Post-Disaster Reunification Of Children: A Nationwide Approach
Post-Disaster Reunification ofChildren: A Nationwide ApproachNovember 2013
Post-Disaster Reunification of Children: A Nationwide ApproachAcknow ledgementsPost-Disaster Reunification of Children: A Nationwide Approach illustrates the significance ofwhole community collaboration and inclusive emergency planning by providing acomprehensive overview of the coordination processes necessary to reunify children separatedfrom their parents or legal guardians in the event of a large-scale disaster and reflects how thewhole community—to include nongovernmental organizations such as Voluntary OrganizationsActive in Disaster, faith-based and community organizations, disability and pediatricorganizations, Federal and private sector partners, and civic action committees—can worktogether to achieve one wide ranging mission.Reunifying unaccompanied minors and separated or missing children with their parents or legalguardians in the aftermath of a disaster is a priority. Accomplishing this goal requires theefficient, coordinated use of resources and efforts from across the whole community and alllevels of government. This document reflects our Nation’s first attempt to establish a holistic andfundamental baseline for reunifying children separated as a result of a disaster and aims to assistlocal, state, tribal, territorial, and insular area governments and those responsible for thetemporary care of children, such as educational, child care, medical, juvenile justice, andrecreational facilities, in enhancing the reunification elements of existent emergencypreparedness plans and/or conducting new all-hazards reunification planning.Any project of this scope entails the participation, assistance, and cooperation of manyindividuals. Whole community stakeholders from across the country were engaged in andsupported the development of this document, including local, state, and Federal partners,nongovernmental organizations, emergency managers, pediatric and disability experts, theprivate sector, and other applicable stakeholders. A warm thank you goes out to them for theirtime, efforts, and pivotal support.Without the participation, commitment, and efforts of those who were willing to share theirrespective expertise and experience in a way that was most useful to stakeholders and personnelfrom a variety of disciplines, Post-Disaster Reunification of Children: A Nationwide Approachwould not have been possible. An enormous amount of gratitude is extended to the States ofArizona, Louisiana, Missouri, New York, and Nevada; the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; theU.S. Department of Education, and the U.S. Department of Justice, whose efforts wereinstrumental in bringing this initiative from concept to fruition.i
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Post-Disaster Reunification of Children: A Nationwide ApproachTable of ContentsIntroduction . 1Background .2Purpose, Applicability, and Scope. 5Roles . 9Local Level .9State Level.13National Level.17Nongovernmental and Private Sector Organizations .20Tribes .23Territories/Insular Areas .24Authorities . 25Planning Considerations . 31Concept of Operations Guidance . 33Minor Separated from Parent or Legal Guardian .33Child Reported Missing by Parent or Legal Guardian .41Unaccompanied Minor Identified as Deceased .42Supplemental Checklist . 43Preparedness .43Evacuation Support .44Shelter Operations .44Reunification Mechanisms .45Public Information and Outreach .45iii
Post-Disaster Reunification of Children: A Nationwide ApproachConclusion. 47Annex A: List of State Clearinghouses . A-1Annex B: Resource Directory . B-1Annex C: Family Emergency Plan Template . C-1Annex D: Abbreviations. D-1Annex E: Definitions . E-1iv
Post-Disaster Reunification of Children: A Nationwide ApproachIntroductionAmid the chaos of a natural, technological, or human-caused disaster, there is an increasedpossibility for children to become separated from their parents or legal guardians. This separationcould occur during the evacuation or sheltering process, or because children who are located in achild care, educational, medical, juvenile justice, recreational, or other facility may be unable toreconnect with their parents or legal guardians.Following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005, the National Center for Missing and ExploitedChildren’s (NCMEC’s) 1 hotline for those events received over 34,000 calls. 2 Children compriseapproximately 25 percent of the Nation’s population. On any given weekday, an estimated 67million of them are in schools and child care, and may be particularly vulnerable because theyare away from their families. Studies have shown that 63 percent of parents would disregard anevacuation order and go directly to their child’s school in an attempt to collect their children,even if they have received instructions to do the opposite. When parents are familiar with theemergency plans of their children’s temporary care providers, including the reunificationcomponents, they are more likely to follow evacuation and shelter-in-place orders, makingeveryone safer. 