DHS FEMA Grant Program. All bark and no bite.

   Does DHS and FEMA Office of Inspector General report on your jurisdiction?
   Are 80 %  of grant funds allocated to local jurisdictions?

   So a state is in violation, what are the next steps for DHS or the local jurisdiction that still
   require funding for planning, preparedness, and mitigation?

   All bark and no bite.

      Black Emergency Managers Association  

   bEMA 

      Leaders don’t create followers, they create more leaders.   Tom Peters

       …….The search is on.

http://www.oig.dhs.gov/assets/Mgmt/2014/OIG_SLP_14-62_Apr14.pdf
Alaska's Management of Homeland
Security Grant Program Awards for
Fiscal Years 2010 Through 2012

What We Determined

Alaska developed written procedures for program administration. The State also ensured that
grant expenditures for equipment purchases, planning, training, exercises, and administrative
activities were allowable and complied with grant reporting requirements. It linked its
homeland security strategy goals and objectives to DHS mission areas in compliance with
applicable FEMA guidance. We identified the State’s subgrantee application and award
processes as best practices.

However, Alaska can improve its homeland security strategies by including target levels of
performance and the means to measure progress toward enhancing preparedness at both the
state and subgrantee level. The State needs to ensure that 80 percent of grant funds are
obligated to local jurisdictions, improve compliance with procurement procedures and
documentation requirements, strengthen its subgrantee monitoring by updating its policies
and processes, and ensure that updates to policies and manuals include a list of changes.
What We Recommend

We recommended that the FEMA Assistant Administrator, Grant Programs Directorate,
require the Alaska Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management to:

• Assess the current processes and procedures for allocating funds to ensure at least 80 percent of Homeland Security Grant Program funds are allocated to subgrantees as required.
• Develop comprehensive performance measurement systems for grant program goals and objectives that include target levels of performance and criteria against which to measure progress toward enhancing preparedness.
• Ensure updates to Alaska’s Threat and Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment include details and descriptions of desired outcomes as required by FEMA guidance.
• Evaluate and update monitoring and oversight policies to ensure policies and procedures align with Federal and state regulations as well as current practices.
• Ensure enforcement of all Federal and state policies and regulations for oversight of Federal grants.
• Ensure that any updated policies or guidance include a list of changes.

Preparedness should be marketed like Coca-Cola

Imagine the following storyboard...or commercial.

Think of a scene of your favorite breakfast food or other product.

Child (daughter or son) eating a breakfast nutritional cereal at the kitchen table.

Mother placing two boxes of cereal with a list of other items in a Tupperware container.

Child asking mom:  "Mom why are you placing those away?"

Mom: "Oh, these are part of our emergency or disaster kit, of things everyone likes that will last us three days ."

Child:  Gets up from table and places another box of the cereal in the container as mother checks off list on counter-top.

Child:  "Just in case."

Note: Multinational and other organizations could handle the costs in their EXISTING BUDGETS of adding emergency preparedness marketing costs.  EM agencies (FEMA, State, County, City, etc. ) try a little bit more out-of-box innovation and cut spending costs.  These organizations are part of the 'whole community' and can share the costs.

Coca-Cola could even market their product, and their water purification systems.
 

Black Emergency Managers Association  

1231  Good Hope Road  S.E.

Washington, D.C.  20020

Office:   202-618-9097 

bEMA 

Leaders don’t create followers, they create more leaders.   Tom Peters

…….The search is on.


http://www.preventionweb.net/english/professional/news/v.php?id=29966

Preparedness should be marketed like Coca-Cola

• Date:21 Nov 2012
• Source(s):Emergency Management magazine

September was National Disaster Preparedness Month. Many emergency management programs are now working on other mission areas that might include disaster planning or exercises. But the month of emphasis on preparedness is over, and we won’t concentrate on the topic again until next year.

Is this the right thing to do? Should we have one month of preparedness and 11 months of maintenance messaging on the topic of becoming prepared for disasters? We need to change this mentality.

No matter how prepared you become as a single government or coalition of governments, you can’t overcome the lack of disaster preparedness by your general population if the event is catastrophic. No matter how many government resources you throw at problems, there isn’t enough mutual aid or Emergency Management Assistance Compact aid to overcome the hole that has been dug by having your citizens and businesses unprepared for a disaster. 

While the general message in the past has been to become prepared for three days or 72 hours, most people, emergency managers included, are not ready to be on their own for even three hours. I don’t believe the national surveys that tout that upward of 30 to 40 percent of the general population is prepared for a disaster. It just can’t be true based on my own personal experience in talking with individuals and families.

What’s needed to overcome this woeful lack of disaster preparedness is a national-level campaign that is continuous and never-ending in encouraging and motivating people to become prepared for the next disaster. And three days is not enough. 

