natural disasters to inform public awareness efforts as well as program and policy development.
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Office of Head Start To prepare for natural disasters, OHS coordinates with other child welfare offices on the ground and has developed its own emergency pre 11 More information about ORR's policies on populations displaced or affected by H urricanes Harvey or Irma is available at https://www.acf.hhs.gov/orr/resource/orr-populations-displacedor-affected-by-hurricanes-harvey-and-irma (accessed October 27, 2020)
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Systems and Services to Support Children and Families During Disasters14 Josephine Bias-Robinson, board member at Life Pieces to M asterpieces, provided an overview of the disaster response programs in OCS and how they interrelate. She discussed federal, state, and local organizations with which OCS partners in disaster response, recovery, and revitalization efforts, as well as outlining OCS's role in providing guidance and clarification on eligibility status and funding flexibilities during crisis assistance and recovery.
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These programs also provide opportunities for states to coordinate on a localized level with community partners. By providing the bulk of human services federal funding that flows into states, these block grants direct funds to community action agencies via state social services, human resources, and labor departments.
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These include state departments of human services, health and welfare, and economic opportunity, as well as corresponding regional offices. Large nonprofit organizations, such as the American Red Cross and the United Way, are partners in disaster response.
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She added that OCS encourages essential community action communication and coordination with key public and private emergency responders and service providers at all phases of crisis assistance and recovery. Discussion Collaboration with Local Organizations A participant asked how ACF currently shares resources and education with local emergency planners and social services organizations.
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Even though the doors of centers were closed, Head Start continued providing services, and she wanted to ensure that e mployees continued to be compensated. As an example of how preparation from previous disasters allows for prompt support, she described how OHS used flexibilities that were implemented in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria that allowed for a nimble, quick response that prevented anyone from missing a paycheck, she said.
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She said that while disasters can be an obvious source of adverse effects on children, most Head Start programs serve children experiencing less visible underlying issues on an ongoing basis. Therefore, the trauma-informed care that OHS incorporates into its regular programming better prepares it for this aspect of disasters.
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Bergeron stated that better alignment would improve the effectiveness of responses to children in disasters. Incorporating Adverse Childhood Events into Disaster Response Systems A participant asked how the ACE framework has affected ACF's infrastructure and systems design for addressing the needs of children and youth before, during, and after natural disasters.
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