[House Hearing, 117 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
SUPPORTING UNDERSERVED COMMUNITIES IN EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT
=======================================================================
HEARING
BEFORE THE
SUBCOMMITTEE ON
EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS,
RESPONSE, AND RECOVERY
OF THE
COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
__________
JULY 19, 2022
__________
Serial No. 117-66
__________
Printed for the use of the Committee on Homeland Security
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.govinfo.gov
___________
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
49-425 PDF WASHINGTON : 2022
COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY
Bennie G. Thompson, Mississippi, Chairman
Sheila Jackson Lee, Texas John Katko, New York
James R. Langevin, Rhode Island Michael T. McCaul, Texas
Donald M. Payne, Jr., New Jersey Clay Higgins, Louisiana
J. Luis Correa, California Michael Guest, Mississippi
Elissa Slotkin, Michigan Dan Bishop, North Carolina
Emanuel Cleaver, Missouri Jefferson Van Drew, New Jersey
Al Green, Texas Mariannette Miller-Meeks, Iowa
Yvette D. Clarke, New York Diana Harshbarger, Tennessee
Eric Swalwell, California Andrew S. Clyde, Georgia
Dina Titus, Nevada Carlos A. Gimenez, Florida
Bonnie Watson Coleman, New Jersey Jake LaTurner, Kansas
Kathleen M. Rice, New York Peter Meijer, Michigan
Val Butler Demings, Florida Kat Cammack, Florida
Nanette Diaz Barragan, California August Pfluger, Texas
Josh Gottheimer, New Jersey Andrew R. Garbarino, New York
Elaine G. Luria, Virginia Mayra Flores, Texas
Tom Malinowski, New Jersey
Ritchie Torres, New York
Hope Goins, Staff Director
Daniel Kroese, Minority Staff Director
Natalie Nixon, Clerk
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SUBCOMMITTEE ON EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS, RESPONSE, AND RECOVERY
Val Butler Demings, Florida, Chairwoman
Sheila Jackson Lee, Texas Kat Cammack, Florida, Ranking
Donald M. Payne, Jr., New Jersey Member
Al Green, Texas Clay Higgins, Louisiana
Bonnie Watson Coleman, New Jersey Mariannette Miller-Meeks, Iowa
Bennie G. Thompson, Mississippi (ex Andrew R. Garbarino, New York
officio) John Katko, New York (ex officio)
Lauren McClain, Subcommittee Staff Director
Diana Bergwin, Minority Subcommittee Staff Director
Darrin Williams, Jr., Subcommittee Clerk
C O N T E N T S
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Page
Statements
The Honorable Donald M. Payne, Jr., a Representative in Congress
From the State of New Jersey:
Oral Statement................................................. 1
The Honorable Val Butler Demings, a Representative in Congress
From the State of Florida, and Chairwoman, Subcommittee on
Emergency Preparedness, Response, and Recovery:
Prepared Statement............................................. 5
The Honorable Kat Cammack, a Representative in Congress From the
State of Florida, and Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Emergency
Preparedness, Response, and Recovery:
Oral Statement................................................. 1
Prepared Statement............................................. 3
The Honorable Bennie G. Thompson, a Representative in Congress
From the State of Mississippi, and Chairman, Committee on
Homeland Security:
Prepared Statement............................................. 6
Witnesses
Ms. Denise Bottcher, State Director, AARP Louisiana:
Oral Statement................................................. 7
Prepared Statement............................................. 8
Ms. Barbara Ammirati, Senior Advisor, Child Protection, Save The
Children:
Oral Statement................................................. 12
Prepared Statement............................................. 14
Ms. Marcie Roth, Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer,
World Institute on Disability:
Oral Statement................................................. 17
Prepared Statement............................................. 19
Mr. Antoine B. Richards, Chief of Staff, Institute for Diversity
and Inclusion in Emergency Management:
Oral Statement................................................. 32
Prepared Statement............................................. 34
Mr. Preston Bowlin, Emergency Management Director, Emergency
Management Division, Marion County:
Oral Statement................................................. 37
Prepared Statement............................................. 39
SUPPORTING UNDERSERVED COMMUNITIES IN EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT
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Tuesday, July 19, 2022
U.S. House of Representatives,
Committee on Homeland Security,
Subcommittee on Emergency Preparedness,
Response, and Recovery,
Washington, DC.
The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 9:05 a.m., in
room 310, Cannon House Office Building, Hon. Donald M. Payne,
Jr. [Acting Chairman of the Subcommittee] presiding.
Present: Representatives Payne, Green, Watson Coleman, and
Cammack.
Mr. Payne. The Subcommittee on Emergency Preparedness,
Response, and Recovery will come to order. Without objection,
the Chair is authorized to declare the subcommittee in recess
at any point.
Good morning. We are here to discuss how underserved
communities are treated during disasters and learn what more
the Federal Government can do to protect these communities. I
am pleased to be filling in as Chairman today for today's
hearing on behalf of my distinguished colleague, Congresswoman
Val Demings.
When I served as Chairman and Ranking Member of this
subcommittee, today's hearing was one of the topics that I
closely followed and worked to address. I applaud Congresswoman
Demings' dedication to the subject at hand and I am pleased to
see her continue the fight for helping those who are
underserved or vulnerable during disasters.
During my time in office, improving the lives of children
has been a priority. In 2017, I introduced the Homeland
Security Act for Children, a bill to ensure the Department of
Homeland Security considered and incorporated the unique needs
of children throughout its policies and programs. After years
of pursuing enactment of the bill, I am very pleased to say
that on June 6, 2022, the Homeland Security for Children Act
was signed into law by President Biden.
I look forward to discussing with the witnesses this new
law and how Congress can continue to push for changes that will
help those who need the most help during emergencies. The Chair
now recognizes the Ranking Member of the Emergency
Preparedness, Response, and Recovery Subcommittee, the
gentlewoman from Florida, Mrs. Cammack, for an opening
statement.
Mrs. Cammack. Well, thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you
to our witnesses who are here with us in person today, as well
as those joining us virtually. The disaster recovery process is
best described by the National Disaster Recovery Framework as
``a sequence of interdependent and often concurrent activities
that progressively advance a community toward its planned
recovery outcomes.'' Oftentimes, much of the discussions
surrounding disaster recovery efforts is centered around
improvements that should be made at the Federal level. However,
close coordination between State, Federal, local, Tribal, and
territorial partners is necessary for a successful recovery
process.
As a Floridian, I think we can speak to this first-hand.
That is why I am so grateful that the Emergency Management
Director for my home county, Marion County, Mr. Preston Bowlin,
is able to join us here today and testify. I know his
experience in his current role, as well as his previous
experience in the fire service, and of course, you all know I
am partial as a fire wife, but as a law enforcement officer,
will provide some unique insight into how we can provide better
support to this historically underserved community before,
during, and after disasters.
The significant increase in the number, severity, and types
of disasters that FEMA has been called on to respond to in
recent years only highlights the vital importance of having
effective coordination between emergency managers at all levels
of government. As we heard from Administrator Criswell during
our last hearing, FEMA is currently managing more than 300
disasters, of which 44 disasters declared so far this year, and
the on-going response to the COVID-19 pandemic continues.
To respond to these disasters, FEMA and other Federal
agencies provide billions in response and recovery aid to
individuals and communities across the country. FEMA provides
assistance through a variety of programs through the individual
assistance and public assistances programs, the National Flood
Insurance program, and the Hazard Mitigation Grant program.
Now, while I applaud the progress that FEMA has made in
recent years to identify and address the barriers to recovery
aid, I think everyone here today can agree that there is a lot
more work to be done. Underserved communities in emergency
management can include those living in low-income
neighborhoods, communities of color, people with disabilities,
older adults, children, those with language barriers, and those
living in rural and isolated areas. As a district that
encompasses pretty much every one of those categories, I can
say this issue couldn't be more important.
Today, I would like to talk briefly about two underserved
populations, older adults and those living in rural
communities. During my time in Congress thus far, I have worked
hard to address the unique challenges facing these populations
within my district. As the last few years have shown us, a
critical aspect of homeland security is ensuring that our
Federal, State, local, Tribal, and territorial governments have
the proper plans in place to address significant public health
responses.
Having these types of plans in place are especially
important to help protect the senior population in our
communities. I heard from many of my constituents that
navigating on-line registrations, scheduling systems for
vaccine appointments have proven to be a major barrier for many
of our seniors in our community. There certainly is a
generational divide when it comes to this very issue. But also,
living in an area where rural broadband is not readily
accessible, also another major challenge.
In response to these concerns, I travelled to all six of my
counties in Florida's 3rd Congressional District to check in
with health leaders and emergency managers at vaccination
sites. I am also thankful that Governor Ron DeSantis and his
team worked hard to put our seniors first, ensuring the more
vulnerable citizens amongst us received the COVID vaccine in a
timely manner when and if they wanted it.
In addition to working to address the challenges facing
older adults, I have also been a strong advocate for those
living in our rural communities. About 60 million, or 1 in 5,
Americans live in rural areas. Rural communities including
parts of my district face many of the same challenges as larger
more urban communities. However, as discussed in our previous
hearings, these rural communities face additional challenges
brought on by a lack of available resources, funding, and
connectivity.
So, in closing, I would like to thank all of our witnesses
for participating in this hearing today. I look forward to
hearing your thoughts on how we can all work together to
improve outcomes for all disaster survivors. With that, Mr.
Chairman, I yield back.
[The statement of Ranking Member Cammack follows:]
Statement of Ranking Member Kat Cammack
July 19, 2022
Thank you, Chairwoman Demings.
The disaster recovery process is best described by the National
Disaster Recovery Framework as, ``a sequence of interdependent and
often concurrent activities that progressively advance a community
toward its planned recovery outcomes.''
Oftentimes, much of the discussion surrounding disaster recovery
efforts is centered around improvements that should be made at the
Federal level. However, close coordination between Federal, State,
local, Tribal, and territorial partners is necessary for a successful
recovery process.
That is why, I am so grateful that the Emergency Management
Director for Marion County, Preston Bowlin, is able to testify here
today.
I know his experience in his current role, as well as his previous
experience in the fire service and as a law enforcement officer, will
provide some unique insight into how we can provide better support to
historically underserved communities before, during, and after
disasters.
The significant increase in the number, severity, and types of
disasters that FEMA has been called on to respond to in recent years
only highlights the vital importance of having effective coordination
between emergency managers at all levels of government.
