FEMA Administrator Fugate Addresses National Commission On Children And Disasters

Release Date: August 23, 2010
Release Number: HQ-10-158

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Craig Fugate today addressed the National Commission on Children and Disasters public meeting on how FEMA is coordinating with state and local governments, as well as with the private sector and non-profit organizations, to integrate the needs of children in planning for disaster response and recovery.

"Children are a part of every community, but too often in the past they've been left out of emergency planning or thought of only after the initial plan has been written," said Fugate. "It's critical that emergency managers plan for the whole community, not just the easy part, and fully integrate children, the elderly, and people with disabilities into all planning and coordination efforts. At FEMA, we're committed to doing just that, and working with our state and local partners to address the needs of the community as a whole from the very beginning."

FEMA has a number of initiatives to incorporate children into disaster planning, including a Ready Kids website, http://www.ready.gov/kids/index.html ,
with steps on how children can help their family get prepared, and the Student Tools for Emergency Planning (STEP) program,
http://www.fema.gov/about/regions/regioni/step.shtm ,
which helps teachers and schools include preparedness into their curriculum.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response Admiral Nicole Lurie and HHS Acting Assistant Secretary for Children and Families David Hansell also spoke about caring for children before and after a disaster strikes.

The National Commission on Children and Disasters is an independent, bipartisan commission established to examine and assess the needs of children in the preparation for, response to and recovery from all hazards. The Commission is chaired by Mark K. Shriver, Vice President and Managing Director for U.S. Programs at Save the Children.

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FEMA's mission is to support our citizens and first responders to ensure that as a nation we work together to build, sustain, and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate all hazards.

Last Modified: Monday, 23-Aug-2010 16:00:14

http://www.fema.gov/news/newsrelease.fema?id=52432