I 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4478 

To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance 

Act to direct the President to take actions to address the needs of 

children and families who are victims of a major disaster, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 20, 2010 

Ms. CORRINE BROWN of Florida introduced the following bill; which was 

referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure 

A BILL 

To amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act to direct the President to take 

actions to address the needs of children and families 

who are victims of a major disaster, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Kids Wish II Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

2 Section 102 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief 

3 and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5122) is 

4 amended— 

5 (1) in paragraph (9)(C) by inserting ‘‘child 

6 care,’’ after ‘‘educational,’’; 

7 (2) in paragraph (10)(A) by inserting ‘‘child 

8 care,’’ after ‘‘educational,’’; and 

9 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(11) CHILDREN.—The term ‘children’ means 

11 individuals who are 18 years of age or younger. 

12 ‘‘(12) EMERGENCY CHILD CARE.—The term 

13 ‘emergency child care’ means supervision, recreation, 

14 and other services offered by a State or local govern15 ment (or a child care provider regulated by a State) 

16 for the purpose of providing nonparental care for 

17 children in the event of a major disaster or emer18 gency.’’. 

19 SEC. 3. ELIGIBILITY OF FOR-PROFIT CHILD CARE FACILI20 TIES FOR DISASTER ASSISTANCE. 

21 Title I of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and 

22 Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.) is 

23 amended by adding at the end the following: 

24 ‘‘SEC. 103. FOR-PROFIT CHILD CARE FACILITIES. 

25 ‘‘Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, a 

26 private for-profit child care facility shall be eligible for asVerDate Nov 24 2008 20:56 Jan 21, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4478.IH H4478

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1 sistance under this Act to the same extent as a private 

2 nonprofit child care facility.’’. 

3 SEC. 4. DISASTER PLANNING. 

4 Title III of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief 

5 and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5141 et seq.) 

6 is amended by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘SEC. 327. DISASTER PLANNING TO ADDRESS NEEDS OF 

8 CHILDREN AND FAMILIES. 

9 ‘‘(a) STATE AND LOCAL DISASTER PLANNING.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The President shall encour11 age States and localities to include consideration of 

12 services and facilities for children within all phases 

13 of their disaster planning, training, and exercises. 

14 ‘‘(2) SERVICES AND FACILITIES FOR CHILDREN

15 DEFINED.—In this subsection, the term ‘services 

16 and facilities for children’ includes— 

17 ‘‘(A) health and mental health services and 

18 facilities for children; 

19 ‘‘(B) school services and facilities; 

20 ‘‘(C) child care services and facilities; 

21 ‘‘(D) services and facilities associated with 

22 early education programs, including the Head 

23 Start program; 

24 ‘‘(E) juvenile corrections, detention, and 

25 court services and facilities; 


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1 ‘‘(F) child welfare services and facilities; 

2 and 

3 ‘‘(G) residential care services and facilities 

4 for children, including residential treatment 

5 centers and group homes. 

6 ‘‘(b) NATIONAL DISASTER PLANNING.—The Presi7 dent shall take such actions as may be necessary to include 

8 the provision of services and facilities for children within 

9 national planning activities, including the National Re10 sponse Framework and the National Disaster Recovery 

11 Framework. 

12 ‘‘(c) SPECIFIC MEASURABLE CAPABILITIES OF DIS13 ASTER PLANS.—The President shall ensure, to the max14 imum extent practicable, that disaster plans for services 

15 and facilities for children, at a minimum, incorporate spe16 cific measurable capabilities for shelter-in-place, evacu17 ation, relocation, family reunification, temporary oper18 ating standards, and accommodation of children with dis19 abilities and chronic health needs and other special needs 

20 child populations.’’. 

21 SEC. 5. DISASTER ASSISTANCE FOR CHILD CARE SERVICES 

22 AND FACILITIES. 

23 (a) ESSENTIAL ASSISTANCE.—Section 403(a)(3) of 

24 the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency As25 sistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170b(a)(3)) is amended— 


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1 (1) in subparagraph (D) by inserting ‘‘, child 

2 care,’’ after ‘‘schools’’; 

3 (2) by striking ‘‘and’’ at the end of subpara4 graph (I); 

5 (3) by striking the period at the end of sub6 paragraph (J) and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

7 (4) by adding at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘(K) provision of emergency child care and 

9 assistance to families for child placement in 

10 emergency child care.’’. 

