Working With Children, Youth, and Families on Disaster Preparedness

A child welfare professional’s work can be complex and difficult during calm times, and it can become even more challenging during natural, human-caused, or medical disasters. This bulletin outlines the importance of disaster planning in child welfare and discusses how caseworkers, with the help of their supervisors, can prepare themselves and the children, youth, and families on their caseloads for emergencies. It also provides direction for child welfare staff on response and recovery strategies they can use should disasters occur in their communities.