Hurricane Katrina Disaster Resources

The National Resource Center for Family Centered Practice and Permanency Planning has issued the following statement approved by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

• Children without parents due to natural disasters have always brought out the best in the American people. The National Resource Center for Family-Centered Practice and Permanency Planning (NRCFCPPP) has heard from many families willing to open their homes and hearts to children who are separated from or have lost their families due to Hurricane Katrina. Foster care and adoption of children is regulated by state public child welfare agencies, which are responsible for ensuring the safety, permanency, and well-being of children in foster and adoptive homes. It is expected that any unaccompanied children will be reunited with nuclear and extended family members as soon as possible. Only if family is not available will foster care or adoption will be pursued. In times of crisis it is important to maintain connections, especially for children. It is important to remember that the first step you would need to take in the process of becoming a foster or resource family would be to contact your community’s child welfare agency or social services agency. For a direct link to the appropriate agency in your state, click here:

Look in the right-hand column to search for foster care and adoption hotline numbers in your area.

Other information regarding fostering and adoption of children and youth in need can be found on the following websites.

Adopt US Kids - http://www.adoptuskids.org

Check here for state and local response teams to which the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services have provided funding. The response teams connect families to state and local agencies for foster care and adoption studies.

National Foster Parent Association - http://www.NFPAinc.org

The immediate situation in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama is desperate for all the people who are struggling to survive. As people consider what they can do to help, both now and in the weeks and months to come, they are asked to remember the special needs of children and youth in out-of-home care, their families - birth, foster, kinship, and adoptive, and the agencies and residential facilities that care for them. Their existing grief and loss issues and traumatic experiences are being multiplied and magnified, and many may be stranded and out of touch with the resources they need. The NRCFCPPP would like to direct your attention to the following links. If you become aware of other sources of information or assistance for this population, they will continue to add new resources to this page as they receive them.

The National Foster Parent Association has launched a clothing drive and relief fund to support foster families displaced by Hurricane Katrina. NFPA donated $10,000 to kick-off the drive and hopes others will contribute clothing and funds. Americans are being asked to donate good, usable clothing that will be distributed to foster families. While clothing for all ages is needed, there is particular need for new underwear and clothing for infants aged 0-24 months. Clothing donations should be sent via U.S. mail or UPS to the Adoptive and Foster Parent Association of Georgia, which has agreed to act as a distribution point for the affected families. Donations should be addressed to Sharon Carlson, 600 Bear Road, Bogart, GA, 30622. In addition, NFPA is collecting monetary donations which will be used as cash grants and gift cards for affected foster families. Donations can be made online at www.NFPAinc.org or mailed to NFPA, 7512 Stanich Avenue #6, Gig Harbor, WA, 98335. Checks and money orders should be made payable to "NFPA Disaster Relief.

"Foster families have opened their homes to vulnerable children and now many of them in the Gulf Region don't have their homes anymore," said Karen Jorgenson, NFPA Executive Director. "People have been calling us from all over the country asking how they can help." Jorgenson advises foster families who need assistance to contact their state association first. "The state associations are the primary point for help. NFPA is working closely with the state associations to make sure they have what they need." A list of state associations is available on the NFPA website, www.NFPAinc.org. Additionally, anyone interested in fostering children orphaned by the hurricane should also contact their state association. While accurate numbers of foster families and children affected by the hurricane cannot be determined at this time, at least 322 families have been affected in Mississippi alone. NFPA fears many children have been orphaned by the storm and these children will require foster care as well. The National Foster Parent Association, based in Gig Harbor, Wash., is the only national organization that strives to support foster parents and remains a strong voice on behalf of all children. Currently, more than 500,000 children are in the foster care system in America. For more information about NFPA, visit www.NFPAinc.org.