Children’s Disaster Services
Serving children and families after disasters
Mission statement
Nurturing children
Since 1980 Children’s Disaster Services (CDS), a program of Brethren Disaster Ministries, has been meeting the needs of children by setting up child care centers in shelters and disaster assistance centers across the nation. Specially trained to respond to traumatized children, volunteers provide a calm, safe and reassuring presence in the midst of the chaos created by tornadoes, floods, hurricanes, wildfires, and any natural or human-caused disaster.
Upcoming training dates
September 26-27, 2025 in Warrensburg, Missouri
October 17-18, 2025 in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania
Learn more or register for volunteer training
Volunteers update your availability (ask CDS for the password if you don’t have it)
What we do
Volunteers from across the country
- participate in specialized experiential training
- undergo a rigorous screening process
- learn to work with children after a disaster
- are capable of mobilizing rapidly and responding both locally and nationally.
Volunteers arrive to a disaster location with a “Kit of Comfort” containing carefully selected toys that promote imaginative play. Volunteers give children individualized attention and encourage them to express themselves, thereby starting the healing process. Although many volunteers are motivated by faith, CDS’ training is open to anyone over 18 years old.
CDS provides respite, education and individualized consultation for parents about their child’s unique emotional needs after a disaster. Through consultation or workshops specifically tailored to each situation, CDS also works with parents, community agencies, schools or others to help them understand and meet the special needs of children during or after a disaster.
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CDS updates
Bridges is the Brethren Disaster Ministries newsletter published three times a year. It features articles from our Children’s Disaster Services program, as well as our Rebuild program, and international efforts. Learn more about the Bridges Newsletter.
CDS News
- Children’s Disaster Services team serves in Missouri following tornadoes
A Children’s Disaster Services (CDS) team of four volunteers (three from Iowa and one from Missouri) will provide disaster child care in Multi-Agency Resource Centers (MARCs) in areas of Missouri hit by tornadoes last week.
- EDF grants since start of year fund Nigeria Crisis Response and aid responses to wars in central Africa, Gaza, and Ukraine
Brethren Disaster Ministries has directed grants from the Church of the Brethren’s Emergency Disaster Fund (EDF) to continued support for the Nigeria Crisis Response, to aid those affected in three central African countries by the warfare in Goma and the surrounding area, to aid those affected by the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, and to aid those affected by the war in Ukraine, among others.
- Children’s Disaster Services offers new volunteer training events
Children’s Disaster Services (CDS) is preparing to hold three new volunteer training events in March, April, and May 2025. Upcoming CDS Volunteer Training events are as follows:
- Children’s Disaster Services fields large response to Los Angeles fires
In January, Children's Disaster Services (CDS) sent four volunteer teams to care for children in the Los Angeles area in response to the wildfires that engulfed the city and surrounding area.
- Children’s Disaster Services begins caring for children in shelters in Los Angeles area
Children’s Disaster Services (CDS) has been requested by the Red Cross to send two volunteer teams of seven to serve in shelters in the Los Angeles, Calif., area.
- CDS Critical Response Childcare team serves in New Orleans following truck attack
Early on Jan. 1, 2025, a truck was driven into a crowd on Bourbon Street, New Orleans, killing 14 people and injuring 35 others. Children's Disaster Services (CDS) has sent a Critical Response Childcare team to provide a calm presence for the children of victims or children of families of the victims.
- Local Children’s Disaster Services volunteers support children during Mountain Fire in southern California
Children’s Disaster Services (CDS) deployed a local team of volunteers to Ventura County, Calif., providing a calm presence to children affected by the recent Mountain Fire. Volunteers living within a two-hour drive served at a Local Assistance Center (LAC) in Camarillo, Calif.
CDS Response Locations
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Contact us
Children’s Disaster Services
601 Main Street, P.O. Box 188
New Windsor, MD 21776-0188
Phone:1-800-451-4407
Fax: 410-635-8739
Email Children’s Disaster Services
CDS on Facebook
Membership
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