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Effective Emergency
Management: Making Improvements for Communities and People with Disabilities National
Council on Disability August
12, 2009 Letter
of Transmittal August
12, 2009 The
President Dear
Mr. President: The
National Council on Disability (NCD) is pleased to submit this report,
entitled Effective Emergency Management: Making Improvements for
Communities and People with Disabilities. NCD’s purpose is to promote
policies and practices that guarantee equal opportunity for all individuals
with disabilities, regardless of the nature or severity of the disability,
and to empower individuals with disabilities to achieve economic
self-sufficiency, independent living, and integration into all aspects of
society. Under its congressional mandate, NCD is charged with the
responsibility to gather information on the development and implementation of
federal laws, policies, programs, and practices that affect people with
disabilities. This report is a result of that mandate. NCD
has been interested and involved in emergency preparedness, disaster
management, and recovery since 2003. NCD’s first evaluation of federal
government work in this area was published in April 2005 in the report Saving
Lives: Including People with Disabilities in Emergency Planning. That
report laid out a scenario of a major hurricane striking the Gulf Coast and
outlined steps that the federal government should take to include people with
disabilities in emergency preparedness, disaster relief, and homeland
security. Hurricane Katrina struck four months later. As a
result of NCD’s work, the 2006 Homeland Security Appropriations bill’s
Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act (PKEMRA) (H.R. 5441) required
FEMA to employ a National Disability Coordinator and to interact, consult,
and coordinate with NCD on a list of eight other activities. These duties
included interacting with stakeholders regarding emergency planning
requirements and relief efforts in case of disaster; revising and updating
guidelines for government disaster emergency preparedness; evaluating a
national training program to implement the national preparedness goal;
assessing the nation’s prevention capabilities; identifying and sharing best
practices; coordinating and maintaining a National Disaster Housing Strategy;
developing accessibility guidelines for communications and programs in
shelters and recovery centers; and helping all levels of government in the
planning of evacuation facilities that house people with disabilities.
Congress provided $300,000 in the FY 2007 appropriations bill to enable NCD
to fulfill our assigned duties under the PKEMRA. That funding has enabled us
to complete this report. Based
on its ongoing policy and research work in the area of homeland security, NCD
identified a major gap in the government’s knowledge base. That gap involves
the availability and use of effective practices for community preparedness
and response to the needs of people with disabilities in all types of
disasters. In 2008, NCD began to review the spectrum of available studies and
defined a set of best and promising practices for emergency management across
the life cycle of disasters (preparedness, response, recovery, mitigation)
and geographic areas (urban to rural locations). In addition, NCD collected
more information about promising practices from emergency management
presentations, a public consultation, and public testimony received in
writing and at Council meetings held throughout the country. In
this report, NCD offers information and advice to assist all levels of
government in its work to establish evidence-based policies, programs, and
practices across the life cycle of disasters. This report provides examples
of effective community efforts with respect to people with disabilities, and
evaluates many emergency preparedness, disaster relief, and homeland security
program efforts deployed by both public and private sectors. Our
recommendations are based on scientific research and thorough review of
policies and practices that have been tested in emergencies of all types
throughout the country. It is our expectation that this report will promote a
focused dialogue and communicate critical information to be used by those
charged with protecting our nation's most vulnerable populations. We
stand ready to work with you and the members of your Administration to
improve the nation’s homeland security, emergency preparedness, and disaster
relief policies, programs, and practices for all Americans. Sincerely, John
R. Vaughn Chairperson (The
same letter of transmittal was sent to the President Pro Tempore of the U.S.
Senate and the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.) FULL REPORT IS HERE: http://tinyurl.com/medu86 |
