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.