Protecting Children in Foster Care during Natural Disasters
A Comparison of the United States, Aotearoa New Zealand, and Japan
Keywords:
disaster planning, foster care, Convention on the Rights of the Child, Convention on Individuals with Disabilities, Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk ReductionAbstract
While all children are vulnerable in a natural disaster, children who are in foster care because of maltreatment are particularly vulnerable. In the immediate aftermath of a disaster, governments that do not specifically plan for these children may be unable to account for their welfare or location, and foster parents may not have access to government resources. This paper provides a comparative analysis of international law and policy approaches in the United States, Aotearoa New Zealand, and Japan as a means of improving foster children’s safety and welfare after a natural disaster. The aim of this article is to draw attention to the gap in comparative scholarly research in the area of disaster planning for children in foster care and to propose possible directions for future research.