3Reunifying unaccompanied minors and separated or missing children with their parents or legalguardians in the aftermath of a disaster is a priority. 4 Accomplishing this goal requires theefficient, coordinated use of resources and efforts from across the whole community at the local,state, regional, and national levels. 5 By understanding approaches to reunification from acrossthe whole community, jurisdictions will be able to further develop and enhance the reunificationelements of their emergency preparedness plans.Outreach and collaboration with a broad stakeholder group has shown that communities arelooking for more information on available resources and promising practices to help them furtherdevelop the way their emergency preparedness plans address reunification.This document is designed to support those efforts. It was created to support overall reunificationprocesses and procedures by establishing a fundamental baseline, assisting in identifying theroles of lead and supporting agencies and organizations, and serving as a tool to enhancereunification elements of existent emergency preparedness plans and/or help guide thedevelopment of new all-hazards reunification plan elements and procedures. This documentshould assist in the development of reunification planning elements that are inclusive,considering those children who may be unable to verbalize who they are and/or relay any other1Federal law authorizes NCMEC to provide free services to families as the Nation’s clearinghouse for missing andsexually exploited children. Many of NCMEC’s authorized services are listed in 42 U.S.C. § 5773.2Sarita Chung and Michael Shannon, “Reuniting Children with Their Families During Disasters: A Proposed Planfor Greater Success,” American Journal of Disaster Medicine, 2007.3Irwin Redlener, Roy Grant, David Abramson, and Dennis Johnson, “Why Parents May Not Heed EvacuationOrders and What Emergency Planners, Families and Schools Need to Know,” ite paper 9 08.pdf4A separated child is a child who is separated from both parents or from his/her previous legal or customary primarycaregiver, but not necessarily from other relatives, while an unaccompanied child is a child who has been separatedfrom both parents and other relatives and is not being cared for by an adult who, by law or custom, is responsible fordoing so. See Annex E: Definitions for additional detail.5For the purposes of this document, “local and state” includes tribal, territorial, and insular area governments.1
Post-Disaster Reunification of Children: A Nationwide Approachessential information, and should also recognize the needs of children with disabilities and otheraccess and functional needs, including hearing and visual impairments. This document focusessolely on the reunification of children separated from their parents or legal guardians following adisaster. Planned next steps include developing other materials that comprehensively address thereunification of all disaster survivors.Overall, this document, along with other national preparedness doctrine (e.g., the NationalResponse Framework [NRF], and National Disaster Recovery Framework), provides another toolfor achieving our National Preparedness Goal of a more secure and resilient Nation to prevent,protect against, mitigate, respond to, and recover from the threats and hazards that pose thegreatest risk. 6For the purposes of this document, reunification is defined as the process of assistingdisplaced disaster survivors, including children, in voluntarily reestablishing contact withfamily and friends after a period of separation. Throughout the document, web links areprovided for reference and further information. All referenced web sites are active as of May2012.B a c kg ro u n dIn October 2006, the President signed into law the Post-Katrina Emergency Management ReformAct of 2006 (PKEMRA), 7 modifying the organizational structure, authorities, andresponsibilities of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). PKEMRA and theStafford Act 8 mandated that the National Emergency Child Locator Center (NECLC) beestablished within the NCMEC and that procedures be put in place to facilitate the identificationand reunification of displaced children with their families. NCMEC, established in 1984 as aprivate, nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization, serves as the Nation’s resource center on the issues ofmissing and sexually exploited children and provides services nationwide for law enforcement,families, and professionals in the protection of abducted, endangered, and sexually exploitedchildren. 