Emergency preparedness is taking steps to make sure an early childhood program is safe before, during, and after an emergency. Before an emergency, the program assesses the environmental risks and other disasters most likely to harm its facilities, identifies ways to prepare for them, and makes a plan to protect children, staff, and facilities.

Response begins the moment a program receives an emergency alert and continues until the emergency is over. In this phase, the program follows its preparedness plan. 

Recovery starts when the emergency ends; the focus is on food, water, shelter, safety, and emotional needs. It continues until the program has repaired any damage and restarted all daily routines; this phase can last hours, weeks, months, or even years in the most extreme cases.

The need for early childhood programs to prepare for disasters has never been greater as communities experience an increase in extreme weather events. Using strategies that promote mental health and a trauma-informed approach in every phase of disaster preparedness can help protect children, families, and staff from some of the trauma that a natural disaster or other emergency might cause.

Programs can use the Emergency Preparedness Manual for Early Childhood Programs to write their emergency preparedness plan. Health managers can help program leaders know how to prepare for, respond to, and recover from an emergency or disaster.

Head Start Health Services Competencies:

• CFH-1 Believe that children and families have the right to be healthy and safe.
• L-10 Develop, disseminate, review, and update program health and safety policies and procedures.
• L-11 Conduct ongoing monitoring activities to assure healthy and safe program practices and implement improvements as needed.
• L-12 Maintain a state of readiness to address the needs of children, families, and staff that cover the three phases of an emergency: preparedness, response, and recovery.
• L-16 Establish partnerships with local health care providers to support the health needs of children and families and promote healthy communities.

Performance Standards Related to Emergency Preparedness

• Safety practices, 45 CFR §1302.47
  • (b)(8) Disaster preparedness plan
  • (b)(9) COVID-19 mitigation policy
  • (b)(7)(i) Administrative safety procedures
  • (b)(4)(i)(g) Staff with regular child contact
  • (b)(4)(ii) Staff without regular child contact

Last Updated: June 5, 2025