As we heard from Administrator Criswell during our last hearing,
FEMA is currently managing more than 300 disasters--which includes 44
disasters declared so far this year and the on-going response to the
COVID-19 pandemic.
To respond to these disasters, FEMA and other Federal agencies
provide billions in response and recovery aid to individuals and
communities across the country.
FEMA provides assists through a variety of programs including the
Individual Assistance and Public Assistance programs, the National
Flood Insurance Program, and the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program.
While I applaud the progress that FEMA has made in recent years to
identify and address barriers to recovery aid, I think everyone here
today can agree that there is more work left to be done.
Underserved communities in emergency management can include those
living in low-income neighborhoods, communities of color, people with
disabilities, older adults, children, those with language barriers, and
those living in rural and isolated areas.
Today I would like to briefly talk about two underserved
populations: older adults and those living in rural communities. During
my time thus far in Congress, I have worked hard to address the unique
challenges facing these populations within my district.
As the last few years have shown us, a critical aspect of homeland
security is ensuring that our Federal, State, local, Tribal, and
territorial governments have the proper plans in place to address
significant public health responses.
Having these types of plans in place are especially important to
help protect the senior citizens in our communities. I heard from many
of my constituents that navigating the on-line registration and
scheduling systems for vaccine appointments had proven to be a major
barrier for many seniors in our community. In response to these
concerns, I visited all 6 counties in Florida's 3rd to check in with
health leaders at vaccination sites.
I am also thankful that Gov. Ron DeSantis and his team worked hard
to put our seniors first, ensuring the more vulnerable citizens among
us received the COVID vaccine in a timely manner when and if they
wanted it.
In addition to working to address the challenges facing older
adults, I have also been a strong advocate for those living in rural
communities.
About 60 million or 1 in 5 Americans live in rural areas. Rural
communities, including parts of my district, face many of the same
challenges as larger, more urban communities. However, as we have
discussed in previous hearings, these rural communities also face
additional challenges brought on by lack of available resources and
funding.
In fact, a report published by GAO last year discussed the barriers
many disaster survivors face in accessing assistance programs and
resources to support their recovery efforts. The report highlighted
that limited internet access as well as a lack of financial resources
and available staff can all cause reduced access to resources for
individuals living in rural and isolated areas.
In closing, I'd like to thank all of our witness for participating
in this hearing today and I look forward to hearing your thoughts on
how we can work together to improve outcomes for all disaster
survivors.
With that, I yield back.
Mr. Payne. Thank you. I now welcome our panel of witnesses.
Our first witness is Denise Bottcher. She is the State director
of the AARP in Louisiana. Ms. Bottcher leads a five-member team
in Baton Rouge and New Orleans.
Our second witness is Ms. Barbara Ammirati. Ms. Ammirati is
the senior advisor, child protection for Save the Children. Ms.
Ammirati led the response and recovery programs across five
Save the Children disaster programs, including Puerto Rico,
North Carolina, and Florida in 2017 and 2018.
Our third witness is Marcie Roth. Ms. Roth is the executive
director and chief executive officer for World Institute on
Disability. From 2009 to 2017, Ms. Roth served as the senior
advisor to the administration of the Federal Emergency
Management Agency, where she established and directed the
Office of Disability, Integration, and Coordination.
Our fourth witness is Antoine B. Richards, who is the chief
of staff for the Institute for Diversity and Inclusion in
Emergency Management. Mr. Richards' experience includes almost
a decade of work in the health care and emergency management
sectors.
I will now recognize the gentlewoman from Florida, Mrs.
Cammack, to introduce our fifth and final witness.
Mrs. Cammack. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. It is a great honor
and privilege to introduce a good friend of mine, Emergency
Management Director Preston Bowlin, who has served with the
Marion County Sheriff's Office in Ocala and has been a member
of our community as a first responder in that capacity for over
32 years. Now, he has been an instructor for the last 25 years
for various EMS, fire, and law enforcement courses. For the
last 15, has been facilitating tactical medical training to law
enforcement, EMS, and military agencies from around the United
States and the world.
Director Bowlin previously served as an EMS advisor to the
chief financial officer for the State of Florida, who is also
the State marshal, is how it kind-of works out in Florida, and
is a retired member of the Urban Search and Rescue Florida Task
Force Team 8. Team 8 also was one of the responding teams to
the Surfside building collapse in South Florida, tragically
last year.
Now, this is just a brief summary of Director Bowlin's many
accomplishments. But based on his vast experience and insights
that he will be able to provide today, I know that his
testimony will be invaluable. In fact, just over the weekend,
he called me as another tornado ripped through our district. It
was late at 11 at night and he was out boots on the ground. So,
I know as someone who has been there front and center, he is
going to have tremendous insight into this issue. So, I thank
the director for his continued service to our community and I
am so pleased that he is able to join us here in Washington, DC
to testify before this committee.
Mr. Payne. Thank you, gentlelady. Without objection, the
witnesses' full statements will be inserted in the record.
Additional Member statements may also be submitted for the
record.
[The statements of Chairwoman Demings and Chairman Thompson
follow:]
Statement of Chairwoman Val Demings
July 19, 2022
We are here to discuss communities that are most at-risk during
disasters and struggle to recover properly from their effects.
Disasters impact everyone, but not everyone experiences disasters in
the same way. In Florida, we are no stranger to disaster. In recent
years, we have weathered Hurricanes Michael and Irma. This year, we've
seen floods in the South and tornadoes in the North.
We are now in another hurricane season that has been predicted to
be above average, which is why it is so important that we address the
needs of our most underserved communities. We know that some
individuals are more impacted than others throughout the life span of a
disaster, from preparation to recovery. Yet all too often vulnerable
communities are pushed to the sidelines, ignored, and even
discriminated against, during these crises. Communities with
disabilities regularly see their civil rights sidelined during
emergencies. Too often shelters and emergency communications are
inaccessible. Children's unique needs are also often overlooked,
leading to insufficient medical care and a lack of services tailored to
children.
As a mother and a grandmother, I find it very troubling that
children's needs are often not prioritized during disaster. Children
hold our future and protecting them, especially when they cannot
protect themselves, is critical. I want to take a minute to
congratulate my friend, the gentlemen from New Jersey, Mr. Payne on his
legislation, the Homeland Security for Children Act, which President
Joe Biden signed into law last month. This legislation will take
important steps to improving the Department of Homeland Security's
ability to meet the needs of children.
Age in and of itself does not determine vulnerability to disasters.
However, older individuals also suffer disproportionately during
disasters. Forty percent of the casualties after Katrina were 71 years
old or older. Twenty-one percent of Floridians are 65 and older. We
recognize the valuable contributions they make to our community and the
need to help them prepare for and recover from disasters. As we have
established in previous hearings on equity, low-income and minority
communities often struggle to access support from preparedness,
recovery, and mitigation funding, hurting their ability to cope with
disasters.
I am proud to have partnered with Chairman Thompson on the FEMA
Equity Act to address these flaws in our Federal emergency management
system. This legislation is incredibly important because it reinforces
the concept that all Americans deserve to be supported during crises--
regardless, of where they come from, their age, ability, race, or
ethnicity. Sadly, we know that all too often money is a barrier to
individuals and families preparing for and withstanding a disaster.
Access to resources such as a car to evacuate or the internet to get
proper alerts can all be key factors in surviving a storm.
Growing up, I was the youngest of seven, the daughter of a maid and
a janitor. We grew up poor. We experienced hard times, just like many
working-class families in Florida are facing trying times now. In times
like these, we, as a Nation, have a responsibility to ensure that
everyone can weather storms, and that no one is left behind, regardless
of where they live, abilities, or whether they are rich or poor or are
younger or older.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has begun to expand support
for underserved communities, including making equity a core tenant of
its strategic plan. FEMA's work on equity includes taking social
vulnerability into account when investing in mitigation projects to
ensure that we are prepared to withstand shocks and recover more
easily. This is a good start, but there is still more that must be
done.
______
Statement of Chairman Bennie G. Thompson
July 19, 2022
It is a fact that disasters do not impact all people equally.
Underserved communities, including older adults, communities of color,
individuals with access and functional needs, children, and low-income
individuals are more susceptible to the risks associated with disasters
and are often overlooked during emergencies, making it significantly
more difficult for them to recover. We have seen time and time again
when underserved communities fare considerably worse after disasters.
Hurricanes Katrina, Harvey, Maria, and Ida are prime examples of how
disasters can disproportionately impact underserved populations.
In 2005, Hurricane Katrina hit some of the poorest States,
including Mississippi. I saw first-hand how Katrina devastated my
community and how difficult it was for underserved communities to
recover. The storm left the poorest even more vulnerable and uncovered
long-standing inequities. In 2017, Hurricane Maria left nearly 3,000
people dead in Puerto Rico, most of whom were elderly and low-income
individuals. More needs to be done for underserved communities,
especially since we keep seeing the pattern of people left without the
assistance they need.
Over the years, the Committee on Homeland Security has worked to
address the needs of underserved communities in emergencies. I would
like to commend my dear friend, Representative Payne, for his bill, the
Homeland Security for Children Act, being signed into law on June 6th.
This new law is a major step toward ensuring children's needs are
considered during disasters. Looking ahead, extreme weather events are
increasing in frequency and intensity, and vulnerable communities are
the ones suffering and will continue to suffer unless we improve
emergency preparedness and develop resilient infrastructure within
underserved communities.
The climate crisis is, unfortunately, our new normal, and we must
invest in underserved communities and provide mitigation resources to
prevent more loss of life. The Biden administration has taken several
steps to address underserved populations including adjusting
documentation requirements for Federal disaster assistance in response
to long-standing challenges. Additionally, the Biden administration has
made it their central goal to address the needs of different
communities by ensuring that FEMA and other agencies incorporate equity
into their program and policies. Nonetheless, more can and must be
done.
After seeing several gaps in the Federal Government's response to
disasters and how it distributes assistance, I, along with Chairwoman
Demings and Senator Elizabeth Warren, introduced the FEMA Equity Act.
This legislation will improve data collection at FEMA and direct the
agency to integrate equity criteria throughout its programming. It will
also empower local governments affected by natural disasters to request
an emergency or major disaster declaration when requests are not
submitted by the State. I look forward to hearing from our witnesses
today about the challenges underserved communities face in disasters
and how Congress could help to better support them.
Mr. Payne. I now ask each witness to summarize their
statements for 5 minutes beginning with Ms. Denise Bottcher.
