Approaches to the Assessment of Children in the Context of Disasters

Abstract

Children exposed to disasters are a vulnerable population, making the assessment of children post-disaster an important issue. Utilizing a Multiple Gating Stepped Care framework, we highlight recent literature related to post-disaster assessment and intervention for children. In particular, we focus on screening, clinical evaluation, and feedback-informed service delivery. Screening allows large populations of children to be assessed at a relatively low cost. Children identified by screening as being at risk may then be assessed through more in-depth clinical evaluations, in order to assess clinical symptoms, strengths, and stressors, and to make determinations about appropriate intervention..