CHF: Single federal agency to coordinate all disaster case management program implementations needed

Dec 3 2009

GlobalOptions Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: GLOI), a leading provider of domestic and international risk management services, affirmed today that James Lee Witt Associates (JLWA), its Crisis Management and Preparedness Services Division, supports the recommendations of a report developed by The Children’s Health Fund (CHF) to modify the National Response Framework to include issues addressing case management for children.

The Children’s Health Fund, a national organization that advocates for and develops programs that provide clinical care to children in need including three permanent projects in the Gulf Coast area – New Orleans, LA; Gulfport, MS and Baton Rouge, LA – released a report yesterday recommending that a single lead federal agency, rather than the current mix of federal and local organizations, should be designated to coordinate the implementation of all future disaster case management programs in the Gulf and elsewhere.

Witt Associates has been advocating the need for a case management system ever since they began assisting the State of Louisiana in its recovery efforts following Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Case Management is an essential part of disaster recovery, a process that coordinates, implements, monitors and evaluates the individual and/or families' health and human service needs. Effective disaster case management ensures that children and families are protected from secondary, long-term trauma following a major catastrophe.

"Our experiences in Louisiana after Hurricanes Katrina and Gustav demonstrated that case management is an essential part of disaster recovery, linking individuals and families with key services needed to recover, as well as government's ability to monitor both the program and human recovery process,” said Mark Merritt, President, James Lee Witt Associates. “In fact, this process is already in the implementation stage through Governor Chet Culver of Iowa and the Rebuild Iowa Office. The Case Management system in Iowa is a great model for all states to follow because it not only addresses the unmet needs of individuals, but families as well."

Dr. Irwin Redlener, Director, National Center for Disaster Preparedness and Professor of Clinical Population & Family Health Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, testified before Senator Mary Landrieu’s committee to address the issue of adding federal disaster case management as part of the creation of a National Recovery Framework and reform of the Stafford Act encouraged CHF to bring together key stakeholders around disaster case management to establish recommendations on both the local and national level.

The group concluded that a single federal model for case management should be rapid and sustainable, local and appropriately funded, among other things. Two important points noted in the report include:

• Significant disaster-related destruction of communities and infrastructure inevitably requires long-term rebuilding, which may result in a prolonged and difficult recovery for individuals and families, many of whom will require supportive case management.

• When case management programs fall short, they tend to fail the most vulnerable in the affected communities.

The powers and authorities that federal agencies have to assist families and children are not adequate to deliver the necessary services in time of disaster. This report again points out that, with the myriad of financial programs and assistance available after an event, victims deserve a one-stop shop caseworker that can help them through the process and enable more efficient delivery of assistance.

For a complete copy of the report and list of signatories visit, www.childrenshealthfund.org.