Support During and After the Storm

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Support During and After the Storm

• Ensuring the Continuity of Services to Resource
  Families during Natural Disasters

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Foster Care and Adoption Program in the Aftermath
of Katrina and Rita
ONE STATES EXPERIENCE
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First came the order to evacuate
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Then came the winds
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Hurricane Katrina August 29, 2005
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Hurricane Katrina August 29, 2005

• Normal communications out.
• Shelters are overwhelmed, staff relief needed.
• Families, children and workers. disbursed across
  state and nation.
• Evacuee families separated.
• OCS offices destroyed or damaged.

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Which blew away the shelter
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Next the flood
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Then came the people
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And they kept coming
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Then the search for survivors
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And attracted attention
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Many were rescued
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Families were separated
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Searching for lost loved ones and desperate for
contact information
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And families were reunited
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Characteristics of New Orleans Families

• Least mobile of any urban area of US.
• 73 distinct neighborhoods with unique identity
  and geographic isolation.
• Residents identify themselves with a specific
  neighborhood
• Lower Ninth Ward.
• Residents owned their homes even in some of the
  poorest neighborhoods.

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Katrina Impact inGreater New Orleans

• More than 50 of the population has not returned.
• More than a 1,000 dead and 2,000 still missing.
• More than 1.5 million housing units destroyed.
• 100 billion loss in property and infrastructure.
• About 50 of the businesses have reopened.
• Over 220,000 jobs lost.
• Over 500 million lost in recurring tax revenue.
• Only 20 of 128 schools have reopened in New
  Orleans.
• Over 83,000 college students displaced.
• Less than 50 of the hospitals and health care
  services have reopened.

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Initial Crisis Planning

• Established a toll free number for
  foster/adoptive parents to report their
  whereabouts and the well-being of their children.
• Developed procedures to capture appropriate
  information on families and children.
• Maintained Adoption Subsidy and Foster Care Board
  Checks in State Office for mailing to new
  locations.
• Announced contact numbers to media and
  announcements boards in shelters.
• Developed database of children in state custody
  from the displaced areas included their
  placement providers and additional information.
  Entered information on who was located and their
  whereabouts.
• Requested assistance from NEMAC.
• Held strategy meetings to identify ongoing
  preventive needs.

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Impact on Child Welfare Organizations

• Displacement of workers
• Damage to facilities
• Loss of clients
• Loss of contracts - termination
• Termination of workers

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Child Welfare Budget

• New Orleans loss of cases
• 6 million cut so far for agency
• Large deficit still looming

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Emergency Food Stamps

• For hurricanes Katrina and Rita, DSS issued
  emergency food stamp benefits to over 500,000
  households at a value of more than 280 million
  dollars with only a .4 EBT rejection rate.
• The issuance of Food Stamp benefits began four
  days after Katrina made landfall and offices were
  opened 24/7.
• DSS involved 2,274 employees who recorded 123,254
  hours related to emergency food stamp issuance.
• Plan for the fact that many employees and their
  friends and families will require benefits
• Over 450,000 in benefits were issued to DSS
  staff.
• Staff interviewed each other.
• 1500 internal investigations opened.

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Immediate Issues

• Account for all the missing
• Foster Children - 1,807
• Placement Providers - 1,601
• Workers - 738
• Later
• Checks for providers, contractors
• Relatives of foster children 1,408
• High risk CPS open cases

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TimetableAugust 2005

• Aug 28th - Superdome opened as a special needs
  shelter (OCS staff)
• Aug 29th - Katrina hits Gulf Coast
• Aug 31st - Childrens shelter opens Baton Rouge
• First child accepted at the shelter
• Hotline for foster/adoptive parents and parents
• Decision to request assistance from NCMEC

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Timeline September

• Sept 1st - NCMEC Team Adam arrives in LA
• Sept 2nd - OCS staff evacuated from Superdome,
  Database developed to track cases, ACF conference
  call on assistance
• Sept 3rd - Management of checks for foster care
• Sept 24th - Hurricane Rita strikes LA/TX coast

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Children in Louisianas Custodyin Katrina Area
Safety Well-being

• Close to 2,000 Foster Children in affected area
• 1,492 Foster Families in the affected area
• 738 Employees
• Affected areas of Orleans, St. Bernard,
  Plaquemines and Jefferson Parishes

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Records were destroyed

• Records were destroyed
• Documentation of birth certificates
• Documentation of Court Records

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LOUISIANA ADOPTION SUBSIDY FAMILIES BEFORE
KATRINA
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Displacement of Louisiana Adoption Subsidy
Families in the Aftermath of Katrina
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DISPLACED ADOPTION FAMILIES FROM LOUISIANA
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Impact on Adoption Subsidy Program

• Medicaid certifications Sky rocketed.
• Crisis counseling.
• Other states were not ready for the influx of new
  citizens.
• Families needed housing vouchers emergency
  provisions.
• Mobility issues with adoptive subsidy families.
• ICAMA like ICPC was designed to handle planned
  moves on interstate relocations not massive
  exodus resulting from a natural disaster.

