Emergency Preparedness Manual for Early Childhood Programs

Programs can use this manual as a guide for their emergency planning process. Find the latest tools and resources to support children, families, and communities before, during, and after an emergency. An emergency may be a catastrophic natural event, like a hurricane, flood, or wildfire, or a man-made disaster, such as a shooting. No matter the crisis, early childhood programs need to be ready with impact, relief, and recovery plans.

The Emergency Preparedness Manual for Early Childhood Programs guides early childhood programs to make plans that keep their program safe in an emergency. Emergency preparedness is taking steps to make sure your early childhood program is safe before, during, and after an emergency. It includes assessing the environmental risks most likely to affect the safety of your facilities, preparing for other emergencies that could affect your program, and finding helpful resources in your community. This manual will help you create a plan that is specifically designed for your program’s geographic location and local emergency response resources. It can also help you support the mental health and well-being of children and adults as you prepare, respond, and recover from an emergency or disaster. 

Emergencies are sudden and unexpected events that require immediate action to keep people safe. Disasters are a significant event that may result in severe property damage and injuries. Emergencies and disasters come in many forms. Some disasters, like hurricanes, happen naturally. Some emergencies are caused by disease outbreaks that lead to an epidemic or pandemic. Other emergencies may result from a fire, utility outage, explosion, or acts of violence. While both emergencies and disasters can be sudden and catastrophic, emergencies are the events that local police and fire departments and emergency medical services handle every day. Disasters are bigger in scale and impact and often require help from outside your community. Preparing for all types of emergencies and disasters is important. 

Anyone can use this manual — program directors, early childhood educators, health and safety trainers, child care health consultants, mental health consultants, health managers, and others who oversee health services. You can adapt the information in the manual to different early childhood settings, including centers, family child care homes, and home visiting programs. The manual features the following sections:

• National Requirements and Recommendations for Early Childhood Emergency Preparedness. Review guidance from the Head Start Program Performance Standards, Child Care and Development Fund, and Caring for Our Children Standards.
• Preparedness. Preparedness starts before an emergency. This chapter focuses on:
  • Being informed about likely emergencies in your area.
  • Making plans to respond to emergencies before they happen.
  • Fixing problems in the facility that could make an emergency worse.
  • Creating and restocking supply kits you will have with you during an emergency.
• Response. Emergency response begins when you get an alert about an emergency and continues until it is over. This chapter describes steps to keep children and staff safe and help everyone stay calm in a disaster.
• Recovery. Recovery starts when the emergency ends, focusing on food, water, shelter, safety, and the emotional needs of those affected. The goal of recovery is for staff, children, and families to return to their everyday routines. Recovery can last for days, weeks, months, or years. This chapter focuses on actions to help early childhood programs take care of their short- and long-term recovery needs.
• Mental Health and Disasters. This chapter has resources and tips on mental health and emotional well-being when preparing for, responding to, and recovering from disasters.
• Emergency Role Actions Sheets. These sheets provide information about key roles for staff to make sure they know how to plan for, respond to, and recover from an emergency.
• Appendices. The appendices feature worksheets, checklists, templates, and forms to include in your written disaster preparedness plan.
• Glossary. This is a list of the manual’s key words and definitions.

The need to prepare for disasters in early childhood programs has never been greater as extreme weather events increase. Disasters may especially affect families and communities with fewer resources. Disasters have a bigger impact on areas that have lower quality housing, frequent extreme weather disasters, or inadequate emergency response services. Health emergencies can also affect some populations more than others. Use the CDC’s Pathway to Preparedness Discussion Guide to evaluate your preparedness and response plans and how they address the social determinants of health (SDOH) affecting your community. SDOH are the conditions where people live, learn, work, and play that affect a wide range of health and quality-of-life risks and outcomes. Consider these disparities when preparing and planning for your program’s preparedness and response.

Planning for emergencies is an ongoing cycle. You can use lessons learned from experiencing a disaster to better prepare for future emergencies.

Keep Mental Health in Mind

Planning for something you hope will never happen can be overwhelming. Disasters and other emergencies can bring change and loss, which can lead to uncertainty and anxiety about the future. Being emotionally prepared for a disaster can help reduce some stress and anxiety. Adding mental health strategies to every phase of your disaster preparedness plan can help protect children, families, and staff from some of the trauma they may have after a natural disaster or other emergency.

This manual uses a trauma-informed approach that supports mental health and emotional well-being. With intentional support from program leaders and mental health professionals, children, families, and staff will be better prepared to respond to a disaster and return to normal routines after.

Note on facility preparedness: A building that is ready for the possible effects of natural disasters is safer. The Natural Disasters and Head Start Facilities guide has detailed information and activities about assessing the risks of natural disasters to your facilities, preparing your buildings before a disaster, and making facility response and recovery plans. Use the facilities guide and this manual together to help your early childhood program create and implement your preparedness plans.

Last Updated: June 5, 2025