Save the Children Shelter Assessment after Hurricane Sandy

Response Teams conducted statewide (NJ & NY) assessment of larger shelters with significant numbers of children.

Child Protection:

• General concern for children's wellbeing after experiencing distressing events compounded by continuous disruption due to multiple shelter moves

• Children expressing confusion over what has happened including 'what does my house looks like now'

• Lack of activities for children in shelters

• Parents reporting signs of feeling isolated (lack of news from disaster/outside events/info on immediate future) affecting their own well-being and In turn ability to support children's PSS recovery

• Moving into the recovery period, setting up Child-Friendly Spaces at the Disaster Resource Centers (DRCs), where families will be going (and some have begun to go) to receive case management and a variety of transitional forms of assistance (the wait times are immense).  SC emphasized that we will need to know where the largest volumes of families with children will be moving and the location of the DRCs.

Nutrition:

• Nutrition issues (supplements a gap) and infant feeding issues. Children are reportedly receiving an average of 900 calories a day in some shelters, and lacking nutritional snacks.

NFI-Non-Food Item Distribution:

• NFI needs assessed include the following: Female Hygiene kits, warm clothing (electricity and central air climate not stable in shelters and winter weather has arrived), baby cribs, and areas for breastfeeding (need to discuss this latter point further with Shelter Managers)

Education:

• Child care facilities and schools closed, some damaged. Children missing school and may struggle to return to the school after experiencing the disaster.

RESPONSE

Child Protection:

• CFS-Child-Friendly Space kit toys and materials donated in two New Jersey (NJ) shelters (Rutgers Busch Campus and Fountain of Life Church Campus), benefitting 105 children.

• Overall, SC has implemented CFS-Child-Friendly Spaces in four New Jersey shelters and four New York shelters.

• In New Jersey, SC currently implementing Child Friendly Spaces in Atlantic City Convention Center shelter, benefitting 40 children.

• In New York, SC currently implementing CFS--Child-Friendly Space in Nassau Community College (100 beneficiaries), FDR high school (beneficiaries), York College (25beneficiaries), and Queens College (18 beneficiaries).

• Mobilized 14 Child Friendly Space kits to the region

Health & Nutrition:

• Nutritious food items for children and families donated to two Rutgers, NJ shelters, which will feed 1,000 people for five days.

• To Atlantic City mega shelter distributed nutritious food items to feed 2,000 people for 3 days and 300 children for 5 days. Also distributed 9 pack and play cribs

• To Nassau Community College shelter delivered nutritious food items to feed 2,000 people for 3 days (once served) and 600 children for 3 days (once served). To be distributed in next few days.

Non-Food Items- NFI’s:

• 1.862 Johnson & Johnson hygiene kits mobilized

• 3,584 bars of soap mobilized

• IKEA donated 220 baby blankets were distributed to New Jersey and New York.

• 9 Pack and Play cribs distributed to Atlantic City

• 150,000 diapers from Walmart mobilized.