Storm's toll on children could be far-reaching

By Raja Mishra, Boston Globe Staff [excerpts]

BATON ROUGE -- At one point while his family was evacuating New Orleans the day before Hurricane Katrina hit, 5-year-old Frank Joshua Smith asked his mother whether God planned to kill the whole world.

Specialists on the mental health of children say many of those displaced could suffer long-running emotional trauma as this jarring new reality sets in. As the relief effort turns from crisis management to long-term resettlement, health care volunteers at shelters housing evacuees around the country are on the lookout for signs of distress among children and plan to begin sending children to local counselors and therapists if necessary.

''Grief and loss will be the biggest issue. Everything familiar to them is gone," said Vicki North, an American Red Cross volunteer running mental health services at Baton Rouge's main shelter, where more than 550 children were housed yesterday. ''When we find out about the death toll, we may find they lost friends."

But at the same time, some children may prove to be the storm's most resilient victims, able to take the upheaval in stride. Interviews with dozens of children in the shelter at the Baton Rouge convention center found evidence of both reactions.

[M]any children in the shelter worried about what became of their pets. Angel Sylve, 8, said she had not seen her puppy Bull since the day before Katrina struck.

''Maybe someone found him and is taking care of him," she said. ''Or maybe he's at another shelter."

As Angel talked to a reporter, her father, Adam Sylve, 41, angrily questioned a Red Cross volunteer about when federal housing grants would become available.

''The parents are going through so much, the kids aren't getting the attention they need," said Sarah Hargadine, 20, a Red Cross volunteer from Boulder, Colo., who has helped run a children's activities center in the shelter. ''Some of [the children] say they are fine. But then you realize that they still think they're going home."