STATEMENT OF DENISE BOTTCHER, STATE DIRECTOR, AARP LOUISIANA
Ms. Bottcher. Good morning, Chairman Payne and Ranking
Member Cammack. I am Denise Bottcher, State director for AARP
Louisiana. AARP welcomes this opportunity to address the impact
of disasters on our Nation's older adults and to recommend
steps that can be taken to better protect them and support
their recovery.
Tragically, older adults represent the majority of those
who die in disasters and a disproportionate share of victims
are racial and ethnic minorities. AARP works Nation-wide to
protect the health and safety of older adults through
education, advocacy, and volunteer service. Many of our State
offices have been engaged in disaster preparedness education
and recovery for years, fighting for stronger nursing home
emergency preparedness, more reliable energy in the face of
blackouts, and more effective communication systems to inform
older adults.
For these reasons and more, it really became clear that
part of the solution lies in crafting stronger relationships
with those who respond to disasters and with those who work
with older adults. To that end, AARP and FEMA have established
a long-term strategic partnership to advance accessible, safe,
and livable communities for people of all ages. Last week, we
released a publication, the AARP Disaster Resilience Toolkit.
It provides guidance to local and State leaders on how to
create a more resilient future that puts the needs of older
adults at the forefront. Then FEMA's Guide to Expanding
Mitigation, making the connection to older adults, discusses
how natural hazards affect older adults and provides guidance
on how to reduce those risks.
Extreme weather events can shut down the supports and
services a community depends on to survive and recover. Without
food, water, medications, and the ability to communicate and
share information, older adults can experience devastating
impacts on their physical and mental health. Sustained power
outages can quickly turn into a life-or-death situation. In
Louisiana, Hurricane Ida's wind and water weren't the greatest
threats to older adults. It was the heat. After 4 days of
sweltering and extreme heat and humidity, 8 senior housing
complexes were evacuated. Residents reported that they felt
like they were trapped in an oven several stories up with no
way out. They were abandoned and some of them died.
The city of New Orleans responded swiftly and worked with
multiple organizations, including AARP Louisiana, to pass an
ordinance that requires a license to operate a senior housing
facility and requires building managers to maintain both a
resident census and then provide on-site personnel during
states of emergency. The ordinance went an extra step and now
requires senior housing complexes to coordinate emergency and
evacuation planning with the city. Understanding the unique
needs of older adults, maintaining a state of preparedness, and
planning for emergencies and evacuations would have saved
lives.
Disasters also endanger the financial security of older
homeowners, many of whom rely on the equity in their home as
their largest source of savings. As recovery begins, older
adults are often targeted by fly-by-night contractors. They
also face challenges navigating the often complex Federal
recovery assets that are largely on-line due to the lack of
access to high-speed internet and the wide digital literacy gap
that persists among older adults. We should not forget the old-
school ways of getting information and resources into
residents' hands. Just having boots on the ground, going door-
to-door, and meeting people where they are helps ensure more
equitable recovery.
Within each disaster come learning opportunities and I
would like to share some of those lessons we have learned
following these disasters and informed by our partnership with
FEMA. First, we have learned that it is essential to make the
right connections and build relationships across the fields of
emergency managers and advocates for older adults. Second, it
is critical to identify where older adults live and how best to
communicate with them given the digital literacy gap. It is
also essential to seek and include diverse perspectives in the
process of planning for disaster response and recovery. Fourth,
leaders must be mindful of response and relocation risks. The
disruption associated with displacement, whether short- or
long-term, can accelerate cognitive decline and compromise
physical health. Finally, we must employ community-wide
infrastructure strategies. This includes expanding broadband,
access, and education, strengthening the range of
transportation options, and protecting the areas at greatest
risk from future disasters.
In closing, thank you for the opportunity to testify before
you today on this vital issue. Older adults endure the brunt of
damage from disaster events and their unique needs must be
addressed in National emergency preparedness, response, and
recovery policies, plans, and programs. We look forward to
working with you.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Bottcher follows:]
Prepared Statement of Denise Bottcher
July 19, 2022
Good morning, Chairman Demings, Ranking Member Cammack, and Members
of the House Subcommittee on Emergency Preparedness, Response, and
Recovery. I am Denise Bottcher, State director for AARP Louisiana. AARP
welcomes this opportunity to address the impact of increasingly
frequent disasters on our Nation's older adults and to recommend steps
that can be taken to avert or mitigate the harm and to aid recovery.
impact of disasters on older adults
Tragically, older adults represent the majority of those who perish
in disasters. Such was the case in Hurricane Katrina in 2005, where
people age 75 and older accounted for over half of lives lost--despite
being only 6 percent of the New Orleans population. Similarly, when
Hurricane Sandy hit the New York Tri-State area several years later,
nearly half of the deceased were estimated to be 65 or older. Even
higher shares of death among older adults have occurred in more recent
disasters. Of those who died in the 2018 Camp Fire in California, 85
percent were age 60 or older. And in last year's Texas winter storm, 60
percent of deaths were persons over age 60. Further, due to systemic
societal inequities, a disproportionate share of older disaster victims
are racial and ethnic minorities.
These tragic outcomes are not inevitable. Agencies and communities
that possess a clear understanding of the unique needs of older adults
in disaster events, including an understanding of the impact of extreme
weather on the health and well-being of older adults, are better
equipped to keep them safe.
For several years, AARP has worked through our State offices and
our Nation-wide channels both to promote a better understanding of
older adults and their needs related to disasters and to educate older
adults and their families in the hopes of creating truly age-friendly,
resilient communities.
Toward this end, we recently released a publication that provides
guidance to local and State leaders on how to create a more resilient
future that puts the needs of older adults at the forefront. The AARP
Disaster Resilience Tool Kit, developed together with the Federal
Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), explores the unique needs of older
adults when disaster strikes, including the impacts of extreme heat.
Due to their often-weakened cardiovascular systems, a lower ability to
reduce body temperature through sweat, and complications arising from
preexisting medical conditions, the impact of heat on older adults is
particularly acute. Furthermore, extreme heat poses greater challenges
for those who live on fixed incomes and are unable to easily afford to
cool their homes or who lack transportation to cooling centers. Heat
impacts are further exacerbated for people whose neighborhood lacks the
cooling effect of trees, who live in older manufactured homes, who are
socially disconnected from neighbors or caregivers who can monitor
their condition, or who are unhoused.
Other types of disasters and public health emergencies are no less
dangerous. Sadly, flooding threatens coastal areas where seniors have
chosen to live or are being cared for. In fact, coastal regions saw an
89 percent increase in the number of residents age 65 or older between
1970 and 2010. One assessment predicts that two out of every three of
beds in Florida nursing homes and assisted living facilities are
located in areas that will likely experience occasional or frequent
flooding over the next three decades.\1\
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\1\ AARP Disaster Resilience Tool Kit, July 2022, p. 10. https://
www.aarp.org/livable-communities/tool-kits-resources/info-2022/aarp-
disaster-resilience-tool-kit-download.html.
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As the COVID-19 pandemic swept the Nation, its impact has been
especially deadly for older adults, particularly residents of nursing
homes and other long-term care facilities. Far too often, State and
local emergency planning drills and efforts overlook older adults and
people with disabilities who reside in nursing homes or other
facilities, or who receive home and community-based services, as well
as the staff who care for them, and their family caregivers. A failure
to include these individuals in advance planning, communications, and
drills costs lives. Over the years, AARP has provided comments on
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' proposed regulations
regarding emergency preparedness and nursing homes participating in
Medicare and Medicaid.
Of course, the vast majority of older adults do not live in
congregate facilities. Less than 4 percent of older adults live in
nursing homes or assisted living facilities. Many millions more live
independently in their homes, often alone. Individuals who remain at
home through disaster events, either by choice or under duress,
confront the risks of power outages, the shortage of food and
prescription medicines, and interrupted medical care or in-home
caregiving support. Many older adults who might want to evacuate out of
harm's way are impeded from doing so by a variety of circumstances,
such as a lack of transportation, savings, and access to information.
Others may be reluctant to retreat to cooling centers or shelters
because of a reliance on in-home medical equipment, in-home care, or
even pets. Once the immediate danger has passed, older adults continue
to face threats as targets of fraudulent rebuilding schemes in the
chaos of the recovery phase. They also face challenges in accessing
Federal relief due to a lack of information, technology, and broadband.
Disasters also endanger the financial security of older homeowners,
many of whom rely upon the equity in their home as their largest source
of savings. This is particularly true for those in high-risk areas, who
frequently cannot afford increased insurance costs on their fixed
incomes--if insurance is even available to them. The cost of rebuilding
and recovery may be out of reach for those who lack adequate savings,
including the 46 percent of people over 50 who have no emergency
savings.\2\
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\2\ AARP Public Policy Institute, ``Unlocking the Potential of
Emergency Savings'' on-line article, October 19, 2020. https://
www.aarp.org/ppi/info-2019/unlocking-the-potential-of-emergency-
savings-accounts.html.
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aarp responses
AARP is dedicated to supporting older adults' well-being. We have
contributed to disaster relief efforts through our AARP Foundation
since 2010, and many of our 53 State offices have been at the forefront
of preparedness and education efforts over the years. For example, the
AARP New York State office has helped amplify disaster response
messaging to reach older New Yorkers. The office also coordinated
disaster philanthropy after Hurricane Sandy, and again most recently
after the severe flooding in Brooklyn and the Bronx as a result of
Hurricane Ida. In Florida and Louisiana, disaster preparedness is now a
year-round topic of conversation and education among AARP members.
Through public service announcements and targeted media, our State
offices work diligently to reach our members to encourage preparedness,
combat contractor fraud, and promote home generator safety.
Regrettably, the Government Accountability Office found in 2019 that
many older individuals and persons with disabilities may have faced
challenges registering for and receiving assistance from FEMA and its
non-Federal partners (such as State, territorial, and local emergency
managers).\3\ Following a disaster, and in close coordination with
emergency responders, AARP works to connect older adults to recovery
resources.
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\3\ U.S. Government Accountability Office, ``Disaster Assistance:
FEMA Action Needed to Better Support Individuals Who Are Older or Have
Disabilities,'' May 2019.
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In North Carolina, AARP used our Hub Dialer volunteer call program
to call veterans in the State to offer a free Emergency Go Bag. And
AARP regularly leads programming through Rural Free Delivery (RFD) TV
to educate members in remote and rural areas about how to better
prepare for disasters.\4\
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\4\ AARP, ``Preparing for Any Disaster'' September 2021, https://
states.aarp.org/preparing-for-any-emergency-september-2021.
