Breadcrumb
- Federal Resources
Federal Resources
Watch: Youth Describe Their Most Meaningful Relationships
In a new video series from the National Clearinghouse on Families and Youth, four youth talk about the adults who helped change their lives. The first video in the series features Marcus, a former foster youth, describing how his adoptive mom has helped and supported him.
ACF Recovering from Disasters and Other Disruptions
After disasters and other breaks in continuity of services, child welfare agencies' tasks are continuing to manage, capturing lessons learned, and rebuilding better systems. In this section you will find federal and state resources for longer term recovery and rebuilding from natural disasters or other major unexpected events, including resources on mental health services and research.
A Guide to School Vulnerability Assessment Key: Principles for Safe Schools
This guide is a companion piece to the Practical Information on Crisis Planning: A Guide for Schools and Communities (above). It emphasizes a valuable part of emergency management planning—ongoing vulnerability assessment—and is intended to assist schools with the selection and implementation of an effective vulnerability assessment tool.
Coping with Disasters and Strengthening Systems: A Framework for Child Welfare Agencies
This resource was developed by the National Child Welfare Resource Center for Organizational Improvement (NRCOI) a service of the Children's Bureau and provides information for before a disaster occurs, during a disaster, and after a disaster.
ED Office of Safe and Healthy Students Emergency Planning Website
The U.S. Department of Education (ED)'s Office of Safe and Healthy Students' (OSHS) Center for School Preparedness provides support, resources, grants, and training to support emergency management efforts for local educational agencies and institutions of higher education.
Emergency Planning for Schools
This website, Readiness and Emergency Management for Schools (REMS), provides information that can help school leaders plan for any emergency, including natural disasters, violent incidents and terrorist acts.
Preparing for Disasters and Disruptions to Service Continuity
Preparing for disasters involves creating plans, preparing to manage during a disaster, and enhancing critical infrastructure prior to a disaster. In this section of the Child Welfare Information Gateway, you will find federal and state resources for professionals and families to prepare for disasters—both natural (e.g., hurricanes, floods, fires) and human created (e.g., terrorism) —including examples of state disaster plans.
Practical Information on Crisis Planning: A Guide for Schools and Communities
Taking action now can save lives, prevent injury, and minimize property damage in the moments of a crisis. Practical Information on Crisis Planning: A Guide for Schools and Communities is designed to help navigate the process of reviewing and revising school and district plans. The guide is intended to give schools, districts, and communities the critical concepts and components of good crisis planning, stimulate thinking about the crisis preparedness process, and provide examples of promising practices.
Ready for Anything: A Disaster Planning Manual for Runaway and Homeless Youth Programs
This manual from the Administration for Children, Youth and Families, Family and Youth Services Bureau, guides youth-serving organizations in creating an emergency preparedness plan and explains the three areas of disaster planning: prevention and preparedness, response, and recovery. It includes worksheets and checklists that can help organizations prepare for disasters before they happen.
REMS TA Center Introduces New Tools for School Emergency Planning
The REMS TA Center has created new, interactive tools that can assist schools, school districts, and institutions of higher education (IHEs) in assessing their knowledge of emergency management, and in creating and evaluating emergency operations plans (EOPs):
- EOP ASSESS: This tool guides users through a series of questions to assess understanding of elements critical to creating and maintaining a high-quality EOP
- EOP ASSIST: This tool, offered as a web-accessible software application, directs users through a six-step planning process that will result in the output of an EOP, developed according to the federal guidelines.
- EOP EVALUATE: This tool can help schools and IHEs evaluate an established EOP to determine whether there are areas where it can be adjusted and improved.
Resource: SITE ASSESS: A Mobile Application for K-12 Schools and School Districts
This free mobile application, developed by the Readiness and Emergency Management for Schools Technical Assistance Center, allows school and school district personnel to walk around school grounds and examine their safety, security, accessibility, and emergency preparedness.