In the News: Connections to Child Life

Texas Border Crisis. Hurricanes Florence and Michael. Thousand Oaks and Pittsburgh shootings. California Camp Fire. The weight of these tragic situations is impossible to miss. Regardless of your knowledge of the details, you likely feel the urgency that these disasters create and are concerned about how these situations will forever shape the lives of the children they touch. 

The reality is, these disasters have been increasing. The United States as well as the world has seen a rise in both natural and man-made disasters. Child life specialists around the country are utilizing their skills to help the children impacted by these life-altering events to mitigate the negative impact on the youngest survivors. The child life specialists’ stories after these deployments are stunning and inspiring.

But let’s take a closer look at smaller, less publicized events that are even more frequent. There are small-scale shootings, fires, and other disaster events happening within our communities that are not widely covered by the media but that still have a significant impact on the children directly involved and those who witness these incidents. What if the children impacted by these events had an adult responding to the scene who is tuned into their needs and fears and whose primary focus is to help meet their coping needs? In other words, what if the first responders in your community included psychosocial personnel? Slowly, this new territory is being successfully navigated by child life specialists around the country.

Gradually, the children began to come into the space and engage in play. The atmosphere of the whole room changed as adults watching the play began to smile and look more relaxed. A few adults asked for a pack of cards and soon a group of adults were playing, laughing, and talking together. The play space completely transformed the whole room.

One Child Life Disaster Relief (CLDR) team was called in by their city’s emergency management organization after a local shooting. The shooting was drug-related and involved a SWAT team stake-out where the only fatality was the SWAT team’s main person of interest. However, this stake-out and shooting event occurred at a local motel, where multiple families were evacuated in a flurry of chaos by armed and masked police officers. These families were all low-income families who had been using this motel for temporary housing. They were taken by police to a local church where they spent the next 30 hours sleeping on cots, being interviewed by police, and trying to figure out their next steps. The local child life team was contacted within an hour of the shooting and two child life specialists, trained by CLDR for just this kind of situation, responded immediately.

While the children played, they frequently looked up timidly at the police officers standing in the room. They gradually communicated through their play the scary scene of having men dressed in black with large black masks and guns drawn kicking down their doors and yelling, “EVERYONE OUT NOW!” Through their play, the children were able to communicate their fears and concerns about the items they left behind and also a sense of confusion about whether cops are “good guys or bad guys.” The two child life specialists that night and two others who came the following day were able to help the kids process through these thoughts, feelings, and fears. They encouraged one of the police officers to join the play for a while to build trust. They also allowed the kids to write notes and draw pictures to pass out to the police officers around the room. When it was announced that the adults would be able to go back and retrieve more of their belongings from the motel, which was still considered a crime scene, the child life specialists spent time supporting the children with their questions and fears brought on by this new announcement.

They walked in to the church to find a tense environment. Several families and individuals were moving about slowly and quietly talking while nervously watching each other. Heavily uniformed police officers were spread out throughout the building and disaster relief personnel were scurrying about setting up tables, cots, and other supplies.

The two child life specialists were greeted by the disaster relief staff with enthusiasm. “We just don’t know what to do with the kids,” they said. They led the two child life specialists down a hall to a classroom to use as a play space, but the child life specialists asked if they could create a small space within the main large room instead. They explained that it may be important for both the parents and the kids to be able to see each other for a sense of safety after such an event. The staff immediately agreed and stated, “I didn’t even think of that. Yes of course!” 

Together they created a small play space within the main room. The families watched quietly as the two child life specialists started pulling out various toys and art items intentionally chosen for free-play and processing. Gradually, the children began to come into the space and engage in play. The atmosphere of the whole room changed as adults watching the play began to smile and look more relaxed. A few adults asked for a pack of cards and soon a group of adults were playing, laughing, and talking together. The play space completely transformed the whole room.

While the children played, they frequently looked up timidly at the police officers standing in the room. They gradually communicated through their play the scary scene of having men dressed in black with large black masks and guns drawn kicking down their doors and yelling, “EVERYONE OUT NOW!” Through their play, the children were able to communicate their fears and concerns about the items they left behind and also a sense of confusion about whether cops are “good guys or bad guys.” The two child life specialists that night and two others who came the following day were able to help the kids process through these thoughts, feelings, and fears. They encouraged one of the police officers to join the play for a while to build trust. They also allowed the kids to write notes and draw pictures to pass out to the police officers around the room. When it was announced that the adults would be able to go back and retrieve more of their belongings from the motel, which was still considered a crime scene, the child life specialists spent time supporting the children with their questions and fears brought on by this new announcement.

The police and disaster relief workers repeatedly expressed their gratitude for the work of these child life specialists. “We don’t know how we have done this so long without you. This is amazing.”

The police and disaster relief workers repeatedly expressed their gratitude for the work of these child life specialists. “We don’t know how we have done this so long without you. This is amazing.” However, as you can probably imagine, the child life specialists were equally grateful. They were grateful first and foremost that the needs of children were being recognized, and that the need for psychosocial first responders was slowly becoming a reality.

Children affected by large-scale disasters demonstrate a clear need for support; children affected by small scale events in our own communities need the same support. Together, we can continue to build bridges and navigate uncharted waters to make sure all children have the tools and resources needed to build resilience after disasters.