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In recent years, however, more AARP State offices have seen the
need to engage in mitigation and resilience efforts, noting the
disproportionate impacts of disasters on older adults. For example,
AARP Texas fought for stronger protections for medically needy Texans
dependent on electricity following Winter Storm Uri in 2021. Uri killed
146 Texans over 60 years of age, most of them from hypothermia. The
protections include notification ahead of losing power, as well as
requirements that backup power generation be in place for all long-term
care facilities. Similarly, after 12 South Florida nursing home
residents died in 2017 due to a prolonged power outage after Hurricane
Irma, AARP Florida pushed for enforcement of a State law requiring
nursing homes and assisted living facilities to have emergency back-up
power.
the louisiana experience
Turning to my home State, as we approach the height of hurricane
season--mid-August through September--AARP Louisiana is ramping up its
education and outreach to older adults.
My team and I recently returned from a trip to Southwest Louisiana
where we met with pastors to discuss their communities' recovery from
the devastating hurricane season of 2020. We learned that rebuilding
was slow--particularly for those on fixed incomes with few financial
resources. For older adults, navigating the often complex Federal and
State recovery assets is a daunting task made more difficult when
offered virtually or on-line. The digital literacy gap for older adults
is wide. That is why my team is working with LACONNECT--the Governor's
Office of Broadband and Connectivity--to explore solutions to high-
speed access and digital equity in times of disaster. But while we are
working to bring solutions to the table, we should not forget the ``old
school'' ways of getting information and resources into residents'
hands. Having boots on the ground--going door to door--and meeting
people where they are helps ensure a more equitable recovery.
Following the tragic deaths of nursing home residents during
Hurricane Ida, AARP Louisiana not only called on Federal and State
authorities to conduct a thorough and transparent investigation into
what transpired, but also worked with the Louisiana Department of
Health and other stakeholders to strengthen emergency planning for all
nursing homes in the State--not just for those on the coast.
Legislation passed just a few months ago requires all nursing homes in
Louisiana to have back-up power and it calls for greater collaboration
with emergency preparedness authorities. It also gives the Department
of Health increased responsibility to not just to review the plans, but
to approve them.
Greater collaboration and establishing clear lines of communication
in advance of a disaster is key to protecting the health and safety of
vulnerable populations. Hurricane Ida's wind and water weren't the
greatest threat to older adults. It was the heat. After 4 days of
sweltering in extreme heat and humidity, and with several deaths, 8
senior housing complexes were evacuated. Residents reported that they
were trapped in an oven--several stories up with no way out due to
physical limitations. Residents had been abandoned. The city of New
Orleans responded swiftly and worked with multiple organizations,
including AARP, to pass an ordinance that requires a license to operate
a housing facility, and requires building managers to both maintain a
resident census that details health needs and provide on-site personnel
during states of emergency. The ordinance went an extra step and now
requires senior housing complexes to coordinate emergency and
evacuation planning with the city.
lessons learned from collaboration with fema
For the above reasons and more, it became clear that part of the
solution lies in crafting stronger relationships with those who respond
to disasters and those who care for older adults. To that end, AARP and
FEMA have established a long-term, strategic partnership to advance
accessible, safe, and livable communities for people of all ages, most
recently materializing in the collaboration to produce two
complementary and co-branded documents focused on disaster planning,
mitigation, and risk reduction. FEMA's Guide to Expanding Mitigation:
Making the Connection to Older Adults discusses how natural hazards
affect older adults and provides tips to reduce that risk. The guide is
intended for emergency managers as well as State, local, Tribal, and
territorial officials, planners, and other community stakeholders that
serve or advocate for older adults. In addition, AARP's Disaster
Resilience Tool Kit helps local community leaders develop strategies to
reduce risk and the impacts of disasters on older adults.
While we expect the resources to be of great value in helping
emergency managers, disaster recovery experts, older adult advocates
and caregivers, and local and State leaders to establish better
protocols to reduce risk for older adults, we also have already gained
important lessons from the collaboration that are worth sharing with
this committee.
We have learned that it is essential to make the right connections
and build relationships across the fields of emergency managers and
advocates for older adults--particularly given that they tend to
operate with a distinct set of terminology and language that can impede
mutual understanding. This committee knows the adage that the worst
time to exchange business cards is at the site of a disaster--
relationships between those responsible for disaster preparedness and
recovery and those who advocate for older adults are essential to have
in place well before disaster strikes.
We have learned that it is critical to identify where older adults
are and how to reach them. Too often, people assume that if you have a
plan for evacuating nursing homes, you have checked the box for older
people. That's a deadly assumption. Most older adults live in their own
homes and apartments, sometimes alone, and too often isolated. Special
needs registries, that are voluntary and have privacy protections for
information provided, can help provide better support for people who
need it, and more precise information for first responders. In the wake
of past disasters, States from Florida to Oregon have developed special
needs registries to ensure better support for people who need it, and
more precise information for first responders. More States should
develop these kinds of tools to help localities get assistance to
people with special needs. It is also critical that localities know
which communications means are most effective, including low-tech
options, to ensure that people get timely updates and news.
We have learned that it is essential to seek and include diverse
perspectives in the process of planning for long-term development as
much as it is for disaster response and recovery. Only by hearing
directly from those who come from diverse racial, ethnic, cultural, and
religious traditions, and who represent different education and income
levels, can a community truly plan for a resilient future.
In addition, we have learned that communities must be mindful of
response and relocation risks. Not only can relocation be infeasible
for some due to the inability to drive, secure temporary housing, or
the unwillingness to leave pets, but relocation is inherently tied to
the need to remain connected to essential in-home medical equipment, or
nearby caregivers. Many older adults can meet their medical needs in
non-institutional settings with equipment such as ventilators, oxygen
concentrators, and insulin pumps. Travelling with this equipment may be
challenging both from a logistical standpoint and for the persons using
the equipment. And for some who do relocate, the disruption associated
with displacement--whether short- or long-term--can accelerate
cognitive decline and compromise their physical health when medical
care is interrupted.
Finally, we have learned that in order to better reduce the risk
exposure for older adults, we must employ community-wide infrastructure
strategies, including those that expand broadband access and education
to all households, strengthen the range of transportation choices
available to residents, and better protect the areas at greatest risk
from future disasters, including those subject to repeated flooding,
wildfires, or persistent drought conditions.
recommendations
The challenges to preserving the safety and well-being of older
adults when disasters occur are great. The solutions must be multi-
pronged. AARP urges the following specific actions:
The Federal Government should take a leadership role with
States and localities in planning for and mitigating potential
natural hazards with comprehensive disaster plans. This
planning should specifically address the needs of older adults,
people with disabilities, and their caregivers, in different
settings. It should also involve these individuals in the
development of the plans. Efforts should include disaster-
resistant building codes, design regulations, and
infrastructure plans and preventing development in high-risk
zones.
The Federal Government should also take a leadership role in
working with States and localities to regularly plan, execute,
and evaluate outreach and education activities to equip all
residents to shelter in place or evacuate safely. This includes
older adults, people with disabilities, people of color, people
who do not speak English, low-income persons, and other
difficult-to-reach populations.
FEMA should have specific and detailed protocols that
address the needs of older adults and vulnerable populations in
disasters. FEMA should study the breakdowns in assistance that
occurred in previous disasters and use these lessons to guide
the development of new emergency response protocols.
The Federal Government should engage in post-disaster
recovery efforts that reach all populations, including older
adults, people with disabilities, and their caregivers. This
includes providing technology infrastructure that enables rapid
communications and easy, transparent access to necessary
information. Disaster relief assistance and funding should be
distributed equitably, fairly, and expeditiously.
Evacuation orders should specifically address the needs of
older adults, people with disabilities, and their caregivers,
as well as others who may need to remain in the community due
to special medical needs or other reasons. These orders should
be backed by pragmatic evacuation plans that provide sufficient
shelter space, including special needs shelters.
Rebuilding and recovery efforts should promote livability
and resilience by encouraging:
a diverse housing supply;
a wide range of mobility options;
access to safe, accessible, and sustainable public spaces;
and
proximity to necessary services.
Federal and State licensing standards should require that
nursing facilities and assisted living/residential care
facilities have well-developed, feasible, and practiced
emergency plans for residents, as well as adequate numbers of
well-trained staff to carry out such plans.
In closing, thank you for the opportunity to testify before you
today on this vital issue. Older adults endure the brunt of damage from
disaster events and their unique needs must be addressed in National
emergency preparedness, response and recovery policies, plans, and
programs. We look forward to working with you on this critical matter.
Mr. Payne. Thank you very much for your testimony. I now
recognize Ms. Ammirati to summarize her statement for 5
minutes.
STATEMENT OF BARBARA AMMIRATI, SENIOR ADVISOR, CHILD
PROTECTION, SAVE THE CHILDREN
Ms. Ammirati. Thank you, Chairman Payne, Ranking Member
Cammack, and honorable Members of the subcommittee. Thank you
for the opportunity to provide testimony on behalf of Save the
Children on the impact of disasters on children. In the United
States and around the world, Save the Children works to give
children a healthy start in life, the opportunity to learn, and
also to protect children in crises. I want to thank Congress
first for making the safety and well-being of children a
priority with the recent passage of the Homeland Security for
Children Act.
Save the Children has responded to emergencies and
humanitarian crises around the world for more than 100 years.
In the United States, we are the national leader for child-
focused disaster response and recovery since 2005 when
Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast. Through our
experience, we know that children are among the most vulnerable
populations, that they are exceptionally affected by disasters,
and suffer the most.
We know that children of color and children from rural
communities are particularly hard hit with the highest rates of
food insecurity and least access to disaster recovery
resources, including mental health recovery services. In the
aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, it was the families of color in
Houston, with long histories of chronically unstable housing,
who remained in shelters the longest and whose children lost
any sense of normalcy.
I remember one 3-year-old boy who visited our child-
friendly space in the Greenpoint Mall shelter every day for
weeks. He was a bit of a rabble-rouser and slowly we gained his
trust and he endeared himself to the entire team. We were
thrilled when his family received housing placement, but it was
hard to say goodbye and wonder what would happen to him. Well,
12 months later, our team responded to Hurricane Michael in
Panama City, Florida. While setting up the child-friendly space
in the school shelter, I was stunned to see that very same
little boy from Houston now just 4 years old walk into the
shelter. It broke my heart to think what brought him there and
how his little life was completely upended not once but twice
in the course of a year.