Look at how Coca-Cola is advertised. We know Coke is sold using polar bears and Santa Claus as marketing mascots, and the symbol of Coke is emblazoned on our brains so that we can mentally recall what the logo looks like. 

And yet we will keep seeing Coca-Cola advertised continuously using television, radio, billboards, magazine ads, bus signs, the Internet and yes, even social media because otherwise people won’t buy it. 

About a month ago, I heard a professional public relations leader explain that his agency did what it could with the funding it was given. He remarked that it would take millions of dollars to do a national advertising campaign like major corporations do. 

OK, let’s do some basic math — it’s been 10 years since the advent of homeland security grants. Those averaged $3.2 billion per year for state and local preparedness. So we’ve spent roughly $32 billion on “stuff” and very little on disaster preparedness messaging. I fought tooth and nail to get funds allocated to that mission for my own homeland security region. We got some $2.5 million over a number of years that we translated into more than $5 million in advertising on television, radio, billboards and buses in a partnership with the Seattle Mariners baseball team. 

What if, instead of trying to get the Ad Council to support disaster preparedness messaging, we worked with the national networks to buy air time and get our disaster preparedness message to everyone in the U.S? Not for a month, but continuously. There could be major ad buys in national magazines, we could target women and children to motivate them to become prepared for disasters and to maintain a level of preparedness for their own welfare and that of their community. This isn’t rocket science — we know how to do it. We have the messages, the means and the wherewithal to make a huge impact for disaster preparedness.

We need to sell disaster preparedness like they sell Coca-Cola.

You may use or reference this story with attribution and a link to
http://www.emergencymgmt.com/disaster/Preparedness-Marketed-like-Coca-Cola.html

Call for Papers: World Congress on Stress, Trauma & Coping

World Congress on Stress, Trauma & Coping

 

Experience a whole new World Congress with more opportunities to

Engage, Learn, Share.

 

 

This theme doesn't just summarize the 13th World Congress on Stress, Trauma and Coping mission and purpose -

 

It also describes the atmosphere we're striving to create:

an environment where solutions are evolving to deal with the ongoing challenges facing crisis interventionists.

 

We invite you to share in our efforts to demonstrate the impact that enhanced quality can have on our agencies, organizations, businesses, communities, and our world. We are developing the 2015 World Congress on Stress, Trauma and Coping and are looking specifically for presentations that can integrate the conference theme with one or more of these focus areas:

Emergency Services and Public Safety

Disaster Response

Faith Based Applications

Family, Children and Schools

Healthcare Settings

Industry / Corporate / EAP

Military / Veterans

Research / Innovations

Specialty Populations

Team Development and Sustainability

 

Call for Presentations opens May 9, 2014!

SAMHSA. The Dialogue: Disaster Behavioral Health

 

 

	Volume 10, Issue 2

 

	Download the Full Issue [PDF - 6.5 MB] We continue with this year's theme, "Response," by highlighting the work of disaster behavioral health responders. It is our hope that their stories from the field help you in your own planning, response, and recovery efforts. Special Feature: Working Together in the Field: Traditional and Disaster Behavioral Health Response to the Shooting of Greenland, New Hampshire, Police Chief and Officers, an interview with Paul Deignan, M.S.W., Disaster Behavioral Health Consultant/Trainer, and Don McCullough, M.S., CMHC We summarize an interview conducted with traditional and disaster behavioral health responders where they share their experiences responding to the fatal shooting of a police chief and the wounding of several other officers in a small, close-knit community. The Work of a Psychiatry Disaster Responder, by Margaret Tompsett, M.D., Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry A disaster psychiatrist discusses her experience responding to several large-scale events and the importance of understanding the difference between disaster response and the traditional tasks of one's professional discipline. West, Texas: Resiliency in Action, by Chance Freeman, Disaster Behavioral Health Services (DBHS) Branch Manager; Jennifer Reid, LMSW, DBHS Response Coordinator; Dana LaFayette, LPC, LP-S, LCDC, Director of Crisis Services, Heart of Texas Region Mental Health and Mental Retardation (MHMR) Center; and Molly Howard, LMSW, Program Manager, Heart of Texas Region MHMR Center The authors describe the disaster behavioral health response to the fatal fertilizer plant explosion in West, Texas, and share how they worked tirelessly to help survivors and responders. Recommended Resources Understanding Compassion Fatigue and Compassion Satisfaction: Tips for Disaster Responders This podcast can help disaster behavioral health professionals learn about the positive and negative effects of helping disaster survivors. The Behavioral Health Response to Mass Violence This podcast discusses the psychological responses to mass violence and suggests strategies and interventions to provide immediate support and mitigate long-term negative mental health consequences. Post-Disaster Retraumatization: Risk and Protective Factors This podcast describes the concepts and signs of retraumatization and associated risk and protective factors and highlights promising treatment strategies and tips for avoiding retraumatization.   About The Dialogue The Dialogue, a quarterly technical assistance journal, is an arena for professionals in the disaster behavioral health field to share information, resources, trends, solutions to problems, and accomplishments. Read previous issues of The Dialogue.

