WASHINGTON, DC – The LSU Stephenson Disaster Management Institute was a formal signatory for a report commissioned by the Children’s Health Fund that provided recommendations to protect children and families in the aftermath of future disasters. The report was formally presented to the U.S. Congress Disaster Recovery Subcommittee on December 2, 2009.
As a signatory, SDMI agreed with CHF’s recommendations that a single lead federal agency should be designated to coordinate the implementation of all disaster case management programs and that this model should be rapid and sustainable, clearly defined, flexible, coordinated, local, measurable, accessible and fully and appropriately funded.
“Serving as a signatory for this CHF report reaffirms SDMI’s mission of helping to implement technology and policy to save human lives before, during and after major disasters,” said SDMI Interim Director Thomas Anderson. “We applaud CHF for their tremendous work and look forward to aiding them in the future whenever we can.”
Irwin Redlener, president of CHF, thanked LSU for its continued research and effort toward improving disaster management during the presentation to the Disaster Recovery subcommittee. Senator Mary Landrieu, a member of the subcommittee, recognized the significance of the recommendations.
“I applaud the efforts of CHF and these important stakeholders who have developed these recommendations to create a faster, more efficient and more humane system to respond to current and future communities afflicted by disasters,” said Landrieu.
SDMI’s presence was also felt during the subcommittee’s meeting when Kim Burgo, vice-president of the National Disaster Response Office for Catholic Charities USA and an SDMI fellow, testified regarding disaster case management on behalf of Catholic Charities USA and the National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster.
The Stephenson Disaster Management Institute, an integral part of LSU’s E. J. Ourso College of Business, was established to help save the lives of people and animals by continuously improving disaster response management through research and education. Vision and a generous donation by LSU alumni Emmet and Toni Stephenson were responsible for the creation of the institute in 2007. For more information, visit http://www.bus.lsu.edu/sdmi or call 225-578-0238.