I had a similar experience with Hurricane Katrina. As
devastating as it was for everyone, the hurricane had much
deeper impacts on children. The storm, unfortunately, was not
the worst thing that had happened to them. They didn't need
stuff. What they needed was caring adults and support systems.
Based on Save the Children's on-the-ground experience, we
know that while tremendous progress has been made, there is
more to be done. We offer the following recommendations to the
subcommittee: On education and influencing outcomes of a
child's overall development, ensure that no displaced child is
out of educational setting for more than 30 days. Ensure a
robust return-to-learning policy framework that assesses the
number of children out of school, limits the use of schools of
as temporary shelters, expedites the rehabilitation and
refurbishment of damaged schools, and establishes temporary
learning spaces.
On child care, which as we know, essential to the economic
health and vitality of a community, Congress should please urge
FEMA to designate child care as a critical service placing it
at the same category as schools. And urge Congress to authorize
a grant-funding mechanism to repair or rebuild for-profit child
care facilities, to support the establishment of temporary
child care, and reimburse States for subsidizing child care
during disaster.
On mental health, we urge Congress to ensure funding to
support additional mental and behavioral health services in the
aftermath of a large-scale disaster to supplement the depletion
of existing resources and strengthen the backbone of American
children. Congress and the Department of Education to award
funds to States to implement and evaluate training of
professional development programs for teachers on how to
provide support to students before, during, and after disaster.
On Government funding and accountability, to dedicate more
funding to emergency preparedness, response, and recovery to
lessen the gaps that remain to further support children. We
urge Congress to include children into target capabilities with
specific outcomes and performances. You cannot improve what you
don't measure. Funding to implement, socialize, and
institutionalize the good resources FEMA's tools and processes
laid out in the Homeland Security for Children Act.
And on cultural representation, Congress to urge all
involved agencies to ensure that staff, volunteers, and
Government representatives working in shelters adequately
represent the communities being served.
On behalf of Save the Children and our advocates, I want to
thank the subcommittee for this opportunity to provide
testimony on the needs of children in emergencies. I am
submitting for the record a copy of my testimony with more
detailed recommendations. I look forward to working with the
Members of the subcommittee and to ensure that children and
families receive the support they need to recover from
disaster. Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Ammirati follows:]
Prepared Statement of Barbara Ammirati
July 19, 2022
Chairwoman Demings, Ranking Member Cammack, and honorable Members
of the subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity to provide testimony
on behalf of Save the Children about the impact of disasters on
children. In the United States and around the world, Save the Children
works every day to give children a healthy start in life, the
opportunity to learn and protect children in crisis. We do whatever it
takes for children--every day and in times of crisis--transforming
their lives and the future we share.
______
I want to start by thanking Congress for making the safety and
well-being of children a priority with the recent passage of the
Homeland Security for Children Act. By providing a permanent
interagency coordinator that can ensure focused efforts, reduced
duplication, and aligned resources for issues impacting children that
must be addressed from multiple perspectives, children will have a
better opportunity to recover from disasters. While progress has been
made over the last decade to better protect children, there is more to
be done.
Save the Children has responded to emergencies and humanitarian
crises around the world for more than 100 years. In the United States,
we are the national leader for child-focused disaster response and
recovery since 2005 when Hurricane Katrina devastated Gulf Coast
States. Based on our expertise, Save the Children was tasked with
chairing the Presidentially-appointed National Commission on Children
and Disasters in late 2007.\1\
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\1\ National Commission on Children and Disasters. 2010 Report to
the President and Congress. AHRQ Publication No. 10-M037. Rockville,
MD: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. (2010).
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Save the Children continues to respond to unprecedented extreme
weather catastrophes and man-made disasters in the United States--
including more than 10 in the short time since Save the Children last
testified before Congress in 2018. In addition, we have spent the last
4 years providing emergency assistance for children and families at the
U.S. Southern Border and the assisted in the extraordinary temporary
resettlement of more than 100,000 Afghans in 2021. All of this work has
been made even more difficult by the global pandemic.
Research and evidence show that children are exceptionally affected
by disasters. They suffer the most and are one of the most vulnerable
populations after disasters--they can lose their parents, face food
insecurity, and become homeless after floods, hurricanes, and other
extreme weather catastrophes. We know that children of color and
children from rural communities are particularly hard hit--with the
highest rates of food insecurity and the least access to disaster
recovery resources, including mental health recovery services.
Children of color are also disproportionately represented in lower-
income, disaster-prone communities. Our disaster response experience
demonstrates over and over again that communities of color struggle the
longest and hardest in recovery from disasters. They take the longest
to get back to school and early childhood learning environments.
In the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, families of color in Houston
with long histories of chronically unstable housing remained in
shelters the longest. Children were out of school and had none of their
personal effects from homes that were destroyed. Our teams got to know
these children and families well over the weeks and months--one 3-year-
old boy stands out. He visited our child-friendly space that was set up
in a mega shelter at the Greenpoint Mall every day. He was a bit of a
rabble-rouser and it was clear he had seen a lot in his little life,
more than any 3-year-old should have to endure. He endeared himself to
us and we managed to gain some semblance of his trust. It was hard to
say goodbye--but we were thrilled when the family received housing
placement and could leave the shelter.
Twelve months later, we were responding to Hurricane Michael in
Panama City, Florida. There were multiple shelters but the largest was
at an elementary school that had been spared complete devastation. As
we set up the child-friendly program for children in the shelter, I was
stunned to see our little friend from Houston walk into the Panama City
shelter with a sibling. What trauma for such a young child to
experience twice in a 12-month period? It broke our hearts.
Save the Children's on-the-ground experience responding to these
disaster has shed light on critical gaps in the capacity of States and
communities to protect children in emergencies and crises, and on
valuable best practices that can help keep children safe. Based on this
experience we offer the following recommendations to the subcommittee:
education recovery--return to learning
Each year disasters have a major impact on children, youth, and
education systems. Disasters of all sizes result in children missing
school days, absenteeism by teachers who themselves may be affected by
the disasters, disruption of learning, and school closures because of
damage and destruction to classrooms and school infrastructure. For
disaster-prone areas, this can mean that every year children may be
losing critical hours of learning, which severely impact educational
outcomes and a child's overall development.
Additionally, when children have safe spaces to learn and play, and
can access a full range of services and support, they are less
vulnerable to the increased risks that go hand-in-hand with disasters.
Schools can also provide children with the space they need to access
psychological support and assist with regaining a sense of normality
and healing from trauma.
There are significant gaps in information/knowledge from the
education sector on both the short- and long-term impacts disasters
have on educational outcomes. A lack of official data collection and
analysis of the number of children and schools affected by disasters
inhibits coordination between response agencies, Government bodies and
community organizations, and impacts the effectiveness of the response
as a whole.
In addition, operating costs associated with extra school days
added to a school year as a result of disruption do not qualify for
assistance under Stafford Act Sections 403 and 502, which provides
emergency assistance to eligible public and nonprofit facilities,
including schools.
Congressional Recommendation.--Ensure that no displaced child is
out of an educational setting for more than 30 days. Congress must
enact policies with a commitment that no child misses more than a month
of school, post-disaster. Current guidance to schools allows for up to
60 days before recovery funding will be provided.\2\
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\2\ https://rems.ed.gov/docs/PublicAssistanceProgramWebinar[1].pdf
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A return-to-learning policy framework should include: Assessing the
number of children out of school, the number of learning spaces needed,
limiting the use of schools as temporary shelters, expediting the
rehabilitation and refurbishment of damaged schools, establishing
temporary learning spaces, and providing alternative education delivery
programs (such as education in shelters or additional funding for
after-school programming).
Congress should ensure a permanent funding mechanism to support
recovery for schools and students so that school systems recovering
from disasters are provided immediate resources to reopen and restore
the learning environment in a timely manner and provide support for
displaced students and their host schools.
We also urge Congress to task the newly-established role of
Technical Advisor to initiate a study of the short- and long-term
impacts of disasters on schools and the children they serve. Such a
study can identify gaps in policy, implementation, data, and knowledge
that will provide an evidence base to inform program and advocacy
strategies, as well as seek to put more comprehensive numbers behind
the stories of the impacts of disasters on children.
child care recovery
Extensive research has shown that child care services are essential
to the economic health and vitality of a community.\3\ During a
disaster, workers with young children cannot resume their jobs unless
there is safe, secure child care for their children.
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\3\ http://www.mildredwarner.org/econdev/child-car.
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Small private for-profit child care represents about two-thirds of
licensed child care providers Nation-wide.\4\ Due to limited funding
opportunities for private child care recovery, most facilities that are
damaged or destroyed in a disaster receive little to no Federal
recovery support.
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\4\ https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/136/The-Economics-of-
Childcare-Supply-09-14-final.pdf.
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Congressional Recommendation.--While recognizing that child care is
now considered to be a ``non-critical or essential service'' under
FEMA's public assistance program, and deeming private non-profit child
care eligible for disaster assistance, Congress should urge FEMA to
designate child care as a ``critical service''. This would place it in
the same category as schools, which would alleviate/loosen the
requirement for child care facilities to apply for Small Business
Administration (SBA) loans. Child care providers rarely receive SBA
loans because their profit margins are so low. This has deterred many
of these providers from even applying in the first place. In addition,
we urge Congress to authorize a grant funding mechanism, such as an
emergency contingency fund, to repair or rebuild private, for-profit
child care facilities, support the establishment of temporary child
care, and reimburse States for subsidizing child care services to
disaster-affected families.
mental health needs
Natural and man-made disasters frequently have wide-spread, deep,
and enduring impacts on children's mental health. Many children
experience long-term reactions to a disaster. Therefore, it is
important that adults who care for children at schools and child care
are trained to provide supportive services before, during, and after
disaster, rather than relying exclusively on the traditional clinical
approach of triage and referral.\5\
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\5\ [sic]
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The use of non-congregate or hotel-based shelter models throughout
the pandemic to prevent the spread of COVID-19 mirrored lockdown, and
isolated children and families already devastated by the loss of
friends, family, property, and income. Studies suggest that the absence
of routine and social isolation associated with lockdown has had
significant impacts on the physical and mental health of children.\6\
The research also indicates that parents, now in hotel lockdown,
experienced cumulative stressors through COVID-19 which impacted on
their mental health and increased child abuse potential.\7\
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\6\ https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.722161/
full#B15.