9Pursuant to the Kids in Disaster Well-being, Safety, and Health Act of 2007, 10 the NationalCommission on Children and Disasters (Commission) was established in December 2007 by thePresident and Congress. The Commission was charged with conducting an independent andcomprehensive study to identify gaps in the Nation’s disaster planning, preparedness, response,and recovery for children, and to submit a report providing recommendations for closing thosegaps. The Commission delivered an interim report to the President and Congress in October2009, and then a final report in October 2010. 11 In August 2009, FEMA, in collaboration withmany other Federal partners and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), began to work closelywith the Commission to address their recommendations, where applicable, and ensure that the6Department of Homeland Security, National Preparedness Goal, September . L. No. 109-2958Section 689(b) of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Assistance Act, Pub. L. No. 93-288, as amended.9NCMEC Web site. http://www.missingkids.com.10Pub. L. No. 110-16111National Commission on Children and Disasters, 2010 Report to the President and Congress, October x.html.2
Post-Disaster Reunification of Children: A Nationwide Approachneeds of children were considered and integrated into overall disaster planning, preparedness,response, and recovery efforts initiated at the Federal level.Included in the Commission’s report was a recommendation that efforts be made to strengthenthe mechanisms for collecting data, expanding information sharing capabilities, and creating acentral database where information pertaining to unaccompanied minors could be stored. Thisrecommendation prompted the development of the Unaccompanied Minors Registry (UMR)which supports the ability to collect, store, report, and act on information related to childrenmissing or lost as a result of a disaster. This newly created tool is administered by the NCMECduring disasters to gather and share information with, and provide technical assistance to, locallaw enforcement and assist in the reunification of displaced children with their parents or legalguardians. 12 Additionally, data within the tool can, through proper channels, be used by local andstate emergency managers, as well as other reunification stakeholders to assist with reunificationefforts, planning, and strategies. The UMR remains active at all times, even when not in use for aspecific disaster.Through the Commission, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS)/FEMA, U.S.Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), and U.S.Department of Education have collaborated closely to address the disaster related needs ofchildren. They have strengthened existing relationships and have worked together to supportlocal disaster operations by coordinating and connecting local, state, and Federal primary pointsof contact whenever and wherever necessary.12Team Adam and Project ALERT—comprising retired law enforcement professionals with years of investigativeexperience at the Federal, state, and local levels—will provide rapid, onsite assistance to law enforcement agenciesand families in reuniting unaccompanied minors with their families or legal guardians.3
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Post-Disaster Reunification of Children: A Nationwide ApproachP u r p o s e , A p p l i c a b i l i t y, a n d S c o p eMost incidents begin and end locally and are managed at the local level. When the demands ofthe disaster exceed the capacity of local governments, they may seek or be offered assistancefrom the state to enhance and supplement their response capabilities. In home rule states, localgovernments maintain control of disaster response operations and the state will only respondonce a formal request for assistance has been issued (see Annex E: Definitions). However, manystates will take a proactive readiness posture rather than simply waiting for requests to be issued.The Federal Government will do the same, remaining ready to support local and/or stateresponse efforts if and when help is officially requested. 13 In the event that a disaster crossesstate and/or international borders (cross-borders) there will likely be a need for additionalcoordination, support, and clarification of legal authorities. Roles, responsibilities, andprocedures often vary from state to state and even among local jurisdictions within each state, soit is important that the lines of authority for displaced children within a given jurisdiction areclarified before a disaster strikes. 14This document is not legally binding and does not establish requirements for state, local, Federalor private sector entities. It aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the coordinationprocesses necessary to reunify unaccompanied minors with their parents or legal guardiansfollowing a large-scale disaster. This document reflects how the whole community—to includeNGOs such as Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster, faith-based and communityorganizations, disability and pediatric organizations, private sector partners, and civic actioncommittees—can support local, state, and Federal efforts of reunifying unaccompanied minorswith their parents or legal guardians in the aftermath of a disaster. 