Monthly Updates - March, 2006

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff Meets with Key Leaders of the Interagency Coordinating Council

On March 10, 2006, Secretary Chertoff met with several senior leaders of the Interagency Coordinating Council on Emergency Preparedness and Individuals with Disabilities. Secretary Chertoff commend these leaders for dedicated participation in the Council plus request their recommendations for improving the emergency preparedness, response, and recovery systems as relates to people with disabilities in the post Hurricane Katrina and Rita context. The senior leaders of the Council shared their personal experiences in responding to Hurricane Katrina, and made recommendations for improvements that Secretary Chertoff should consider. The Secretary reaffirmed his commitment to make changes in the systems, particularly by ensuring that key agencies have subject matter experts integrated into their operations.

ICC Research Subcommittee

NIDRR Seeks Peer Reviewers in Emergency Preparedness and Disability The National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) (http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/osers/nidrr/index.html) is pleased to announce the inclusion of emergency preparedness in its Long-Range Plan for Fiscal Years 2005-2009, and invites interested persons to submit resumes for inclusion in a pool of potential peer reviewers for future research and development projects in emergency preparedness and disability.

NIDRR supports applied research on all aspects of disability and rehabilitation, and NIDRR's work is aimed at improving the lives of people of all ages with disabilities. Published in the Federal Register on February 15, 2006, NIDRR's Long-Range Plan sets out five domains of research -- employment, participation and living in the community, health and function, technology for access and function, and disability demographics. New this year, the Plan incorporates emergency preparedness in the discussion of the national policy context for NIDRR research. The Plan is available at http://www.ed.gov/legislation/FedRegister/other/2006-1/021506d.html.

NIDRR seeks peer reviewers with expertise in research, statistics, and/or engineering who also have expertise in any of the myriad issues related to emergency preparedness, mitigation, response and recovery for people with disabilities. Reviewers are required to evaluate applications based on a series of criteria in areas such as research design, development, technical assistance, and dissemination. NIDRR strives to create diverse panels of peer reviewers. Persons with disabilities and persons from diverse racial, ethnic, geographic and other backgrounds are encouraged to respond. Regulations prohibit Federal employees from participating as NIDRR peer reviewers. However, everyone is encouraged to forward this email to persons who may be interested in participating. Interested parties are invited to send current and detailed resumes to bonnie.gracer@ed.gov for consideration.

ICC State, Local and Tribal Government Subcommittee

Top Officials (TOPOFF) Exercises: TOPOFF 4 Command Post Exercise Master Scenario Exercise List (MSEL) Workshop - March 21, 2006

DHS CRCL involvement continues with TOPOFF 4 exercise development. On March 21, a CRCL representative participated in a Master Scenario Exercise List (MSEL) development session to identify CRCL's activities during exercise play scheduled for June 19-22. The exercise is designed to test the activation of Continuity of Operations (COOP) Plans in specific federal departments and agencies. CRCL's ongoing activity for this COOP exercise includes participation in the TOPOFF 4 Command Post Exercise Mid-Planning Conference to be held on April 12, 2006.

Background: CRCL actively participated in the development of the TOPOFF 3 Full Scale Exercise After-Action Report submitted to Secretary Chertoff. That report included a Remediation Action Plan identifying shortfalls the exercise did not sufficiently address, and recommendations to correct those shortfalls. CRCL's primary concern was that the exercise did not sufficiently address the needs of people with disabilities in exercise planning, play, delivery or in the accommodation of observers with disabilities. CRCL made specific recommendations to have these issues remedied during TOPOFF 4.

Scenario development for the full scale TOPOFF 4 exercise scheduled for 2007 begins in July 2006. CRCL will continue to work closely with the Office of Grants and Training to ensure the involvement of disability subject matter expertise in the exercise scenario development to make certain it tests the capability to handle the evacuation of people with disabilities, as well as the capability to respond to the various needs presented by members of this population.

Nationwide Emergency Operation Plan Review, Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties March 14 - 31, 2006

CRCL secured 11 disability subject matter experts from both non-government organizations and federal agencies to review and assess specific applicable sections of select State and Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) Emergency Operation Plans (EOPs) and appropriate supporting documents such as Annexes and/or chapters referenced in the Plans. These areas were selected based on risk, demographics, and participation status of a given jurisdiction in the review process. The scope of the objectives before the review panel was ambitious. An orientation was held for this disability subject matter review panel on Tuesday, March 14th, followed by reviewers working onsite at CRCL's office daily until Friday March 17th. Their tasks involved vetting through dozens of documents and reading hundreds, in some cases thousands of pages, and completing a detailed assessment tool specifically designed for the purpose of assessing the level to which State and urban areas are taking actions to address requirements associated with integrating people with disabilities into the planning process. Reviewers were given until Friday, March 31st to complete all their respective assigned tasks.

CRCL commend the disability subject matter reviewers for all their hard work and is grateful for their assistance: Bruce A. McFarlane, Department of Agriculture - TARGET Center; Mary Lou Mobley, Department of Justice - Disability Rights Section; Lynn Grosso, Department of Housing and Urban Development - Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity; Edwina Juillet, Taskforce on Fire and Life Safety for People with Disabilities; Hilary Styron, National Organization on Disability (NOD) - Emergency Preparedness Initiative; Peg Blechman, NOD Special Needs Assessment for Katrina Evacuees (SNAKE) Team; Jeanne Abadie, The Advocacy Center (New Orleans); Rosaline Crawford, National Association of the Deaf; Cindy Daniel, The Arc of Northern Virginia; Elizabeth Davis, EAD & Associates, LLC; Michael Weston, Disaster Consultant.