\7\ https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.722161/
full#:?:text=Studies%20-
examining%20the%20impact%20of,et%20al.%2C%202020).
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Congressional Recommendation.--We urge Congress to ensure funding
to support additional mental and behavioral health services in the
aftermath of a large-scale disaster to supplement the depletion of
existing resources and strengthen the backbone of America's kids.
Congress and the Department of Education should award funds to
States to implement and evaluate training and professional development
programs for teachers on how to provide support to grieving students
and students in crisis. States should also be encouraged to establish
requirements related to teacher certification and recertification on
these subjects. In addition, Congress should adequately fund the
National Child Traumatic Stress Initiative (NCTSI) and Project SERV
State grants to provide trauma treatment, programming, and services in
schools and communities for children, youth, and families who
experience or witness traumatic events.
In light of the use of non-congregate or hotel-based shelter models
throughout the pandemic, we urge Congress to task the newly-appointed
Technical Advisor with evaluating the impact of family isolation on
displaced children and families during and following a disaster. This
data would be critical to inform future use of non-congregate shelter
practice.
government funding & accountability
The biggest obstacle to supporting children through disaster
response and recovery is inadequate funding. Robust funding and strong
accountability structures are required to meet the needs of children.
While the United States invests billions of dollars to support
emergency preparedness and response, very often children's needs are
overlooked. While we congratulate Congress on passing the Homeland
Security for Children Act which will help highlight children's needs in
emergency response adequate funding is needed and in particular to
include children into target capabilities with specific outcomes and
performance measures. ``You can't improve what you don't measure.''\8\
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\8\ https://www.forbes.com/sites/civicnation/2022/06/29/thanks-to-
my-queerness-i-am/?sh=6f47987331af.
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Congressional Recommendation.--Congress, through the appropriations
process, has the responsibility to fund the Federal Government in such
a way as to meet the needs of children. We need to dedicate more
funding to emergency preparedness, response, and recovery to lessen the
gaps that remain and further support children.
Funding to implement, socialize, and institutionalize FEMA's
resources, tools, and processes laid out in the Homeland Security for
Children Act to address and meet children's needs at every level of
Government is critical and include children into target capabilities
with specific outcomes and performance measures.
cultural representation
Culturally Sensitive Trauma-Informed Care is critical for children
in times of crisis. In order for health care professionals to provide
effective trauma-informed assessment and intervention, it must take
into account a patients' and families' cultural values, beliefs, and
practices. At the absolute minimum, children and families need to be
able to communicate with shelter staff and other professionals in their
language of choice. For example, in our hurricane response in North
Carolina, care for families and children was delayed significantly by
the lack of translation services for a large Swahili population in the
region.
Congressional Recommendation.--Congress should urge all involved
agencies to ensure staff, volunteers, and Government representatives
working in shelters adequately represent the community being served.
This is especially important for children and families seeking health
and psychological supports, as cultural differences can have a variety
of impacts ``ranging from the ways in which health and illness are
perceived, health-seeking behavior, attitudes of the consumer, as well
as the practitioners and mental health systems''.\9\
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\9\ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6018386/.
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conclusion
On behalf of Save the Children, and our advocates across the
country, I want to thank the subcommittee for the opportunity to
provide testimony on the needs of children in emergencies here in the
United States. I look forward to working with the Members of the
subcommittee to ensure that children and families receive the support
they need to recover from disaster.
Mr. Payne. Thank you for your testimony. I now recognize
Ms. Roth to summarize her statement for 5 minutes.
STATEMENT OF MARCIE ROTH, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AND CHIEF
EXECUTIVE OFFICER, WORLD INSTITUTE ON DISABILITY
Ms. Roth. Good morning, Chairman Payne, Ranking Member
Cammack, and distinguished Members of the subcommittee. It is
an honor to testify before you today as one voice among the 26
percent of the U.S. population who have disabilities and who
are continually underserved and left behind before, during, and
after disasters. I am the CEO of World Institute on Disability,
founded by people with disabilities 40 years ago. I have spent
the past 20 years focusing on disability-inclusive emergency
management and improving disaster outcomes for the whole
community, including almost 8 years as senior advisor to FEMA
Administrator Craig Fugate, establishing and leading FEMA's
Office of Disability, Integration, and Coordination until 2017.
We are still failing people with disabilities, especially
multiply-marginalized people before, during, and after
disasters. We need your help to address urgent, immediate,
life-saving steps FEMA, HHS, DHS, DOJ, HUD, and State, local,
Tribal, and territorial emergency management can take to serve
disaster-impacted people and communities being left out and
left behind. They have not adequately implemented, monitored,
or enforced their obligations to ensure compliance with
disability civil rights laws in the use of huge amounts of
taxpayer funds. Because they have denied guidance, technical
assistance, and funding for access to life-saving and life-
sustaining resources, emergency management at every level has
severely underserved people with disabilities of all ages,
primarily multiply-marginalized disabled Black, Brown,
Indigenous, other people of color, LGBTQIA+, and other
intersecting identities experiencing poverty in urban and rural
communities.
Unfortunately, for the past 5 years, FEMA has made it
almost impossible for national disability leaders from across
the country to work collaboratively with their Office of
Disability Integration, Office of Equal Rights, and their
leadership. Of well over 1 million people who have died from
COVID since 2020, most were people with pre-existing
conditions, comorbidities, and other terms used to describe
disabilities. Over 200,000 of them were disabled people of all
ages in congregate facilities, death pits, as described by The
New York Times. To be clear, people don't go to nursing homes
and other institutions because they are old. They go because
they have disabilities and need community support that their
community fails to provide to them.
The World Institute on Disability has been actively
participating with the Partnership for Inclusive Disaster
Strategies on their daily calls, focusing on the urgent needs
of people with disabilities impacted by COVID and concurrent
disasters. Disability leaders have met each and every day since
February 28 of 2020. We meet on weekends and holidays and we
are almost always joined by the American Red Cross, Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention, and community leaders from
across the country. FEMA is invited daily; however, they do not
attend.
One of our key areas of focus is on optimizing the use of
the Federal disaster declarations and the Stafford Act to
protect disabled people and disaster-impacted communities.
Independent living centers have a mandate to divert and
transition people with disabilities from nursing homes under
Federal law. We have tried to utilize this mandate to relocate
people to safer, non-congregate settings to protect them from
COVID and other infections spreading rampantly in these
congregate facilities.
Since 2020, we have implored Administrator Gaynor, Acting
Administrator Fenton, and 11 months ago, we met with and begged
Administrator Criswell to guide emergency managers to work with
us to utilize the non-congregate shelter and reimbursement
option under FEMA Public Assistance Category B emergency
protective measures to save lives. We know this option is
viable because Roads to Freedom in Central Pennsylvania has
successfully received reimbursement for life-saving relocation.
While trying to navigate FEMA assistance, many, many others
have died. Twenty people seeking relocation in one community
died while waiting for approval from emergency management to
agree to relocation. According to AARP, rates of COVID-19 cases
and deaths in nursing homes rose in June for the second month
in a row. Resident deaths increased by 54 percent compared to
the previous month. How many of these deaths could have been
prevented? How many more can we prevent, starting today, if
FEMA were to prioritize the use of emergency protective
measures for assisting people with disabilities to relocate out
of congregate facilities and divert others from being admitted
with the help of experts from Centers for Independent Living?
Please support equity in access and--I am sorry--equality
in access and equity in outcomes. Please help us pass the Real
Emergency Access for Aging and Disability Inclusion Ready for
Disasters Act----
Mr. Payne. Ms. Roth.
Ms. Roth [continuing]. The Disaster Relief Medicaid Act,
and let's build forward better, not back. And please tell FEMA
to work with us. Thank you.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Roth follows:]
Prepared Statement of Marcie Roth
July 19, 2022
Good morning, Chairman Demings, Ranking Member Cammack, and
distinguished Members of the Subcommittee on Emergency Preparedness,
Response, and Recovery. It is an honor to testify before you today, as
one voice among the 26 percent of the U.S. population, 1 in 4 adults,
who have disabilities and who are continually underserved and left
behind before, during, and after disasters.
I am the executive director and chief executive officer of the
World Institute on Disability, one of the first global disability
rights organizations, founded in 1983 by people with disabilities and
continually led by disabled people for almost 40 years.
I have been active in the disability rights movement since I was in
high school and have worked as an advocate for the rights and needs of
people with disabilities throughout my 45-year career. Along the way, I
acquired my disability, raised two disabled children, married a man
with a disability, became the proud grandmother of an amazing 3-year-
old with a disability and, though some don't own it, most of my family
and friends have disabilities, too.
My laser focus on emergency preparedness, improving disaster
outcomes for people with disabilities and building accessible disaster-
resilient communities began in the immediate aftermath of the September
11, 2001 terrorist attacks, when I was asked to advise the White House
on the rights and urgent needs of thousands of New Yorkers with
disabilities living in the area around ground zero.
Appointed by President Obama to the U.S. Department of Homeland
Security--Federal Emergency Management Agency from 2009 to 2017, I
served as senior advisor to Administrator Fugate, establishing and
directing the FEMA Office of Disability Integration and Coordination. I
also served as FEMA's Congressionally-mandated disability coordinator;
a requirement established when the Post-Katrina Emergency Management
Reform Act (PKEMRA) amended the Stafford Act in 2006.
I am here today because, despite my very best efforts, my work and
the work of many others has failed to improve disaster outcomes for
people with disabilities. This is especially and disproportionately
true for disabled multiply-marginalized Black, Brown, Indigenous and
other People of Color, LGBTQIA+, and other intersecting identities.
In fact, I am horrified to have to testify that I think people with
disabilities are in even greater peril today than when I last testified
before this committee in 2019.
However, after spending nearly 8 years in a leadership position at
FEMA, and many more years providing guidance, tools, training, and
technical assistance to local, State, National, Tribal, territorial,
Federal, and international emergency management stakeholders, I am
confident that emergency management can center the needs and rights of
the people and communities most disproportionately affected by
disasters and by doing so, improve disaster resilience for the whole
community.
In one week, on July 26, 2022, the 32nd anniversary of the
Americans with Disabilities Act will be celebrated. This law, known as
the ADA, gives civil rights protections to individuals with
disabilities similar to those provided to individuals on the basis of
race, color, sex, national origin, age, and religion. The ADA also
assures equal opportunity for individuals with disabilities for access
to businesses, employment, transportation, State and local government
programs and services, and telecommunications. These rights are never
suspended or waived, including before, during, and after public health
emergencies and disasters.