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Hurricane Rita September 23, 2005
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FEMA Designated Parishes (according to FEMA
website 10/10/05)
Katrina Rita
Rita Only
Katrina Only
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Lessons Learned Applied to Hurricane Rita

• Tracking of workers
• Tracking of clients
• Plans for offices/workers to be relocated

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RITAAccounting for the Missing

• 438 Foster Children in Affected Area
• 237 Foster Families
• 100 Employees
• Affected areas of Calcasieu, Cameron, and
  Vermillion Parishes

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LA Demographics

• 80 of state population and industry in lower
  portion of the state
• Entire corridor was affected by Hurricanes
  Katrina or Rita
• One third of state revenue generated by New
  Orleans
• Additional impact from oil industry

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Impact on Workers

• Many Orleans region workers have lost homes.
• All are working in a different office.
• Dislocated, families are spread all over the US.

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Shelter Management

• DSS staff managed 8 Special Needs Shelters with a
  high count of 1,597.
• DSS coordinated 400 General Population Shelters
  with a high count of 62,460.
• The number of Louisianans in shelters out of
  state reached 185,360.
• DSS invested 127,824 hours by 1,852 employees to
  staff shelters.

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Shelter Lessons

• Who goes there Need to work out universally
  accepted ID card/bracelets for staff and
  evacuees.
• Feast or famine Have continual manageable
  incoming supplies.
• Fragile delivery Expect to receive hospital and
  nursing home patients and distraught, separated
  lost individuals in shock.
• Playtime Need a childrens area for the
  childrens sake and the parents/staffs sanity.
• Universal waivers All confidentiality rules will
  be broke to reunite children with families.
• The only constant is change (in procedures,
  staff, evacuees) Staff with those who can thrive
  under pressure and adapt to change.

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What to do as an organization

• Take a stand in advocacy efforts for children and
  families.
• Sponsor a child for summer camp or other
  supervised or enriching activities.
• Organize a crisis support group at your church.
• Sponsor a parenting program in your community.

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Lessons Learned

• Things that went well
• Of the 2,000 children in affected areas, all were
  taken out of harms way and none were separated
  from their caretakers.
• Supports for our foster families and children
  were quickly mobilized across the state and
  across the nation.
• Our partnership with NCMEC proved invaluable.

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Lessons Learned

• Business continuity should have a higher funding
  priority.
• Create a plan for displaced employees to check-in
  and a plan to assist them in remaining
  employable.
• Purchase or contract for mobile satellite
  communications equipment to reestablish an office
  location where electricity/phone systems are
  down.
• Plan for security for shelter operations or
  mobile office locations.
• There should be a single database for shelter
  registration. This would assist in finding
  missing persons.

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More Lessons Learned

• There should be a single coordinating point for
  volunteers offering assistance.
• Implement electronic benefit issuance.
• Implement electronic case records, especially for
  critical documents.
• Identify and train staff on tasks they will be
  expected to perform.
• Maintain stock of necessary forms/cards and/or
  ability to provide them at remote sites as
  needed.
• Plan, practice, assess, tweak then drill.
• (e.g. Spend a day communicating only via text
  messaging)

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Lessons Learned

• Things we can improve
• Need for up-to-date case service information.
• A central database with electronic case records.
• Different ways to communicate during a disaster.
• Expedited process for replacing personal records
  such as, medical cards, medications, drivers
  licenses and birth certificates.
• Need for uniform court reporting information
  system.

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Lessons Learned

• Have a family contact plan in place so that
  biological parents will know where loved ones are
  being relocated.
• Plan to ensure foster/adoptive children can be
  easily identified.
• Plan to ensure foster/adoptive childrens medical
  record information is sent with them when
  relocating.
• Plan to ensure foster/adoptive children s
  medications, physician orders, and necessary
  medical equipment/supplies are sent with them
  when relocating.

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• Develop a disaster plan that the Agency will
  provide the foster/adoptive families with toll
  free phone access and website information. Also,
  cell phone connections in low receptive areas.
• Disaster related mental health services.
• Technology support.
• Lobbying for state and federal support.
• Uniform procedure to notify states where
  displaced foster families and adoptive families
  are located.

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Number of Child Welfare Clients Impacted

• Over 2,000 Foster Children relocated.
• 500 children in Residential Facilities moved.
• 100 children still out of state.
• 500 Family Services cases relocated.
• Child Protection Investigations dropped 75 in
  hurricane evacuated area and rose 50 in areas
  where population migrated.
• .

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Child Welfare Staff Changesand Agency Impact

• Pre-Katrina 370 Child Welfare staff in New
  Orleans.
• Today, 230 staff covering the workload.
• 60 staff resigned/retired/laid off.
• 40 staff transferred to other locations to work.
• 30 staff still on furlough as they are still out
  of state.

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Disasters Personally Impact Staff

• We have staff that lost everything.
• Staff may be having difficulty, but you may not
  know.
• Staff may need to talk about issues, experience
  or loss and may need post-catastrophic help.
• Staff may become emotionally and physically
  drained.
• Staff may need time to deal with stress and own
  loss.
• In order to take care of others you may need to
  plan to take care of your own.
• Staff may need co-worker support.

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What Can ICAMA Do?

• Overview ofICAMA Checklist

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Together we will find families for our children
in partnership withLouisiana