April 28, 2014. National Mass Care Strategy Webinar Series

National Mass Care Strategy Webinar Series

"Children and Disasters: An Integrated Approach to Disaster Planning, Response, and Recovery"

Monday, April 28, 2014, 3:00 – 4:30 p.m. EST

      

This NMCS webinar will focus on whole community partners working together to integrate children’s disaster related needs and implementation at the National, State and local levels. Key discussion areas will include emergency preparedness planning, Connectivity: Click Connect to join the Webinar (with Closed Captioning) to receive both the audio and video through your computer with the greatest clarity. Please enter your name as a "Guest" when joining in.

Teleconference number for remote mobile users (limited number of phone lines): 800-320-4330, Pin: 587968

Webinar Recording A recording of the Webinar will be provided soon after the presentation and posted on the National Mass Care Strategy Website

• NMCS_Webinar_Flyer_042814.pdf

MayDay, MayDay, MayDay....May 1, 2014 is MayDay. Institutions Be Prepared.

May 1st - MayDay: Do One Thing for Emergency Preparedness

Every year Heritage Preservation encourages libraries, museums, archives, historical societies, and preservation organizations to set aside May 1 to participate in MayDay.

 

This year, make sure your institution is prepared! It's easy to take part in MayDay.

 

Last year's participants held fire safety sessions, inventoried emergency supply kits, and created and updated disaster plans. To find out how your organization can get involved, click here.

Free Workshop May 22, 2014 . Oak Park, IL. Public Health Emergency Preparedness

v Public Health Emergency Preparedness: A Free Workshop for Congregations and Faith-based Organizations.

 

This public service workshop is presented jointly by The Humanitarian Disaster Institute (HDI) at Wheaton College, the Cook County Department of Public Health, and the Chicago Department of Public Health.

This is a FREE workshop for people from all congregations and faith-based organizations who wish to learn how to design, implement, and operate a program to promote greater public health emergency preparedness. Participants are eligible to receive individual consultation from HDI on their program following the workshop.

Date and Time: May 22, 2014. 9 AM to 4 PM (Lunch and refreshments are provided)

Location: Oak Park Temple 1235 N Harlem Ave, Oak Park, IL .
There is no fee, but registration is required. Space is limited, so please register early. You may register (before May 1, 2014) by calling (630) 752 5104, or use our online registration form at: http://conferences.wheatoninstitute.org.

 

There is also information at: http://publichealth.wheatoninstitute.org

USDA Announces Specialty Crop Block Grant Program

Hopefully 80% of the funding provided to the States get to the local level.  Keeping my fingers crossed.

 

At a food security panel discussion recently I attended it was noted that 2% of the U.S. population are farmers.  That number needs to increase as with the number of local farmers supported by the community with more farmers markets, organically grown vegetables, poultry, beef, and other items.  If speculative purchasing by a community is needed to support local farmers, than out of the box thinking is needed to support them.

 

“How is your spring, summer garden coming along after the winter?”

 

CDS

 

Black Emergency Managers Association  

1231  Good Hope Road  S.E.

Washington, D.C.  20020

Office:   202-618-9097 

bEMA 

 

Leaders don’t create followers, they create more leaders.   Tom Peters

…….The search is on.

 

From: USDA Office of Communications [mailto:usda@public.govdelivery.com]
Sent: Thursday, April 17, 2014 1:02 PM
To: BEMA@BlackEmergManagersAssociation.org
Subject: USDA Announces Specialty Crop Block Grant Program-Historic Farm Bill Support Available through State Departments of Agriculture

 