In 1971, a New York judge described people with disabilities as
``the most discriminated [against] minority in our Nation.'' Two years
later, the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 which requires equal physical
access, program access, and equally effective communication access was
passed. Almost 50 years old, this law applies to EVERY Federal dollar
spent, including all funds expended by the Federal Government before,
during, and after disasters, and every Federal dollar spent by grantees
and sub-grantees, including States, Tribes, territories, and their
subgrantees from cities and counties and any other user of Federal
funds.
In the words of one of the original authors of the ADA, Bob
Burgdorf, written in the Washington Post, ``The ADA was a response to
an appalling problem: Widespread, systemic, inhumane discrimination
against people with disabilities.
However, it wasn't until passage of the Post-Katrina Emergency
Management Reform Act (PKEMRA) in 2006 that non-discrimination on the
basis of disability was added to the Stafford Act.
Even today, FEMA frequently cites ``Federally-supported, State-
managed, Locally-executed'' as an excuse for failures in serving people
with disabilities in violation of civil rights laws. While this may be
an acceptable excuse when it doesn't involve Federal funds, FEMA's
obligations (and the obligations of all funders of Federal financial
assistance) to comply and to ensure their grantees and subgrantees
comply remain solidly in place, without exception.
equality in access and equity in outcomes
Having a disability does not make people more vulnerable in
disasters. Everyone is potentially vulnerable to the impacts of
disasters. What makes people vulnerable is the failure of communities
and governments to plan for the equal access and equitable outcomes for
people with disabilities in every aspect of the disaster cycle,
including community preparedness and disaster exercises, accessible
alerts, and warnings, building and community evacuation, sheltering and
temporary housing, access to health maintenance and medical services,
and all aspects of the recovery process.
Both equality and equity are important but are not interchangeable.
Equity means fairness, and that everyone gets what they need. While we
are reaching and striving for equity, it is not an alternative to
equality. Equal access is one imperative aspect of achieving and
maintaining equity. Equal access for people with disabilities is a
legal, civil rights obligation, never waived or diminished in a
disaster. Incrementalism is not an acceptable or permissible
alternative to complying fully with the law. The Government's
commitment to equity is laudable, and necessary, but no one is ``off
the hook'' when it comes to equal access to programs, services, places,
or information for people with disabilities, before, during or after a
disaster.
One of the most egregious failures of the Federal Government is
failing to monitor and enforce equal access obligations that cannot,
must not be ignored when spending or granting tax dollars to others to
spend. The most egregious failure is continuing to look the other way,
shrugging shoulders, or letting years of inaction pass with when these
violations are brought to the attention of officials who have the
responsibility to act.
underserved and underheard
When I was at FEMA, Administrator Fugate made it very clear to me
right from the start of my appointment and throughout my almost 8 years
as his senior advisor that my top priority was disability community
engagement. This included meeting regularly with National, State, and
local disability leaders, sending dozens of disability advisors into
disaster-impacted communities during FEMA response to Federally-
declared disasters, developing and delivering training and technical
assistance to support emergency managers and stakeholders on how to
meet the access and functional needs of the whole community, inclusive
of, but not limited to people with disabilities.
Since 2017, FEMA leadership has actively and systematically
dismantled most community engagement mechanisms, significantly
decreased the disability expert workforce, shut down existing training
and failed to provide any new training.
in a 2017 government accountability office report, federal disaster
assistance: fema's progress in aiding individuals with disabilities
could be further enhanced
GAO found that ``ODIC also has not established goals for how many
State and local emergency managers should take its key training on
integrating the needs of individuals with disabilities into disaster
planning. Nor has ODIC evaluated alternative methods to deliver the
training more broadly, such as virtually in addition to classroom
training. As a result, State and local emergency managers may be ill-
prepared to provide effective disaster services to those with
disabilities.''
Five years later, one recommendation from that report is marked
``closed-implemented'' and the other two remain ``open''.
Among the 1,000+ courses available through the FEMA Emergency
Management Institute and funded by tax dollars, there are currently two
courses that mention disability. One, IS: 368 referred to in the report
as ``closed-implemented'', is a short video developed in 2014 and never
updated, and the other, IS: 1019, is specifically focused on disaster
recovery ``codes and standards''.
In 2019, after a bipartisan request from co-chairs of every
relevant House and Senate committee, including the House Committee on
Homeland Security. Another GAO report was published ``Disaster
Assistance: FEMA Action Needed to Better Support Individuals Who Are
Older or Have Disabilities''. This report included 7 new
recommendations. Of those, 5 of the recommendations are noted as
``closed-implemented'' however, one is a time line to offer training to
FEMA's partners. Another that is still open is that ``The FEMA
Administrator should develop a plan for delivering training to FEMA
staff that promotes competency in disability awareness. The plan should
include milestones and performance measures and outline how performance
will be monitored.''
In another ``closed-implemented'' recommendation to update
``Integrating Access and Functional Needs into Emergency Planning'' it
is noted that ODIC officials ``expect to field the course starting in
August 2020''. As of July 2022, this course, has been unavailable for 5
years, surely contributing to underserving disaster-impacted people
with disabilities and other marginalized people.
At the same time, the frequency, intensity, and duration of
disasters of all kinds is growing exponentially. The disproportionate
impact on people with disabilities and other marginalized people is
exacerbated by the failures of the Federal Government to implement,
monitor, and enforce the laws that protect the people most likely to be
harmed. Basic access to power, potable water, heating, and cooling is
taken for granted by most people, yet these are among the most deadly
effects of climate-driven disasters, along with fires and floods.
During this period, our Nation has experienced 84 separate billion-
dollar weather and climate-related disasters, many other disasters
costing less than $1 billion, other Federally-declared disasters
unrelated to weather, and, of course COVID disasters and public health
emergencies, both in place since early 2020. This includes all 50
States, the District of Columbia, 5 territories, and 32 Tribes.
The U.S. Departments of Justice, Health and Human Services,
Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, and FEMA have all
confirmed that disability civil rights laws are NEVER waived or
suspended, including in a disaster. Even when waivers of other laws are
granted in a Federally-declared disaster, those waivers never apply to
the ADA and the Rehabilitation Act, nor do they apply to the non-
discrimination requirements in the Stafford Act.
Despite this, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid have repeatedly
issued waivers in public health emergencies that allow States to bypass
many of the protections that keep people with disabilities out of
institutions, nursing homes, and other congregate facilities, in direct
violation of their rights. These Section 1135 of the Social Security
Act blanket waivers have been issued repeatedly over the past several
years with dire consequences for people with disabilities, despite
their ADA, Stafford, and Rehabilitation Act rights.
I have repeatedly raised these concerns for years, including in a
formal complaint in 2017, filed with the Departments of Justice, Health
and Human Services, Homeland Security, and FEMA. I was granted a
``listening session'' hosted by the Disability Rights Section of the
Department of Justice in November 2017. Representatives from HHS and
DHS attended, FEMA RSVPed to DOJ that they would attend, but never
showed up.
In my one-way conversation, while everyone ``listened'', I
requested that these Federal representatives exercise their obligation
to enforce disability rights laws since the civil rights of people with
disabilities are never allowed to be waived or suspended. I never heard
another word about my complaint and the issuance of 1135 blanket
waivers continued in many subsequent disasters, including the current
COVID-19 pandemic, beginning in January 2020 and reissued by HHS
Secretary Becerra 4 days ago on July 15, 2022.
The National Council on Disability (NCD) is an independent Federal
agency charged with advising the President, Congress, and other Federal
agencies regarding policies, programs, practices, and procedures that
affect people with disabilities. In May 2019, NCD published Preserving
Our Freedom: Ending Institutionalization of People with Disabilities
During and After Disasters. In NCD's cover letter to President Trump,
former Presidential appointee NCD Chairperson Neil Romano told the
President, ``NCD has found that people with disabilities are frequently
institutionalized during and after disasters. The report examined
factors that led to institutionalization. Then, most critically, it
provided recommendations to eliminate institutionalization of people
with disabilities during and after disasters. It also recommended how
to improve community readiness to meet obligations that require equal
access to emergency and disaster services and programs in the most
integrated setting appropriate for disaster-impacted people.'' Chairman
Romano told President Trump, ``There will be no remedy in future
disasters without sweeping changes.''
On March 3, 2020, in anticipation of what disability leaders feared
was to come, disability advocates led by the Partnership for Inclusive
Disaster Strategies, the National Council on Independent Living
Emergency Preparedness Subcommittee, and my organization, the World
Institute on Disability issued a National Call to Action joined by 194
other local, national, and international groups.
The coalition followed our Call to Action with a letter to Vice
President Pence and the White House COVID-19 Task Force on March 9,
2020.
It took many complaints before CMS amended their COVID-19 1135
blanket waiver guidance, adding one line to the document originally
published 4 months earlier. The added language reads, ``States are
still subject to obligations under the integration mandate of the
Americans with Disabilities Act, to avoid subjecting persons with
disabilities to unjustified institutionalization or segregation.
In a footnote, CMS also added ``Please note that consistent with
the integration mandate of Title II of the ADA and the Olmstead vs LC
decision, States are obligated to offer/provide discharge planning and/
or case management/transition services, as appropriate, to individuals
who are removed from their Medicaid home and community-based services
under these authorities during the course of the public health
emergency as well as to individuals with disabilities who may require
these services in order to avoid unjustified institutionalization or
segregation. Transition services/case management and/or discharge
planning would be provided to facilitate these individuals in their
return to the community when their condition and public health
circumstances permit.'' This did not stem the placement of people with
disabilities in COVID-infested nursing homes.
Advocates also had to move quickly to prevent children and adults
from having their medical care and medical devices rationed based
simply on their disability and the perceived quality of their life.
Both implicit and explicit biases were further threatening the lives of
people with disabilities.
``The Center for Public Representation and others filed complaints
alleging that crisis standard of care plans in two of the States being
hardest hit by COVID-19, Arizona and Texas, discriminate against people
with disabilities, older adults, and people of color, placing these
communities at risk of substantial and imminent harm--and the real risk
of being denied basic and emergency treatment--during the pandemic.
