Family communication plan: a one-page worksheet
Make a family check-in plan for a missed pickup, dead phone or power outage. Choose contacts and meeting places, then practice together.
Work out how your family will check in when a normal day goes wrong. Who gets the call? Who can pick up the kids? Where can you meet if home isn’t safe? Write down the answers, check them against school and care rules, and make sure everyone knows the plan.
Have the conversation with everyone affected, including caregivers where appropriate. Ask another household member to explain the plan back to you before you finish.
Talk through a missed pickup
Choose a realistic situation: school ends, one adult can’t be reached, and the usual driver is delayed. Ask who contacts whom, who is allowed to collect the child, and where the child should wait under the school’s procedures.
Do the same for dependent adults or pets. Check the rules and get any needed permissions first. Give the school or care provider the permissions they require for your backup helper.
Choose meeting places and when to use them
Record a familiar nearby meeting location and an alternative outside the immediate area if useful. Write down when each would apply and how someone would know it’s safe to travel there.
Don’t instruct children to leave a supervised location or anyone to travel through danger merely to reach the meeting point. Follow local instructions and the procedures of schools, workplaces, and care facilities.
Ready.gov’s family communication card includes spaces for contacts and meeting information. Talk through the plan first, then fill in the card. Family communication card.
Keep messages short and useful
Agree on a simple message format: who is contacting the group, where they are, whether they need help, and what they plan to do next. Use a call, text, or another method everyone involved can use. Calls and texts can both fail during an outage.
Ask an agreed backup contact to relay messages if needed. Make sure they have the current contact list and understand the job.
Write the plan on one page
- First contact and number: ____.
- Backup message contact and number: ____.
- Nearby meeting place and when to use it: ____.
- Backup meeting place and when to use it: ____.
- Where to find school or care-center instructions: ____.
- Backup caregiver with permission to help: ____.
- Next practice date: ____.
Run a short discussion drill without disrupting school or emergency services. Ask each person to explain what they would do, then fix the disagreements. Revisit the plan when work hours, caregivers, phone numbers, or school arrangements change.
Useful gear for this job
Use what you already own, then fill the gaps that matter for this plan.
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| Pick | Product and why it fits | Amazon |
|---|---|---|
| Shared family instructions | Avery Durable View Binder, 1-inch — Holds printed worksheets and household instructions together. Details | Find on Amazon |
| Contacts to carry | Rite in the Rain No. 135 Pocket Notebook — A small weather-resistant notebook for contacts and notes on the go. Details | Find on Amazon |
Sources
Frequently asked questions
- How should we practice the plan?
- Talk through a missed pickup or power outage. Ask each person whom they would call and where they would wait. Agree in advance on an ordinary test call, then fix any confusing instructions.