Experts: Child services lacking

• By SARAH CHACKO
• Advocate Capitol News Bureau
• Published: Sep 21, 2009

• Print
• Email
• Save
• Reprints
• Twitter
• Share

• Del.icio.us
• Digg
• Facebook
• Reddit
• 

A report by national disaster recovery and child-care experts say children suffer short- and long-term effects from being treated like small adults during and after catastrophic events.

 

The congressional report, brought about by the experience of Hurricane Katrina that was released last week advocated focusing some emergency services specifically on children.

Louisiana officials who have met with the National Commission on Children and Disasters say they have made significant progress in ensuring children’s needs are met in shelters, hospitals and child-care facilities.

“Now that we’ve lived through some of the largest disasters in the country, when they came and studied where there might be some gaps, they were quick to point out that children need to have a lot of support systems once they’ve been through an event to help them get through it and to make sure they become adults who haven’t been compromised by the event,” said Dr. Jimmy Guidry, the state health officer.

The U.S. Congress organized the commission to develop a national plan to guide the long-term recovery from disasters. The commission is examining the performance of government, nonprofit and other organizations that support the needs of children.

The report identifies several alleged gaps in disaster preparedness that neglects the safety of children, including emergency shelters, delivery of medical and mental-health services, and disaster preparedness in schools and child-care facilities.

Commission Chairman Mark Shriver said in a recent phone interview that while children make up 25 percent of the population, state and federal governments have spent more time and money on the needs of pets in disaster planning.

Four years after Hurricane Katrina and eight years after the Sept. 11 attacks, basic changes that ensure government systems and nonprofit groups attend to the unique needs of children have not been made, Shriver said.

“The most vulnerable people in the most vulnerable settings are still vulnerable because of government inaction and nonprofit inaction,” he said.

Major recommendations — some of which can be acted on quickly — include requiring emergency plans for schools and child-care centers and supplying medical facilities with equipment and personnel appropriate for children, Shriver said.

Guidry said Louisiana, like the rest of the country, has a shortage of mental-health professionals trained in child psychology. The gaps in mental-health services seen on a daily basis are exacerbated by catastrophic events, he said.

“This report wouldn’t need a disaster,” said Guidry, who specializes in pediatrics. “This report stands on what children need today.”