42 U.S.C. § 247d–4b — Children’s Preparedness Unit

(a) Enhancing emergency preparedness for children The Secretary, acting through the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, must keep an internal team of experts called the Children's Preparedness Unit, referred to here as the "Unit." The Unit works together to give guidance on what children need before, during, and after public health emergencies. It informs the Director about the CDC's emergency preparedness and response work as it relates to children. (b) Expertise The Unit must include one or more pediatricians, which may include a developmental-behavioral pediatrician. It may also include behavioral scientists, child psychologists, epidemiologists, biostatisticians, health communications staff, and people with other expertise the Secretary decides is appropriate. (c) Duties The Unit may: help state, local, tribal, and territorial governments plan and respond to emergencies for children, including by developing and sharing best practices; give federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial public health officials technical assistance, training, and advice to improve preparedness and response for children's needs, including help meeting the evidence-based standards set under sections 247d–3a and 247d–3b; help improve how children's needs are built into emergency planning and response, including raising public awareness of those methods; coordinate with, and improve, public-private partnerships — such as the health care coalitions under sections 247d–3b and 247d–3c — to close gaps and inefficiencies in emergency preparedness and response for children; give expert input while guidance and clinical recommendations for children's needs are being developed for public health emergencies, including under section 247d–3c; and carry out other duties related to preparedness and response for children, as the Secretary decides is appropriate.