Project K.I.D. :: Responding to Kids in Devastation

Project K.I.D. was organized within a week following the landfall of Hurricane Katrina in August 2005 around a very simple premise: Play is at the heart of what it means to be a kid . This means that as soon as possible in the wake of a disaster, children need protective, restorative environments where they can return to being kids.

Establishing disaster child care sites at over a dozen locations across coastal Mississippi as well as in Alabama and Louisiana , Project K.I.D. had the opportunity to work on-the-ground with over 5,600 children in storm devastated areas in the months following Hurricane Katrina. We believe this work can and must contribute to our understanding of best practices in the field.

Based on the extensive work in child development of our founder, Paige Ellison-Smith, Project K.I.D. developed a model of response we call PlayCare . The PlayCare model addresses the needs of children in Phases 1 & 2 of disaster child care, when children are often at most risk for secondary injury, illness, and psychosocial trauma from having no safe place to go amidst debris and destruction.

Today, Project K.I.D.'s work continues as we seek to improve to meet the needs of children following a disaster and to focus national attention on meeting those needs. Based on our experiences in Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana following Hurricane Katrina, Project K.I.D. urges all public and private emergency-response and child-care organizations to encourage and to lead local, regional, and nation-wide systems of preparation and response that can guarantee immediate physical safety, attention to psychological needs, respite for families in stress taking care of children, and long-term psychological and social concerns of children.

Mission

Bringing together research-based understandings of child development and resilience and on-the-ground experience in responding to the largest-ever domestic natural disaster, Project K.I.D.'s mission is to spearhead intentional and coordinated emergency preparedness and response activities that address the specific needs of children in times of disaster and devastation.

Goals and Strategies

Project K.I.D. is committed to providing leadership, training, and collaborative tools to improve the effectiveness of our nation's response to children during and after disasters.

Improve the readiness of communities to “hold safe” and promote the resilience of children affected by disasters (Readiness).
Develop a mission-centric network of individuals, organizations, companies, and government agencies committed to deepening our understanding of the needs of children in disasters and to developing effective, replicable models of response (Research).
Foster Collaboration: Build a web-based resource of content and software to facilitate and strengthen the collaborative infrastructure and communications network for disaster child care preparedness and response (Collaboration).
Make the disaster response process more transparent to civilians in order to expand and improve volunteer and community-based response to children in disasters (Engagement).
Strengthen the ability of disaster child care providers to influence national, regional and local media and, when necessary, policy makers (Policy).