11 (b) REPAIR, RESTORATION, AND REPLACEMENT OF

12 DAMAGED FACILITIES.—Section 406(a)(3)(B) of such Act 

13 (42 U.S.C. 5172(a)(3)(B)) is amended by inserting ‘‘child 

14 care,’’ after ‘‘education,’’. 

15 (c) FEDERAL ASSISTANCE TO INDIVIDUALS AND

16 HOUSEHOLDS.—Section 408(e)(2) of such Act (42 U.S.C. 

17 5174(e)(2)) is amended— 

18 (1) in the paragraph heading by inserting 

19 ‘‘CHILD CARE,’’ after ‘‘TRANSPORTATION,’’; and 

20 (2) by inserting ‘‘child care,’’ after ‘‘transpor21 tation,’’. 

22 SEC. 6. CASE MANAGEMENT SERVICES. 

23 Section 426 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief 

24 and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5189d) is 

25 amended— 


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1 (1) by inserting ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—’’ before 

2 ‘‘The President’’; and 

3 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

4 ‘‘(b) PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS.— 

5 ‘‘(1) EMPHASIS ON CHILDREN AND FAMILIES.— 

6 In carrying out this section, the President shall es7 tablish a single Federal disaster case management 

8 program with an emphasis on achieving tangible, 

9 positive outcomes for all children and families who 

10 are victims of a major disaster. 

11 ‘‘(2) COMPONENTS.—The program shall— 

12 ‘‘(A) adequately address the physical 

13 health, mental health, nutrition, education, 

14 housing, transportation, and other human serv15 ices needs of children and families who are vic16 tims of a major disaster; 

17 ‘‘(B) provide for the involvement of non18 profit agencies that provide disaster case man19 agement services; 

20 ‘‘(C) provide access to funding that sup21 ports all aspects of disaster case management, 

22 including direct services to survivors; 

23 ‘‘(D) provide for a single point of contact 

24 for disaster assistance applicants who need a 


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1 wide variety of services that may be provided by 

2 many different organizations; and 

3 ‘‘(E) provide funding to support case man4 ager training.’’. 

5 SEC. 7. ASSISTANCE TO MEET NEEDS OF CHILDREN AND 

6 FAMILIES. 

7 Title IV of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and 

8 Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 5170 et seq.) is 

9 amended— 

10 (1) by redesignating the second section 425, re11 lating to essential service providers, as section 427; 

12 and 

13 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘SEC. 428. ASSISTANCE TO MEET NEEDS OF CHILDREN AND 

15 FAMILIES. 

16 ‘‘(a) MASS CARE SHELTERS.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The President may provide 

18 mass care shelters for victims of major disasters. 

19 Such shelters shall provide a safe and secure mass 

20 care shelter environment for children, including ap21 propriate access to essential services and supplies. 

22 ‘‘(2) STANDARDS.—In carrying out this sub23 section, the President shall— 


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1 ‘‘(A) develop and implement national 

2 standards and indicators for mass care shelters 

3 that are specific and responsive to children; 

4 ‘‘(B) develop a list of essential age-appro5 priate shelter supplies for infants and children 

6 and fund the addition of child-specific supplies 

7 to caches for immediate deployment to support 

8 shelter operations; 

9 ‘‘(C) ensure the implementation of stand10 ards and training to mitigate risks unique to 

11 children in shelters, including child abduction 

12 and sex offenders; and 

13 ‘‘(D) ensure all shelter operators have ac14 cess to a fast, accurate, and low-cost system for 

15 conducting national fingerprint-based criminal 

16 history background checks for shelter workers 

17 and volunteers. 

18 ‘‘(b) HOUSING.—The President— 

19 ‘‘(1) shall give priority to families with children 

20 in providing disaster housing assistance under this 

21 title; and 

22 ‘‘(2) may provide financial and other assistance 

23 for individuals and families who are victims of a 

24 major disaster to ensure an expedited transition into 

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1 dren who have disabilities or other special health, 

2 mental health, or educational needs. 

3 ‘‘(c) EVACUATION.—The President, in coordination 

4 with the heads of other appropriate Federal agencies, shall 

5 develop a standardized, interoperable national evacuee 

6 tracking and family reunification system that ensures the 

7 safety and well-being of children.’’. 

8 SEC. 8. DISASTER RELATED INFORMATION SERVICES. 

9 Section 616(a)(2)(B) of the Robert T. Stafford Dis10 aster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 

11 5196f(a)(2)(B)) is amended by inserting ‘‘children and’’ 

12 before ‘‘individuals with disabilities’’. 

Æ 


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