INTERAGENCY COORDINATING COUNCIL ON EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS AND INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES
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Monthly Updates - December 2006

Interagency Coordinating Council 2nd Year Highlights

DHS-CRCL extends sincere gratitude and appreciation to all ICC partners and stakeholder organizations at the Federal, State, local and tribal levels, as well as in the private sector and non-governmental organizations whose valuable expertise and insight have greatly enhanced the ICC’s work throughout this past year. The department is indebted to the ICC Subcommittee Chairs: Department of Education – Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, National Institute on Disability Rehabilitation Research; Federal Communications Commission Disability Rights Office; Department of Homeland Security – Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties; Department of Justice – Civil Rights Division; Department of Labor – Office of Disability Employment Policy; Department of Health and Human Services – Office on Disability; Department of Transportation; as well as all the Federal departments and agencies who assisted the Subcommittees in their work. We look forward to building upon our past successes with each of you in 2007.

Warmest wishes for this holiday season…

ICC Emergency Communications Subcommittee
Chair: Federal Communications Commission – Disability Rights Office, Consumer & Government Affairs Bureau

Accomplishment Highlights: Responded to the devastation following the Gulf Coast hurricanes by providing a senior disability expert to the Joint Field Office (JFO) in Austin, Texas to support disability response and recovery efforts; mounted 24/7 operations to help restore services throughout the region; established an internal Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Task Force to coordinate hurricane response efforts; worked closely with the communications industry to help identify resources for use by disaster personnel; facilitated disaster relief and fund raising efforts by temporarily reassigning the toll free number "1-800-RED-CROSS" to the National Chapter of the American Red Cross; and extended funding assistance to hurricane victims through targeted universal service fund support.

ICC Emergency Preparedness in the Workplace
Chair: Department of Labor – Office of Disability Employment Policy

Accomplishment Highlights: Concentrated efforts to disseminate "Preparing the Workplace for Everyone: A Framework of Guidelines for Federal Agencies," a document for federal emergency planners, managers and employees to ensure the workplace is safe and fully inclusive of employees with disabilities; conducted outreach to federal officials and managers encouraging the incorporation of accommodation requirements and concerns of employees and visitors with disabilities in the development of emergency plans; in response to the residual effects of hurricanes Katrina and Rita, worked with state and local agencies to ensure the immediate assistance needs of people with disabilities were addressed to help stabilize access to both housing and transportation as well as reconnecting individuals to employment; and led a recovery/continuity of operations center for the National Finance Center in Smyrna, Georgia, which focused on the needs of the U.S. Department of Agriculture employees, including those with disabilities, and the extraordinary recovery issues faced by evacuees.

ICC Emergency Transportation
Chair: Department of Transportation – Office of Civil Rights

Accomplishment Highlights: Actively responded to the transportation needs of people with disabilities affected by hurricanes Katrina and Rita by contacting disability service organizations in the Gulf Coast Region and initiated a federal response to remedy transportation issues; provided guidance and advice to recovery and transit agency leaders in the Gulf Coast Region after hurricanes Katrina and Rita; and participated in the U.S. Department of Transportation's review of Gulf Coast communities’ catastrophic evacuation plans to ensure people with disabilities were considered throughout the review and developed disability-focused evaluation criteria for the plan review.

ICC Health Subcommittee
Chair: Department of Health and Human Services – Office on Disability

Accomplishment Highlights: In response to the Gulf Coast hurricanes, arranged for the delivery of medications, food, assistive equipment and other life-saving supplies to evacuees with disabilities; worked with Medicare to ensure evacuees who were displaced to another state could refill their prescriptions; developed a draft guidebook for state and local emergency preparedness managers to help them to better assist people with disabilities; and cosponsored with DHS the "Working Conference on Emergency Management and Individuals with Disabilities and the Elderly".

ICC Private Sector Coordination
Chair: Department of Homeland Security – Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties

Accomplishment Highlights: Spearheaded initiatives and tasks geared towards achieving greater collaboration and exchange of expertise among the various entities that are involved in emergency planning and response. Such activities included but were not limited to: resolution of Hurricane Katrina-related issues through facilitation of communication between disability advocacy groups and federal agencies; submission of a letter from the ICC's Citizen Corps Subcommittee, comprised of disability consumer and advocacy organizations representatives, to the DHS Office of Grants and Training, that encourages the inclusion of disability related eligibility criteria in the DHS Fiscal Year (FY) 2006 Emergency Management Performance Grants guidance; collaboration with the Salvation Army and American Red Cross in the development of disability related trainings; and participation in interagency meetings with representatives from the City of New Orleans including a public training session on the City Assisted Evacuation Plans.

ICC Research
Chair: Department of Education – Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, National Institute on Disability Rehabilitation Research

Accomplishment Highlights: The Research Subcommittee has provided strong leadership in gaining a comprehensive understanding of federal research available on emergency management issues related to people with disabilities that include developing a research bibliography; compiling relevant conference recommendations; surveying federal agencies to determine what federal research projects currently are being funded; and soliciting public input. Based in part on the findings of the Research Subcommittee, the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research anticipates announcing funding opportunities for Fiscal Year 2007 that focus on research needs related to the intersection of emergency management issues and people with disabilities.

ICC State, Local and Tribal Government Coordination
Chair: Department of Homeland Security – Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (CRCL)

Accomplishment Highlights: Facilitated the integration of individuals with disabilities into numerous aspects of state, tribal and local government emergency planning and response efforts. The Subcommittee provided disability subject matter expertise in the development and execution of major emergency preparedness exercises including the Top Officials 4 (TOPOFF 4) exercise, Avian Flu Senior Official Exercise, and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Regional Hurricane Preparedness Exercises; assembled a team of disability subject matter experts to assess the level to which selected State and urban areas are taking actions to address requirements associated with integrating people with disabilities in their Emergency Operation Plans as part of the DHS led Presidential and Congressional mandated Nationwide Plan Review process; presented at several major conferences; and cosponsored with HHS a "Working Conference on Emergency Management and Individuals with Disabilities and the Elderly" that connected State emergency management officials with key disability and aging experts.

ICC Technical Assistance and Outreach
Chair: Department of Justice – Civil Rights Division

Accomplishment Highlights: Enhanced the usability of the Disability Preparedness Resource Center and continued in its efforts to provide a well maintained and timely Web site by regularly surveying the emergency management landscape for pertinent disability preparedness and response-focused information and resources; and secured the site a new URL: http://www.disabilitypreparedness.gov.

About the Interagency Coordinating Council on Emergency Preparedness and Individuals with Disabilities

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties oversees the implementation of Executive Order 13347, Individuals with Disabilities in Emergency Preparedness, which was signed by President Bush in July 2004. This Executive Order is designed to ensure the safety and security of individuals with disabilities in all-hazard emergency and disaster situations. To this end, the Executive Order created an Interagency Coordinating Council (ICC) on Emergency Preparedness and Individuals with Disabilities. The ICC is comprised of senior leadership from more than 20 Federal departments and agencies. Its mission is to ensure that people with disabilities and their specific needs are fully integrated into all aspects of our nation's emergency management system; including mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery. The Secretary of Homeland Security is the Chair of the ICC, and he has delegated that role to Mr. Daniel Sutherland, the DHS Officer for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties. The Council has concentrated its work in eight major areas:

  1. Emergency Communications;
  2. Emergency Preparedness in the Workplace;
  3. Emergency Transportation;
  4. Health;
  5. Private Sector Coordination;
  6. Research;
  7. State, Local and Tribal Government Coordination; and
  8. Technical Assistance and Outreach.

For more information about the ICC please visit http://www.disabilitypreparedness.gov.