GAO releases child welfare disaster planning report

Policy & Practice, Sept, 2006

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report, Child Welfare: Federal Action Needed to Ensure States Have Plans to Safeguard Children in the Child Welfare System Displaced by Disasters. The report was conducted in response to the increasing number of natural disasters disrupting the availability of child welfare services. It focuses on state child welfare disaster planning and looks at (1) the number of states that have plans; (2) whether states that experienced federally declared natural disasters in 2005 have developed plans; and (3) the amount of federal assistance from HHS that states had received. The GAO found that 20 states had developed plans that differed on whether they locate dispersed children, preserve child welfare records, increase interstate placements and coordinate how services and information will be available. Based on the findings, the GAO has recommended that Congress increase assistance to states writing plans and consider requiring states to develop plans. A copy of the full report is available at http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d06944.pdf.>