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FEMA Promising Practice: Establishing Disability Community Preparedness through State and Local Efforts

2:30 pm - 4:00 pm EST, March 10, 2016   |   Organized by: Pacific ADA Center

Description

Date/Time: March 10, 2016 at 2:30 pm ET

Location: Weninar

Description: These 90 minute webinars are delivered by the Pacific ADA Center using the Blackboard Collaborate webinar platform. All sessions will be captioned, recorded and archived.

This program is delivered via both webinar platform and via telephone (additional charges may apply). Real-time captioning is available via the webinar platform.

All webinars offered have real-time closed captioning for persons who are hearing impaired. The webinars are accessible to people with vision disabilities by using screen readers. The webinar system is also accessible to people with mobility/dexterity impairments who use keyboard commands instead of mouse clicks.

In this webinar, two presentations will demonstrate practices in the field that assist in the preparedness of people with disabilities. In the first half, presenters will discuss the development of a statewide task force on emergency management, disability, and functional needs support services (FNSS) issues, including an FNSS toolkit. This presentation will present a model for including individuals with disabilities and their organizations in advising and shaping emergency management practices and policy at the state level. Over the last four years the FNSS Task Force has developed guidance documents, training curriculum, and outreach initiatives. Representatives and subcommittee chairs will describe how the group serves people with disabilities and major initiatives it has undertaken. Lessons learned for the formation and continuity of such a state-level task force will be discussed.

The second presentation will engage audiences on how CERT (Community Emergency Response Teams) Neighborhood Teams can assist local agencies in working collaboratively with the whole community enhancing emergency preparedness for all at the neighborhood level with and for the entire neighborhood. This presentation will explore how a local CERT Team can take the CERT “Buddy System” to a whole new level by partnering up with individuals in their own neighborhood, using the strengths of the entire neighborhood to build a better team. This session will share CERT Teams working with People with Disabilities and others with Access and Functional Needs, side by side, preparing, planning, training and exercising together, as well as outreach materials for people with disabilities developed and produced by the Contra Costa County CERT C8 group.

Learning Objective:

  • Learn about a process of developing and designing a state-wide model for including people with disabilities and their organizations in designing and shaping emergency management practices and policy at the state level.

  • Discover how local CERT Teams can improve emergency preparedness for the “Whole Community” by starting at the neighborhood level ensuring equal and universal access to emergency preparedness to effectively and efficiently prepare for the next disaster that will impact their community.

  • Understand the benefits of the “Whole Community” working together, taking personal, neighborhood and community responsibilities to a whole new level with the CERT “Buddy System” .

  • Learn how CERT Teams, who are in a unique position to help at the Neighborhood level, have joined forces with local government agencies to improve and enhance emergency response efforts from crucial initial damage assessment in the neighborhood to long term recovery for the entire community.

To register please click here




Denita Powell

Denita Powell, serves as the State Coordinator for Operations at the Texas Division of Emergency Management at the Texas Department of Public Safety. She was instrumental in leading the development of a statewide task force to address the needs of individuals with disabilities and functional and access needs in emergency situations.

Angi English

Angi English, LPC, LMFT, is the Division Chief of Strategic Programs and Senior Advisor at the Texas State Office of Risk Management. She oversees all operations of the division's four departments, which include Risk Management, Workers'Compensation, Communications & Development, and Document Processing. She is also Former Executive Director, Texas Governor's Committee on People with Disabilities, in which capacity, together with Denita Powell, led the initiative to form a task force on emergency management for the state that addressed disability and functional needs.

Dan Price

Dan Price, Subcommittee on Planning, Texas Department of Public Safety. Dan Price, Subcommittee on Planning, Texas Department of Public Safety. Dan Price is the supervisor of the Local and Regional Plans Unit for the Preparedness Section at the Texas Division of Emergency Management (TDEM) - Austin. A retired U.S. Navy cryptologic officer, he moved to state and local emergency management after 24 years of active military service. Since joining TDEM, Dan focused his team on helping local jurisdictions throughout Texas with preparedness planning. He has led the Disabilities Planning Subcommittee for the past year, supporting state and local planning efforts with a special focus on persons with disabilities and functional and access needs.

Laura M. Stough

Laura M. Stough, Ph.D., Assistant Director, Center on Disability and Development, Texas A&M University. Dr. Laura Stough is Associate Professor of Educational Psychology, Assistant Director at the Center for Disability and Development, and is a Faculty Fellow at the Hazard Reduction & Recovery Center at Texas A&M University. Dr. Stough's research explores inequities in the provision of social and educational services to individuals with disabilities and their families. She is the co-author of the book Disability and Disaster: Explorations and Exchanges, as well as of over 40 professional articles and chapters.

Kathryn A. Gerk

Kathryn A. Gerk, CEM (Certified Emergency Manager) serves as the Emergency Services Manager for the City of Richmond Fire Department Office of Emergency Services for the past 27 years. She has received numerous awards including FEMA 2009 Honorable Mention for National Citizens Corps Achievement Award Celebrating Resilient Communities and many State and local awards. Kathryn has served on numerous committees collaboratively working to improve emergency preparedness for the Whole Community, CERT as well as for People with Disabilities and others with Access and Functional needs at the national, state and local levels.

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