15“Whole Community is a means by which residents, emergencymanagement practitioners, organizational and community leaders, andgovernment officials can collectively understand and assess the needs oftheir respective communities and determine the best ways to organizeand strengthen their assets, capacities, and interests.”—A Whole Community Approach to EmergencyPrinciples, Themes, and Pathways for ActionManagement:This document aspires to:1. Assist local and state governments in determining processes, communication lines, and theidentification of roles necessary to facilitate the expeditious reunification of children withtheir parents or legal guardians in the aftermath of a disaster.2. Encourage stakeholders and community leaders to develop and build upon existentrelationships in an effort to collaborate and communicate more efficiently and effectively in13The NRF Resource Center Web site is a useful source for additional information on this l Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, Alone without a Home: A State-By-State Review of LawsAffecting Unaccompanied Youth, September hout%20a%20Home,%20FINAL1.pdf.15FEMA, A Whole Community Approach to Emergency Management: Principles, Themes, and Pathways forAction, December 2011. http://www.fema.gov/about/wholecommunity.shtm.5
Post-Disaster Reunification of Children: A Nationwide Approachthe event of a large-scale disaster, specifically one occurring during normal business hoursand/or the school day.3. Establish an understanding of how all applicable parties (leading and supporting) can worktogether to support each other’s missions, achieving the overall goal of expeditiouslyreuniting children displaced as a result of disaster with their parents or legal guardians.4. Identify tools and resources that could assist localities and states in disaster-relatedreunification efforts, to include the use of technology and support from Federal agencies,NGOs, and other stakeholders.The under
Post-Disaster Reunification of Children: A Nationwide Approach needs of children were considered and integrated into overall disaster planning, preparedness, response, and recovery efforts initiated at the Federal level. Included in the Commission’s report was a recommendation that efforts be made to strengthen
The Job of the Reunification Professional - The reunification therapist strives to be objective when working with your family. The reunification therapist is not on “team mom” or “team dad.” During the reunification therapy process, the reunification therapist will utilize variou
A key issue of Korean reunification will be its cost. The reunification cost will depend on the political process of reunification, the political, economic, and social structure of North Korea after reunification, the productivity gap between the two Korean regions, and the fiscal policies that will be implemented in a reunified Korea.
public health, family reunification should not be an undue burden on the public purse. Economic considerations are thus a very necessary part of family reunification policy. While it is not proposed that family reunification determinations should become purely financial assessments the State cannot be regarded as having
income. Moreover, reunification can be a costly affair (for example, -2012 the price pre of a family reunification procedure in Netherlands was approximately 1the ,970 (De Hart, Strik, and Pankratz2012)). However, hypotheses regarding reunification at destination are difficult to derive from these economic approaches to migration.
1. Post-Disaster Recovery and Disaster Risk Reduction require support from community participation in improving the quality and objectives of Disaster Management; 2. Community-based Disaster Risk Reduction is a key factor in participatory disaster management, including in post-disaster recovery, as indicated by best practices in Yogyakarta and .
reunification and prevent reentry Practices that support reunification and prevent reentry State and local strategies Conclusion References. BULLETIN FOR PROFESSIONALS. October 2017. Supporting Successful Reunifications . If a child has been removed from the care of his or . her parents, safe and timely family reunification. 1. is the preferred
of German reunification, the death of Kim Il Sung in 1994, and the Korean Peninsula summit of 2000, there was a raft of predictions by scholars, commentators, and officials of not if but when reunification would occur.1 Most of these assessments assumed that reunification would be achieved by the absorption of North Korea by the South. Many
A WIZARD-OF-OZ EXPERIMENT TO DEMONSTRATE WATER REDUCTION AND USER TRAINING WITH AN "AUTONOMOUS" FAUCET William Jou Stanford University Stanford, CA, USA
