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Katrina: Safe Return
Home, From Recovery to Rebuilding
Through the generous support of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation
and the Joint Center for Political Economic Studies Health Policy Institute,
CommonHealth ACTION is collaborating with the Center for Empowered Decision
Making, the City of New Orleans Health Department, the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, and numerous community-based organizations to
support the CEDM to:
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assess the needs of residents |
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provide support to CEDM in facilitating the safe
return home or securing a new home for community residents |
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establish sustainable mechanisms to ensure the
voices of those most impacted inform redevelopment efforts so that
the mistakes made during Katrina’s disaster response efforts
are never repeated |
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establish sustainable mechanisms to ensure
the voices of those most impacted inform redevelopment efforts so
that the mistakes made during Katrina’s disaster response
efforts are never repeated |
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engage youth voices in redevelopment goals |
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convene interested organizations in helping better
prepare the city for the return of children and families |
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prepare written reports and provide a briefing
of findings associated with practice and policy implications |
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disseminate findings and recommendations for
public consumption |
Prepare for the Children: A New Phase of Recovery
In partnership with the New Orleans-based Center for Empowered Decision
Making, we recently convened over 25 community-based organizations whose
mission involves supporting children and families. The meeting goals
were to:
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Characterize current programs and
services available to facilitate children and families to return
and thrive (schools, mental health, health care, faith community,
etc.) |
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Identify gaps in programs and services |
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Present opportunities to address gaps |
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Develop a specific plan of action to enhance
program and service gaps |
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Identify leadership to advance collaborative
action |
As an outgrowth of the meeting, many participants
committed to the creation of a more formal structure to develop and
implement a city-wide strategic plan to improve coordination of services
for children and families. We also interviewed youth representatives
to inform this effort.
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