National Preparedness Month: "Start a Conversation"
In September 2024 ACF adopted the Ready Campaign’s 2024 National Preparedness Month theme “Start a Conversation” .
It serves as an annual reminder that September is a crucial month to start conversations about disaster preparedness with your family, friends, and community. Initiating these discussions can be as simple as sharing personal experiences or news stories about recent natural disasters.
Emphasize the importance of having a plan in place, such as knowing evacuation routes, assembling emergency kits, and establishing communication strategies. Encourage everyone to stay informed about the types of disasters that could affect your area and to sign up for local alerts and warnings.
By fostering an open dialogue, you can help ensure that everyone understands the steps they need to take to stay safe and resilient in the face of unexpected events.
Remember, preparedness is a shared responsibility, and the more we talk about it, the better prepared we all will be.
Featured Resources
- Emergency and Disaster Waivers and Flexibilities
This resource is designed to provide information on waivers and flexibilities available to ACF grantees during emergencies and disasters. - Early Childhood Disaster-Related Resources for Children and Families
Natural and manmade disasters can happen anywhere and at any time. Making sure you and your family are READY can make a big difference when disasters strike. Check out the fact sheets, guides, family tools, and activities for young children below that can help you and your entire family prepare, respond to, and recover from disasters. - Resource Guide — Supporting Children & Families Before, During, & After Disasters
ACF has compiled the following resource guide for ACF program staff and ACF grant recipients to support children, youth, and families who are preparing for, responding to, or recovering from an emergency, disaster, or adversity. - Dear Colleague Letter — ACF Post Disaster Housing Assistance
This letter provides information on four ACF programs whose funding may be used to provide post-disaster housing assistance following a natural disaster. - Fact Sheet — Post-Disaster Assistance Housing Resources
This fact sheet is intended for emergency managers and service providers seeking resources to help individuals, families, and communities with post-disaster housing.
Emergency & Disaster Preparedness Resources by Program Office
ACF program offices use training and technical assistance (T/TA) centers to curate resources tailored to grantees and recipients.
Children's Bureau
- Child Welfare Emergency Preparedness : In this resource, States, Tribes, and child welfare agencies will find resources to assist in creating disaster preparedness plans and responding to emergencies quickly and effectively to protect children and families and help them recover.
Family and Youth Services Bureau
- Ready for Anything: A Disaster Planning Manual for RHY Programs : This manual teaches the “Ps and Rs” (prevention and preparedness, response, and recovery) of disaster planning. It includes worksheets and checklists to guide you step by step through the process of creating an emergency-preparedness plan for your youth-serving agency.
- COVID-19 Webinar Series - Current Topics and Implications for Continued Response and Planning
- Training on the Intersection of Domestic Violence and Disaster: The Family Violence Prevention and Services Program is pleased to announce the release of the Intersection of Domestic Violence and Disaster Curricula
(ZIP), an interactive training tool developed by the Family and Youth Services Bureau grantee, and the National Domestic Violence Hotline, in collaboration with The New York State Coalition against Domestic Violence
.
- One training curriculum was developed for disaster response and preparedness personnel on domestic violence in disaster response situations and linkages to appropriate services. A separate curriculum has been developed to train domestic violence program staff on the nexus of disaster and domestic violence in order to enhance their services for survivors of domestic violence impacted by Hurricane Sandy.
- These comprehensive trainings focus on protocols and referral procedures, accessing domestic violence services, recognizing the warning signs of domestic violence, safety planning, and maintaining ongoing health and wellness initiatives during the crisis response and recovery phase.
Office of Child Care
- OCC Disaster and Emergency Resources: A primary goal of the Office of Child Care (OCC) is to help ensure early childhood programs support children's healthy growth and development. This goal becomes especially important in the event of a major disaster or emergency, as children are among our most vulnerable populations. Child care can be a critical human service needed to help protect the safety of children and support the stabilization of families after a disaster. Child care prevents children from being left alone or in unsafe environments and can help expedite recovery efforts by ensuring that children are safe while parents visit damaged property, access public benefits, and make other efforts to rebuild their lives.
Office of Child Support Services
- Final Rule: Modifications to Performance Standards During Natural Disasters and Other Calamities: This rule provides information on the Modifications to Performance Standards During Natural Disasters and Other Calamities final rule published on March 4, 2024.
Office of Community Services
- Disaster Flexibilities Hub : This web page lists resources for disaster preparedness and response including information about the flexibilities built into the Office of Community Services’ block grant programs.
Office of Head Start
- Emergency Response and Recovery : OHS provides federal policy direction and a training and technical assistance (TTA) system to assist grant recipients in delivering comprehensive services to eligible young children and their families, which is especially important during disasters. In this resource, you can learn about regulations and guidance designed to help grantees recover from a disaster. Additional resources are available for parents and families to help children feel safe and cope with a crisis. Finally, a broad range of programs and agencies that can help families and programs prepare for an emergency and recover from a disaster are outlined in the guidance and resource materials.