DISASTER SERVICES Preparation Mitigation Response Recovery 2014-2015 High Level Disaster Priorities Increase Partnerships with State Emergency Management Agencies (EMA) To bring a standard across all states, CNCS will implement a tiered system of national service and emergency management engagement that will provide: best practices, targeted goals, and a consistent framework for engaging the power of national service with state EMA’s. Recognizing that each state has different types and levels of disaster vulnerabilities, the focus and level of engagement will differ within each state. The goal will be to have all 50 states at the basic level of engagement while continuing growth and engagement once the base goal is reached. In many states it will be the State Office Director or the Commission who holds and maintains the formal relationship with the state EMA. State Commission Disaster Service Council In partnership with ASC, the DSU has convened a working group of nineteen State Service Commissions to identify, develop, and promote a greater understanding of the tools for engaging national service in disaster response and management. Plan and implement regional preparedness exercises between the DSU, Commissions, CNCS State Offices to test procedures and readiness. The Workgroup began its monthly meetings in August 2014 and has identified more than ten training and/or technical assistance projects including: o State Service Commission Standard Operating Procedure Guide o Regional disaster preparedness exercises to test CNCS and Commissions Disaster protocols o Identification and sharing of available low to no cost disaster preparedness training available to Commission staff, AmeriCorps State Grantees, and AmeriCorps state members AmeriCorps Disaster Response Teams (A-DRT’s) / Grantees The AmeriCorps Disaster Response Teams (A-DRTs) are AmeriCorps State and National programs that have a heightened interest in disaster response and have completed a special application to become a deployable resource in the event of a disaster. Funding for these deployments is often, but not always, provided by the DSU through FEMA Mission Assignments. CNCS currently has 16 A-DRTs, made up of 15 AmeriCorps grantees/sub-grantees, 1 State Service Commission, and AmeriCorps NCCC—totaling access to over 4,200 AmeriCorps members (this number does NOT include FEMA Corps). A-DRTs are trained within their own programs across a spectrum of services, to include Incident Command, CPR/First Aid, Volunteer and Donations Management, and more. While this initiative has been in place for a number of years, we have been focusing on strengthening this program as our reputation and demand grows in the disaster arena. The DSU engages the A-DRTs regularly, encouraging constant collaboration and communication amongst the programs. This leads to more effective and efficient partnerships when the programs deploy on disasters together. The DSU is working with the A-DRTs to develop a standardized disaster response training. This training will bring together the best practices of some of our most experienced and talented programs into a streamlined training module. This training will be a standard for any A-DRT program, making the services we provide that much more consistent and efficient. This training is currently in development and will be ready for implementation in 2015. Senior Corps: RSVP Think Tank An outcome of the DSU sponsored Feb 2014 RSVP Disaster Training was the formation of an RSVP Disaster Think Tank. This Think Tank is comprised of 13 RSVP Directors from around the country and meets monthly via conference calls with a goal of developing a series of training and technical assistance curriculum to assist RSVP projects when disaster strikes their communities. Senior Corps has identified funds to create a RSVP Disaster Tool Kit. The Think Tank will provide direct input to the content of this toolkit and will build on the best practices and experience of current RSVP projects who have responded to disasters. Resources will include took kit for youth preparedness + senior volunteers, online toolkit for RSVP project development / engagement, 100 physical toolkits to be distributed to state offices for use by RSVP in the field. Additional Priority Areas AmeriCorps Alums Develop a strategy for engaging AmeriCorps alums in disaster preparedness and response. Increase the Number of Disaster Grantees with a Focus on Disaster Preparedness, Recovery or Mitigation In partnership with AmeriCorps State and National increase the number of programs identifying disaster as a priority measure. Will target projects with a focus on disaster preparedness and recovery. Disaster Return on Investment In collaboration with Harvard’s School of Leadership and the US Army Corps of Engineers to produce a ROI on distinct state voluntary agency liaison positions to oversee volunteers and donations. Training and Technical Assistance Develop training curricula & Training Technical Assistance for grantees and communities (Senior Corps Think Tank, ADRT council, State Commission preparedness trainings, CNCS Disaster Cadre). CNCS Disaster Response Framework Implement and refine the CNCS Disaster Response Framework.