Background: President Bush tasked the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to conduct a review, in cooperation with local counterparts, of emergency plans in every major city in America. In a September 23, 2005 memo, Secretary Chertoff further ordered that the review include a rigorous examination of how these communities plan to prepare, inform, evacuate and care for people with disabilities. To ensure this, the Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties (CRCL) provided input and advice to the review process which is being led by DHS Preparedness Directorate, Office for Policy, Initiatives and Analysis (OPIA).

Phase I of the review process constituted a mandatory self-assessment by State and urban areas/major cities using guidelines outlined in the Preparedness Directorate Information Bulletin 197 (http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/odp/docs/info197.pdf). All State and urban areas/major cities participants were required to answer several questions including two disability related questions associated with catastrophic event planning:

• What actions are being taken to fully address requirements for populations with special needs, particularly persons with disabilities?
• What actions are being taken to ensure prompt evacuation of patients (ambulatory and non-ambulatory) from health care or other facilities?

CRCL and the OPIA deem it extremely important that disability subject matter experts (SME) are engaged to assess the level to which State and urban areas are taking actions to address requirements associated with integrating people with disabilities into the planning process. At the completion of the review process, CRCL will combine the findings of the disability subject matter expert reviewers into a written analysis to OPIA for inclusion in their final report to the President and Congress and provide recommendations to States and urban areas to assist them in strengthening their Plans in regards to this population.

The Preparedness Directorate Information Bulletin 197 is available at: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/odp/docs/info197.pdf. Contact Megan Hogan either by telephone (202) 357-8330 or via email megan.hogan@associates.dhs.gov for a WORD version of this Bulletin.

Hurricane Preparedness Exercises

The devastation caused by Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma has initiated a series of plan, policy and procedural revisions at all levels of government to be completed by June 1, 2006. In support of this initiative, at the direction of DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff, the Department is planning several exercise activities under an ambitious timeline designed to assist Federal agencies, States, and Territories with their preparation for the upcoming hurricane season. These activities must be completed prior to the 2006 hurricane season. The DHS Preparedness Directorates Office of Grants and Training (G&T) in coordination with FEMA, is spearheading the Hurricane Preparedness Exercises including five regional tabletop exercises, encompassing all of the Gulf Coast and Eastern Seaboard States and Territories structured by FEMA regions I, II, III, IV, and VI. Participation includes appropriate Federal, State, Territory and Tribal representatives, in addition to nongovernmental organizations and private sector partners. Consistent with the Secretary's commitment to examine how communities plan to prepare, inform, evacuate and care for people with disabilities, G&T requested CRCL's disability subject matter expertise in the exercise development, as well as participation in the actual Regional exercises scheduled for mid-May. A CRCL representative met with the Hurricane Preparedness Exercise designer on March 24, 2006, and will remain actively engaged throughout the entire process to ensure that disability preparedness and response issues and expertise are thoroughly represented. For more information, the Office of Grants and Training Information Bulletin No. 203 is available at: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/odp//docs/info203.pdf.

ICC Emergency Communications Subcommittee

Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to Establish a Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau

On March 17, 2006, the FCC's Chairman Kevin Martin testified before Congress on plans to strengthen the FCC's public safety and homeland security functions by establishing a "Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau." The new Bureau is designed to provide a more efficient, effective, and responsive organizational structure to address public safety, homeland security, national security, emergency management and preparedness, disaster management, and other related issues. The changes are subject to Congressional notification before they become effective.

The Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau will be organized into three divisions: Policy Division, Public Communications Outreach & Operations Division, and the Communications Systems Analysis Division.

The proposed Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau will handle the following issues and functions that have been dispersed among seven different bureaus and offices, including:

• Public safety communications
• 911/Enhanced 911 (E911) requirements
• Interoperability and operability of public safety communications
Priority emergency communications (TSP/WSP programs)
• Alert and warning of U.S. citizens (EAS, etc)
• Public safety outreach (e.g., PSAPs, first responder organizations)
• Disaster management coordination and outreach
• Communications infrastructure protection
• Network reliability, security and resiliency

Upcoming Events

April 18-22, 2006
100th Anniversary: 1906 San Francisco Earthquake Conference San Francisco, CA.
Marking the centennial of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, more than 2,000 professionals engaged in emergency management, earth science, engineering, risk management, and business continuity from around the world will meet for the 100th Anniversary Earthquake Conference for the week of April 17- 21. The event will include more than 100 sessions and tutorials covering issues critical to earth scientists, building owners, emergency responders, earthquake engineers, policy makers, and disaster mitigation professionals. Please visit www.1906eqconf.org for more information and registration.

May 9-12, 2006
14th Annual Volunteer Organization Active in Disaster Conference Raleigh, NC
This year's conference theme is "Lighting Our Way Together" Please visit http://www.nvoad.org/annualconf1.php for more information and registration.

May 21-24, 2006
5th UCLA Conference on Public Health and Disasters Woodland Hills, California
This multidisciplinary conference will bring together scholars, researchers, practitioners, and policy makers from public health, mental health, community disaster preparedness and response, social sciences, government, media, and nongovernmental organizations in a forum that will promote a dialogue and exchange of ideas for improving public health emergency preparedness, mitigation, response, and recovery. Please visit http://www.cphd.ucla.edu/ to register or for more information.

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 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.