Dodd Legislation Addresses Children’s Needs for Coping with Terrorism
By Mindy Finn
WASHINGTON – The day after his first child–six-week old daughter Grace–made her Halloween debut dressed as a calf, Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., announced legislation to better deal with the needs of children and to make sure that children are considered in any legislation concerning terrorism, the attacks of Sept. 11 and its aftermath.
“We have to make sure that we anticipate the special, unique needs of children,” Dodd said. Dodd’s proposal, which would cost the government $50 million per year, is intended to improve the ability of emergency response personnel and child service providers to care for children and ensure that resources are available to handle children’s medical and mental health needs.
Sen. Mike DeWine, R-Ohio, co-sponsor of the bill, said in a statement, “Children face unique risks in the threat of chemical and biological terrorist attacks. As the parent of eight children and grandparent of six, I am well aware that children are not just small adults. We can’t treat children the same way we treat adults.”
Dodd, Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Subcommittee on Children And Families, scheduled a hearing for this morning that will focus on the issue of children and terrorism. Dodd and DeWine also plan to send a letter to President Bush requesting that children receive an exclusive portion of the emergency funds made available after the Sept. 11 attacks.
“We grew up in the 50’s and were taught to ‘duck and cover’ ” to protect against a nuclear attack, Dodd said. “Well, today’s threat is just as real, and we can’t duck our responsibility to make our children safe.”
At the press conference yesterday, Dodd spelled out the four components of his plan, First, the legislation would increase federal funds to train and equip emergency response personnel such as firefighters, police and paramedics, to address the specific medical needs of children. Currently, $18.9 million per year is available through the Health and Human Services Department’s Emergency Medical Services for Children program. Dodd would increase that to $45 million.
The second part of the proposal would authorize $15 million for the health care industry to study and determine proper pediatric dosing. Children are simply not smaller versions of adults; their bodies react to drugs differently, Dodd said.
The third piece of the plan would provide grants of about $17.5 million for emergency mental health services for children. These grants would aim to ensure that children directly affected by terrorist acts would be able to receive community-based mental health services.
The final component of the legislation would authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services to provide grants to increase coordination and development of bioterrorism preparedness that is focused on meeting children’s needs.
Dodd and DeWine are working to get their proposal included in the broader bio-terrorism bill introduced by Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., and Bill Frist, R-Tenn, the only physician in the Senate. Kennedy and Frist have reached an agreement to appropriate at least $2.5 billion more in fiscal 2002 to combat bioterrorism.
