When I first read about the passing of this bill, by first thought was "well of course children need extra help and guidance when it comes to natural disasters. I mean, they are just kids". However, even though that might be a common thought, this idea has been seemingly absent from legislation until now, which is very shocking.
Representative Donald Payne Jr, who authored the bill and is a ranking member of of the Homeland Subcommittee on Emergency Preparedness, made a very powerful statement on this issue: "Children are not tiny adults. But too often, that is how federal policy treats them when there is not a deliberate effort to do otherwise".
This bill will allow the input and feedback on certain policies from organizations representing the needs of children. This makes a lot more sense in the context of the needs of children because who would understand the psychology and needs of children more? The government or child need based organizations?
Clearly, the demographic of children effected by disasters is tragically high. What people don't understand is that a child's response to a disaster versus an adult's response to a disaster are two completely different things. According to the Center for Disaster Philanthropy website, "Developing brains are vulnerable to longer-term impact in areas such as memory, regulation of emotions, and attention. Also, children may be especially impacted by trauma because they are less able to anticipate danger and may be less able to articulate how they feel. Children may blame themselves or others for not being able to prevent the disaster and keep them 'safe'".
This bill aims to to improve the areas of disaster management and recovery and child physical health and trauma care. As subcommittee chairman Representative Dan Donovan said, "the Homeland Security for Children Act provides peace of mind that the future of our most treasured assets -- our children -- are safe in the face of emergencies".
This bill is very admirable in what it is trying to accomplish, but it will be a while until the gaps in the current child disaster response are filled. And some things still remain unclear. What exactly will this bill do for children in the long run? More psychological care? More long term monitoring? The perimeters, at least to me, still are unclear. However, I do feel like this bill is a jump start to a whole new level of positive political intervention in disaster response efforts.
http://www.hstoday.us/briefings/daily-news-analysis/single-article/house-passes-homeland-security-for-children-act/1e3f4b576b74e46367fc37ec33e96df6.html
http://disasterphilanthropy.org/issue-insight/children/
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