MONDAY, APRIL 27, 2009

Recovery Corps works with federal partners to help shape the future of children

BATON ROUGE, La. -- The Louisiana Family Recovery Corps is working with the National Commission on Children and Disasters (NCCD) to help identify the unique needs of children impacted by disaster and develop policy, legislative, regulatory, and administrative recommendations as they relate to improving emergency preparedness, response, and recovery for children under the age of 18.

The Recovery Corps has assisted the NCCD for months as it prepares a comprehensive study that examines and assesses children’s needs related to preparation for, response to, and recovery from all hazards, including major disasters and emergencies.

“Like the Recovery Corps, the National Commission on Children and Disaster is committed to improving the lives of children throughout Louisiana and the United States,” said Dr. Monteic A. Sizer, President and CEO of the Recovery Corps. “When members of the Commission came to Louisiana in January, they were shocked to learn some of the realities that have faced and continue to face our state’s children and families in the wake of the recent hurricanes.

“We certainly believe the NCCD is making every effort to positively impact national policy related to the health and well-being of children in the United States. The Recovery Corps appreciates the Commission’s leadership on this issue and will certainly do everything that we can to assist it in its mission.”

In addition to developing policy and legislative recommendations, the Recovery Corps has unique data associated with the health of children living in FEMA trailer parks following hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Those statistics show dire situations for many children who had to endure such living arrangements as their families worked to return home. Unfortunately, many of those children and families disappeared into anonymity, as neither the state nor the federal government tracked them after closing down the trailer parks, making it impossible to continue to assess the physical and emotional needs of those children.

“When disasters strike, the unique needs of children are often neglected during relief efforts,” said Mark Shriver, Chairman of the National Commission on Children and Disasters. “Disasters don’t send warning signals, so the time to act is now. We’re thrilled to be working with the Louisiana Family Recovery Corps and hope that their experience will help our work across the nation.”

The NCCD is an independent and bipartisan body originally appointed by President George W. Bush and Congress and has been authorized to study a broad range of domestic policy areas related to the needs of children, including physical and mental health, elementary and secondary education, child welfare, childcare, housing, evacuation and transportation, juvenile justice, and emergency management.

The Recovery Corps, at the behest of the NCCD, developed its Roadmap to a More Holistic Recovery, which it presented to the Commission in Washington, D.C. in February. The Roadmap is a set of recommendations related to long-term human recovery in the wake of disasters. The recommendations begin with a set of general recommendations that should be incorporated at the state and federal levels in order to create the proper infrastructure through which recovery efforts may flow. Following those general recommendations are sets of specific recommendations broken down into three categories – general recovery, case management, and housing.

Those recommendations, along with additional information from the Recovery Corps and other agencies, will be included in the final report the Commission presents to President Barack Obama and Congress.

ABOUT THE RECOVERY CORPS
The Louisiana Family Recovery Corps is a non-profit 501(c)(3) corporation based in Baton Rouge, La., and formed in the wake of hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005. The Recovery Corps’ mission is to facilitate human recovery for the State of Louisiana in the aftermath of disaster, both natural and man-made. The Recovery Corps has partnered with human service and non-profit organizations throughout the state and the country to deliver assistance as effectively and efficiently as possible, allocating more than $80 million to recovery efforts and assisting more than 30,000 households since January 2006.