Operation Child‐ID: reunifying children with their legal guardians after Hurricane Katrina

Abstract

Children constitute a vulnerable population and special considerations are necessary in order to provide proper care for them during disasters. After disasters such as Hurricane Katrina, the rapid identification and protection of separated children and their reunification with legal guardians is necessary in order to minimise secondary injuries (i.e. physical and sexual abuse, neglect and abduction). At Camp Gruber, an Oklahoma shelter for Louisianans displaced by Hurricane Katrina, a survey tool was used to identify children separated from their guardians. Of the 254 children at the camp, 36 (14.2 per cent) were separated from their legal guardians. Answering 'no' to the question of whether the accompanying adult was the guardian of the child prior to Hurricane Katrina was a strong predictor (27.8 per cent versus 3.2 per cent) of being listed as 'missing' by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). All the children at Camp Gruber who were listed as 'missing' by the NCMEC were subsequently reunited with their guardians.

Increases in gonorrhea among high school students following hurricane Katrina

“…Despite extensive efforts put forth to reunite family members who were separated during the massive and chaotic evacuation that followed Katrina landfall,15 at the time of our post-Katrina screening, there were persistent reports in the school of a sizeable number of students who were still not living with their parents or their legal guardians 15 months after the hurricane. This suggests that many may have been forced to live for an extended period of time in neighbourhoods with neighbours with whom they may not feel socially connected, possibly without the supervisory care of an adult relative.…”

Disaster and poverty : the differential impacts of disaster on the poor in the Gulf Coast region.

“…A number of studies focused on the vulnerability of children, in various disaster situations, because of their physiological, psychosocial, and cognitive differences from adults (Belfer, 2006;Brandenburg et al, 2007;Guha-Sapir et al, 2007;Javaid et al, 2011;Murray & Monteiro, 2012). The study showed that disaster vulnerability of children in Alabama and Texas are consistent with previous findings, in which a higher number of one to five year old children led to increased social vulnerability.…”

“…In disaster situation children might be separated from family, therefore, quick identification of separated children as well as their reunification with family is indispensable to counteract secondary injuries, such as physical and sexual abuse, gender-based violence, exploitation, neglect, and abduction (Brandenburg et al, 2007;Javaid et al, 2011;Ritchie, Watson, & Friedman, 2006) . Some studies have also focused on the importance of infant feeding in postdisaster situations (Callaghan et al, 2007;Emily W. Harville et al, 2009).…”

“…A number of studies focused on vulnerability of children in disaster situation because of their physiological, psychosocial, and cognitive differences compared with adults (Belfer, 2006;Brandenburg, Watkins, Brandenburg, & Schieche, 2007;Guha-Sapir et al, 2007;Javaid, Arshad, & Khalid, 2011;Murray & Monteiro, 2012). Children's immature ability to understand and process the instantaneous and longstanding effects of emergencies, including their own injuries and exposure to troublesome events, traumatized or injured parents, loss of beloved ones, interruption of daily routines, and frightening images in the media, make them amongst the most vulnerable members of affected communities (Balaban, 2006;Becker-Blease, Turner, & Finkelhor, 2010).…”

The Tohoku Medical Megabank Project: Design and Mission

“…21 , 22 Moreover, convincing lines of evidence regarding the impacts of the GEJE on child health are still lacking, despite the presence of great concern. 23 …”