Analyze
Description
The Analyze phase focuses on reviewing and making sense of the information gathered during the Identify phase. The team validates reported concerns using available data and evaluates their potential impact on children's health and recovery. Key findings are summarized in an Issue Report, highlighting concerns that matter most to the community and pose the greatest risk for long-term recovery.
Guidance
The Analyze phase is crucial because it helps ensure that the data gathered during the Identify phase is accurately understood and used to inform the next steps in recovery planning. A key consideration is the validation of the findings. This may involve cross-referencing community concerns with existing scientific data to verify whether a reported issue is supported by evidence. However, even if the scientific data doesn't fully support a concern, it's important to recognize when multiple community members raise similar issues, as these repeated themes can point to significant needs. The team must also evaluate the potential consequences of each concern, weighing both the likelihood and severity of the impact on children's health and long-term recovery.
The purpose of this phase is to prioritize issues that could have the most significant consequences for public health and recovery efforts. By validating data and evaluating potential risks, the team ensures that recovery resources and interventions are focused on the most pressing issues. This thoughtful analysis builds a more informed, transparent foundation for recovery planning and helps guide decision-making that will best support affected communities over the long term.
Validation & Evaluation
Look for patterns in the Landscape and Community Assessment data, such as common concerns raised by different people, and compare them with scientific reports or trusted sources to help validate the findings. Evaluation involves weighing both the likelihood of each concern and the potential severity of its impact on children's health and long-term recovery
Instructions
The following instructions are intended as general guidance for validating and evaluating the findings. These tips are designed to provide flexibility in how the process is approached, recognizing that each situation may require different considerations and adjustments based on local context, available resources, and emerging information.
Collaborate with the designated recovery lead throughout the validation and evaluation process. Their insights will help ensure that the findings align with broader recovery goals and priorities.
Be mindful of the local government structures, decision-making authority, and history when validating and evaluating concerns. Local dynamics may influence both the perception of certain issues and the available resources for addressing them.
Ensure that the concerns identified are directly tied to the disaster's impact on children. Avoid conflating pre-existing issues with those caused or exacerbated by the disaster, as the latter will be the priority for recovery efforts.
Look for recurring themes across interviews and data points. Validate concerns by cross-checking with available scientific data but be open to the importance of community-reported issues, even if they aren't fully supported by existing research.
Assess each concern by considering how likely it is to affect children's health and the potential long-term consequences. Prioritize issues that pose the highest risk to public health and recovery, focusing on both immediate and future impacts.
Assess each concern by considering how likely it is to affect children's health and the potential long-term consequences. Prioritize issues that pose the Consider reaching out to new or different partners who may have more information about a concern that isn't well defined, such as technical experts or frontline staff. Use existing networks or ask recovery leadership to help make connections if needed.
Given the dynamic nature of recovery efforts, be ready to adjust priorities as new information becomes available or as the situation evolves. The focus should remain on the immediate health and safety of children while considering long-term recovery.
Discussion Questions
If desired, use the following questions to guide the validation and evaluation process. Consider hosting a team meeting to review key findings, compare perspectives, and discuss priorities before developing the Issue Report.
What concerns came up most often across different programs or partners? Are these concerns shared across sectors or communities?
Do the reported concerns align with known environmental hazards from this type of disaster? What scientific or technical resources can help confirm or clarify these issues?
Which concerns appear to be caused or worsened by the disaster, rather than pre-existing? How can we separate long-standing issues from new or disaster-related ones?
What do we know about how each concern could affect children's health and safety? Are there particular age groups or populations who may be more at risk?
What is the potential severity of this issue if left unaddressed? Could it lead to long-term health or developmental impacts?
How likely is it that this concern will continue or worsen over time? Could seasonal changes or delayed recovery make the problem worse?
Are there concerns that may not be strongly supported by data, but are repeatedly raised by trusted community partners? What weight should be given to concerns based on community perception or fear?
What is feasible to address in the short term, and what may require long-term planning? How can we document concerns that aren't actionable now but need to stay on the radar?
How might community leadership, cultural, or organizational dynamics influence how we interpret or prioritize these findings? Are there sensitive issues we need to navigate with care?
What information do we still need to better understand or address a concern? Who else should we talk to, or what sources should we consult?
Issue Report
Instructions
The Issue Report captures the major environmental health and safety concerns affecting children and children's programs following a disaster. This post-engagement report has two main goals: (1) to summarize key issues identified during the Assessment mission, and (2) to support strategic planning, coordination, and recovery decision-making by local, state, tribal, territorial, and federal partners.
The Issue Report includes the following required sections:
Overview: Summarizes the disaster and outlines the scope of the assessment mission.
Partners: Lists agencies and organizations that participated in or contributed to the assessment.
Key Environmental Health & Safety Concerns: Highlights priority concerns identified during the Assessment, with subheadings and supporting bullet points.
Engagement Methods: Describes how information was gathered, including community outreach and partner coordination.
Completed or Ongoing Mitigation Activities: Notes any efforts already underway to address the concerns identified.
The report may also include optional sections such as schedule, community voices, photographs, data validation sources, or limitations and gaps. These can help provide additional context and clarity but are not required.
For more detailed guidance, refer to Appendix F: Issue Report Instructions.
For an illustrative example, see Appendix G: Issue Report Example.