More than half of states do not have adequate plans in place to deal with disasters in both K-12 schools and child-care facilities, concludes a report by the Washington-based advocacy group Save the Children.
The study judges states’ readiness based on standards set by the National Commission on Children and Disaster after Hurricane Katrina. For child-care facilities, it evaluates plans and policies for evacuating children, reuniting families after a disaster, and safeguarding children with special needs. For K-12 schools, the report looks at whether states have multi-hazard emergency plans. Twenty-two states meet the standards in all four areas—up from four in 2008. Four fall short in every category.
