Published: May 21, 2008 10:01 am         

How to make your day-care safer during a disaster

NEW YORK (AP) — It’s hard enough for parents to say goodbye to their kids at drop-off time at preschool or the baby sitter’s house. Add in the threat of a disaster, and the thought of being unable to reach them can make things scary.

Despite recent disasters including the 2001 terrorist attacks, many child-care providers don’t have emergency plans for their charges, experts say. Parents need to take matters into their own hands by asking if plans are in place, says Linda Smith, executive director of the National Association of Child Care Resource & Referral Agencies.

‘‘The vast majority of child care in this country is not prepared for a disaster, other than a fire drill,’’ says Smith, whose organization has 800 agencies around the country that refer parents to day care centers, preschools and home-based care.

‘‘Our goal is to have parents make sure they ask: ’What are the plans? Where will the children be taken? How long is the child going to be cared for?’’’ she said.

Unlike K-12 public schools, which are largely complying with a federal mandate to have a disaster plan, early childhood education and care is not federally regulated, and few states require disaster planning, Smith says. While some providers obtain accreditation from private organizations that mandate planning, they make up less than 10 percent of centers nationwide, she says.

Parents and caregivers can’t anticipate every potential danger. Still, asking questions and being prepared can make parents feel more at ease.

Some parents are doing just that.

Jim Cowen was not yet a father on Sept. 11, 2001, when he was a Navy lieutenant at work at the Pentagon. On that day, he knew his girlfriend was safe and recalls ‘‘how difficult it was for me, when I had no one but myself to worry about.’’

Now his daughter, Samantha, who turns 2 in August, attends a day-care program about a block from the White House, and Cowen has made sure he understands what would happen with her in another emergency.

‘‘Now, my first thought is, where is my daughter and how do I get to her and how do we get out of here?’’ said Cowen, 38, of Alexandria, Va.

‘‘I feel confident because I sat down and asked questions and walked through potential situations,’’ says Cowen.

For example, he knows the center’s two evacuation sites and could run there from from his office in about 20 minutes and that the program has supplies if the kids were to stay put in a crisis. He also keeps a lightweight stroller, diapers and other supplies in his car.

Some parents don’t inquire about disaster plans with child care providers because they don’t think something bad will ever happen to them, or they are embarrassed to ask, says Don Owens, public affairs director for the National Association for the Education of Young Children, an accreditation organization that requires a disaster plan.

‘‘We clearly as an association don’t think enough parents are asking for this,’’ Owens said.

Once children are ready for kindergarten, if they attend public school, their school most likely will have a plan, as more than 95 percent of districts are meeting the federal requirement to have one, said William Modzeleski, an associate assistant deputy secretary at the U.S. Department of Education.

But the government doesn’t tell districts what the plans should say. Parents should ask if the plan is up to date, regularly practiced and coordinated with local emergency officials, he said.

Smith, of the national referral association, acknowledges that preparations for a disaster can scare parents.

‘‘They’re not intended to,’’ she said. ‘‘They’re intended to be precautions so people don’t panic at the last minute.’’

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On the Net: http://www.naccrra.org/disaster/



How to prepare baby sitters for disasters

If your child is one of the nearly 8 million who are age 4 and younger who attend a center- or home-based child care program or stay with a nanny, sitter or another non-relative, you should make sure plans are in place for coping with a natural disaster, terrorist attack or other major event.

For day-care facilities:

— Find out how children will be evacuated and where they will go. Providers should have at least two evacuation sites, and parents should know where they are.

— Provide at least two ways to be contacted, including through someone outside their geographic area. Ask the program director for a contact number or a way to get information during an emergency.

— Keep your contact information with the school current.

‘‘Sometimes it’s hard to get people to sit down and fill out the information, but I can’t stress how important that is,’’ says Linda Smith, executive director of the National Association of Child Care Resource & Referral Agencies.

— Provide an extra supply of medicine if a child takes it regularly, and inquire how infants and children with special needs will be tended.

— Home-based or small care centers should make sure they are known to emergency officials. Some centers are tucked away in neighborhoods, churches and community buildings.

— Providers should make nametags or ID bands ahead of time for each child that are helpful if a child gets separated during an evacuation.

— Providers should learn about the types of disasters likely to occur in their areas, and know when to stay put and when to evacuate. Have food and supplies for everyone to last three days if they stay in place.

For baby sitters and nannies:

— Discuss evacuation plans and meeting spots.

— Prepare a kit that includes information like phone numbers and emergency contacts, copies of the children’s birth certificates and health insurance information, says Deneane Maldonado, president of the Coral Springs, Fla.-based Nanny Poppinz agency that has about 12,000 nannies nationwide.

— Remember to include some contacts out of the geographic area. You may want to get phone numbers of your caregivers’ relatives or friends as well.

— In hurricane-prone South Florida, Maldonado recommends parents leave $150 in cash for each day a nanny may be evacuated with the children, and fill out a form allowing her to get medical treatment for them. Don’t forget extra medicine.

— Make plans for emergencies that may keep a parent from getting or even calling home one night, such as during the 2003 blackout, says Susan Tokayer, who owns Family Helpers agency in Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.,

For all parents:

— Realize you can’t plan for everything.

‘‘The most important thing is to have a caregiver who is aware enough and savvy enough and smart enough to make the decision at the time,’’ Tokayer says. ‘‘The decision is based on safety first.’’