Having trouble viewing this email? View it as a Web page. You are subscribed to USDA Office of Communications.   Release No. 0064.14 Contact: Office of Communications (202)720-4623   USDA Announces Specialty Crop Block Grant Program-Historic Farm Bill Support Available through State Departments of Agriculture   WASHINGTON, April 17, 2014 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) today announced the availability of approximately $66 million in Specialty Crop Block Grants to state departments of agriculture for projects that help support specialty crop growers, including locally grown fruits and vegetables, through research, programs to increase demand, and more. The historic support provided by the Agricultural Act of 2014 (Farm Bill), will strengthen rural American communities by supporting local and regional markets and improving access to fresh, healthy, and nutritious high quality products for millions of Americans. The Specialty Crop Block Grant Program, administered by the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), is designed to enhance the markets for specialty crops like fruits, vegetables, tree nuts, dried fruits, horticulture and nursery crops, including floriculture. "Specialty crop block grants help sustain the livelihoods of American farmers while strengthening the rural economy" said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. "These grants contribute to food safety improvements, increased access to healthy food, and new research to help growers increase profitability and sustainability." As directed by the Farm Bill, the block grants are now allocated to U.S. States and territories based on a formula that takes into consideration both specialty crop acreage and production value. Nearly all states are seeing an increase in funds. AMS encourages applicants to develop projects that enhance the competitiveness of specialty crops, sustain the livelihood of American farmers, and strengthen rural economies by: Increasing nutritional knowledge and specialty crop consumption among children and adults, Improving efficiency within the distribution system, Promoting the development of good agricultural, handling and manufacturing practices while encouraging audit cost-sharing for small farmers, packers, and processors, Supporting research through standard and green initiatives, Enhancing food safety, Developing new/improved seed varieties and specialty crops, Controlling pests and diseases, Creating organic and sustainable production practices, Establishing local and regional fresh food systems, Expanding access to specialty crops in underserved communities, Developing school and community gardens and farm-to-school programs, Enhancing the competitiveness of specialty crop farmers, including Native American and disadvantaged farmers. Interested applicants should apply directly to their state department of agriculture. Several states have already published their requests for proposals, and the list of FY 2014 State Requests for Proposals is available on the AMS website. For more information visit the AMS Specialty Crop Block Grant Program webpage or contact Trista Etzig via phone at (202) 690-4942 or by e-mail: trista.etzig@ams.usda.gov. State Department of Agriculture Available Grant Allocation FFY14 Alabama $ 483,202.15 Alaska $ 231,963.39 American Samoa $ 262,706.87 Arizona $ 1,100,428.11 Arkansas $ 350,294.21 California $ 19,761,117.56 Colorado $ 835,856.92 Connecticut $ 395,398.17 Delaware $ 336,755.94 District of Columbia $ 221,328.44 Florida $ 4,552,723.92 Georgia $ 1,393,718.92 Guam $ 223,434.76 Hawaii $ 469,614.89 Idaho $ 1,914,955.87 Illinois $ 654,970.71 Indiana $ 453,297.54 Iowa $ 307,610.17 Kansas $ 313,801.56 Kentucky $ 302,121.14 Louisiana $ 436,132.19 Maine $ 600,343.41 Maryland $ 502,785.48 Massachusetts $ 456,716.84 Michigan $ 1,981,817.31 Minnesota $ 1,389,725.01 Mississippi $ 479,540.04 Missouri $ 457,798.79 Montana $ 986,229.53 Nebraska $ 597,375.99 Nevada $ 300,952.49 New Hampshire $ 272,784.44 New Jersey $ 809,716.73 New Mexico $ 548,734.17 New York $ 1,410,387.64 North Carolina $ 1,169,378.27 North Dakota $ 3,135,521.17 Northern Mariana Islands $ 223,187.88 Ohio $ 653,493.18 Oklahoma $ 691,614.00 Oregon $ 1,949,764.89 Pennsylvania $ 1,039,933.92 Puerto Rico $ 522,655.00 Rhode Island $ 255,543.19 South Carolina $ 599,654.00 South Dakota $ 309,899.19 Tennessee $ 517,242.01 Texas $ 1,905,015.87 U.S. Virgin Islands $ 222,513.02 Utah $ 339,318.30 Vermont $ 278,282.61 Virginia $ 564,828.97 Washington $ 4,259,686.23 West Virginia $ 269,871.84 Wisconsin $ 1,403,956.26 Wyoming $ 290,559.83   # USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer. To file a complaint of discrimination, write to USDA, Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, S.W., Stop 9410, Washington, DC 20250-9410, or call toll-free at (866) 632-9992 (English) or (800) 877-8339 (TDD) or (866) 377-8642 (English Federal-relay) or (800) 845-6136 (Spanish Federal-relay). #  Contact Us   STAY CONNECTED:   SUBSCRIBER SERVICES: Manage Preferences  |  Delete profile  |  Help This email was sent to BEMA@BlackEmergManagersAssociation.org using GovDelivery, on behalf of: USDA Office of Communications · 1400 Independence Ave SW · Washington DC 20250 If you have questions about USDA activities, please visit our Ask the Expert page. This feature is designed to assist you in obtaining the information you are seeking. USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer. To file a complaint of discrimination, write: USDA, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, Office of Adjudication, 1400 Independence Ave., SW, Washington, DC 20250-9410 or call (866) 632-9992 (Toll-free Customer Service), (800) 877-8339 (Local or Federal relay), (866) 377-8642 (Relay voice users).