Nearly a year after media reports decried that the nation’s pets were better cared for than children during disasters, a commission mandated to study the situation released the initial draft of congressional report.

The National Commission on Children and Disasters Interim Report makes several strong recommendations for improving the condition of children during disasters, many of whom are likely to be at school or childcare facilities when calamities strike—leaving them without an parent or guardian to advocate for their safety. Without systems in place to meet the specific needs of children, past instances of “benign neglect” will continue, according to the report.

Among its recommendations, the commission suggests making children an immediate priority in emergency planning and applying national disaster planning standards to schools and government agencies that represent children. Providing appropriate and safe shelters for kids, creating an evacuee-tracking system to quickly reunify families, and prioritizing housing for those with children also made the list. The list is broken down by categories that include education and childcare, housing, evacuation, and disaster case management.

“The most vulnerable Americans in the most vulnerable settings are made even more vulnerable by government inaction,” Commission Chairman Mark Shriver stated in a September 15 press release. “Disasters don’t strike on government’s timetable, which means the time for government to act is now.”

The commission, formed by Congress in 2007 to assess children’s needs in disaster and emergency preparedness, response, and recovery, didn’t itself act for nearly a year. Its first meeting came weeks after national media reported a lack of child-friendly facilities and dangerous conditions for Hurricane Ike’s “littlest evacuees."

Editorials in the Washington Post drew attention to the fact that, despite a bevy of measures put into place in recent years for pets, there was a “stunning lack of forethought about or preparation for” evacuating families with children.

Despite the delay in starting, the commission has completed its work within the two years required by Congress. The result, Shriver stated, is “a clear roadmap toward a disaster preparedness, response and recovery system that finally meets the unique needs of children.”

The commission unanimously approved the interim report and will deliver it to the president and Congress before October 14.