In response to the disability community's strong advocacy, the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Civil Rights (HHS
OCR) published a bulletin on March 28, 2020 to ensure that covered
entities follow civil rights laws, including Section 1557 of the
Affordable Care Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act which
``prohibit discrimination on the basis of disability in HHS-funded
health programs or activities.'' The guidance explains that entities
funded by HHS cannot deny people with disabilities medical care ``on
the basis of stereotypes, assessments of quality of life, or judgments
about a person's relative `worth' based on the presence or absence of
disabilities.'' It also discussed the obligations of hospitals to
ensure equal access and effective communication.
In many States, efforts have been taken to provide immunity to all
hospitals, nursing homes, and other congregate facilities, protecting
those facilities and their employees from any criminal or civil
liability for their treatment decisions and actions. Families,
disability advocates and advocates for older adults are outraged. One
advocate in New York told The New York Times ``Having liability can
cause a facility to be more diligent and prevent incidents occurring
that will cost them money,'' said Susan M. Dooha, the executive
director of the Center for Independence of the Disabled. ``The
preventive power of liability has been muted.''
For 2 years, countless people have been institutionalized in
understaffed, under-resourced COVID-infested congregate facilities,
with waivers in place that have resulted in continual denial of basic
human rights, huge data gaps and even bigger loss of life. On April 22,
2022, CMS updated their use of blanket waivers in place for over 2
years. Absent from their update was elimination of nursing home
admission flexibilities, to meet the needs of providers, NOT people
being admitted without civil rights and life safety protections in
place.
collaboration and partnership
The World Institute on Disability believes collaboration and
partnership between disability-led organizations like ours and
government and non-government organizations must be among our highest
priorities. Through our work with the Partnership for Inclusive
Disaster Strategies, we have been closely collaborating, coming
together each and every day, at 6pm ET since February 28, 2020 with a
laser focus on addressing the urgent needs of people with disabilities
throughout the COVID-19 public health emergency and concurrent
disasters, including those driven by the impact, duration, and
intensity of climate change.
We are joined almost every day by representatives from the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC), the American Red Cross, emergency
managers and disability community leaders from across the country. The
U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office for Civil Rights and
Civil Liberties (CRCL) and the HHS Administration for Community Living
(ACL) join at least weekly.
Despite extending continual invitations from the Partnership for
Inclusive Disaster Strategies, the FEMA Office of Disability
Integration and Coordination (ODIC) and the FEMA Office of Equal Rights
(OER) rarely join us or participate in any of the Partnership's other
invitations to collaborate. (Over the past 2 months, the ODIC acting
director has begun to attend some meetings, however he rarely shares
any information and has been unable to answer our questions.)
This is our ONLY shared communication since a large group of
disability-led organizations and our allies met with FEMA
Administrator, Deanne Criswell almost 1 year ago in August 2021 to
share our urgent concerns about the needs of disaster-impacted people
with disabilities. At that meeting, Administrator Criswell assured us
that FEMA's Disability Coordinator and both ODIC and OER would follow
up and work more collaboratively moving forward. This statutory
obligation is included in the Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform
Act (PKEMRA) mandate for the Disability Coordinator to ``consult with
organizations that represent the interests and rights of individuals
with disabilities about the needs of individuals with disabilities in
emergency planning requirements and relief efforts in the event of a
natural disaster, act of terrorism, or other man-made disaster'' among
other statutory obligations. Despite Administrator Criswell's
assurances, our contact from ODIC has only been in the form of
announcements from the office and the last correspondence of any kind
was in November 2021. While we were included in the audience for the
FEMA Equal Rights Summit in November 2021, we've had no follow-up
communication from OER, no summary, findings, transcript, or other
output from that meeting.
To summarize, there has been no collaboration, no coordination, no
dialog, and no effort to seek community engagement or consult with a
broad array of disability-led organizations.
Since November, COVID has raged, with Omicron causing devastating
impact that has disproportionately affected people with disabilities of
all ages. Recently, the Kaiser Family Foundation reported what we
already knew, that as of 1/30/22, there have been over 200,000 deaths
in nursing homes, with countless disabled people of all ages dying in
other long-term care, carceral, psychiatric, and other facilities.
According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, ``This death count is
based on State and Federal data sources. For the period between March
2020 and June 2021, the total number of deaths is based on State-
reported data on LTCFs, including nursing homes, assisted living, and
group homes, that summed to 187,000 resident and staff deaths. For the
subsequent period between July 2021 and January 2022, we incorporated
data reported to the Federal Government by nursing facilities
(excluding other types of LTCFs), adding another 14,000 resident and
staff deaths to the total. The total number of resident and staff
deaths from these two sources, roughly 201,000, is likely an undercount
of the true number of resident and staff deaths in LTCFs since it
excludes deaths in long-term care settings other than nursing homes
after June 30th, 2021. Additionally, not all States reported data on
all types of LTCFs prior to June 2021.''
And from the Covid Tracking Project at the Atlantic: Using State
and Federal data, we can estimate that as of March 2021: ``About 8
percent of people who live in U.S. long-term-care facilities have died
of COVID-19--nearly 1 in 12. For nursing homes alone, the figure is
nearly 1 in 10.
``The most complete figures we can assemble are both an estimate
and a severe undercount of the true impact on long-term-care residents.
Because of the historical deaths missing from both State and Federal
data, non-standard State reporting, and the absence of Federal
reporting requirements for long-term-care facilities, we believe that
the true toll of the pandemic among these residents is higher than
these figures can show. Read our analysis or use our data.
``Throughout the pandemic, long-term-care facility deaths made up
over a third of all U.S. deaths based on COVID Tracking Project (CTP)
data, which includes nursing homes, assisted living and other long-term
care facilities. The Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) only
reports data for nursing homes, where a quarter of deaths in the U.S.
occurred. The impact on these communities is likely higher than this
figure shows because of missing historical deaths from both State and
CMS data, and inconsistent, non-standardized reporting by States.''
You may not think FEMA has a primary role in preventing the death
of hundreds of thousands of disabled people in nursing homes and
countless others denied personal assistance and personal protective
equipment in the community. However, disability leaders have been
trying to work together with FEMA leaders on life-saving and life-
sustaining efforts related to the pandemic since the very first days
after COVID was declared a national disaster on March 13, 2020. We
focused very specifically on the dire circumstances in congregate
settings and the opportunity to relocate people with disabilities to
non-congregate settings as an emergency protective measure, already
covered under FEMA Public Assistance, Category B (Cat B). We knew Cat B
was being used to relocate unhoused people and that Centers for
Independent Living (CILs) are Congressionally-mandated to transition
people with disabilities out of these settings, and also divert others
from admission as one of their core services. This was an opportunity
to work together to save hundreds of thousands of lives. CILs
understood they would have to fund relocation costs and wait for
reimbursement from their State. Some attempted to get their county and
State to work with them. So far, only one county and one State has
worked with one CIL; Roads to Freedom Center for Independent Living of
North Central PA, to save one person through emergency relocation
utilizing Cat B Emergency Protective Measures.
Many other disabled people have died as their CIL attempted to
navigate across their county, State, and FEMA to help them put needed
Memoranda of Agreements in place. They were repeatedly told that FEMA
wouldn't allow this use of Public Assistance reimbursement.
Guidance from FEMA has not been forthcoming, and even now, after
Roads to Freedom received reimbursement for life-saving emergency
relocation, FEMA has not accepted our invitations to work together to
help more States to save disabled lives. There has been no guidance
offered by FEMA to optimize the equitable use of Cat B to improve
disaster outcomes for people with disabilities or to enforce the
requirements that come with use of Federal funds by FEMA's grantees and
subgrantees in compliance with their civil rights obligations.
KFF noted that ``COVID-19 deaths in LTCFs make up at least 23
percent of all COVID-19 deaths in the U.S.'' Further, ``nursing homes
have continued to experience disproportionately high case and death
rates in the country during the recent surge. Higher case rates may be
attributed to the highly transmissible nature of Omicron and the nature
of congregate care settings.''
There have been at least 20,000 COVID deaths in nursing homes since
Administrator Criswell was appointed. Many of these deaths occurred
after Roads to Freedom successfully navigated emergency relocation for
which FEMA has subsequently reimbursed relocation costs to the State of
PA, who subsequently reimbursed Roads to Freedom.
According to the American Association of Retired People, ``rates of
COVID-19 cases and deaths in nursing homes rose in June for the second
month in a row, ending several months of decline from the peak of the
initial Omicron wave in January 2022.
The rate of resident cases increased by 27 percent in the 4
weeks ending 6/19/22, compared to the previous 4 weeks. About 1
out of every 35 nursing home residents tested positive for
COVID-19 in this 4-week period.
The rate of staff cases increased by 42 percent compared to
the previous 4 weeks. About 1 staff member tested positive for
COVD-19 for every 28 residents.
More than one-third of nursing homes had a resident case
during the 4 weeks ending 6/19/22, and two-thirds of facilities
had a confirmed staff case.
The rate of resident deaths increased by 54 percent compared
to the previous month. About 1 out of every 1500 residents died
from COVID-19 in the last month.''
How many of these deaths could have been prevented? How many more
can we prevent, starting today, if FEMA were to prioritize the use of
emergency protective measures for assisting people with disabilities to
relocate out of congregate facilities and divert others from being
admitted with the help of experts from CILs?
The World Institute on Disability (WID), The Partnership for
Inclusive Disaster Strategies, and our allies from across the country
would like to rebuild what was once a collaborative relationship with
FEMA. We want to work with FEMA Headquarters and in the Regions in a
shared effort to close systematic gaps that prevent FEMA from meeting
its commitment to ``integrate equity as a foundation of its culture''
and fully accomplish its mission to help ALL people, before, during and
after disasters, including disabled people.
We shared our stakeholder perspective on our top 10 FEMA priorities
for 2022 earlier this year:
1. Talk directly and regularly with disability-led organizations
who work on disability-inclusive emergency management. We
expect to be at the table and not the door. Bring in a mediator
if necessary.
2. Work with us to save disabled lives now. It's too late for
hundreds of thousands of people with disabilities who could
have been prevented from dying from COVID, but it's not too
late for people, including multiply-marginalized people with
disabilities, who could be assisted by the network of
disability-led organizations across the country who want to
work with FEMA.
3. Co-host a summit with national disability-led organizations on
Disability, Equity, Rights, Compliance, and the equitable use
of Disaster Funds to jointly focus on improving the equitable
use of Federal disaster resources
4. Provide Guidance to SLTTs on:
1. FEMA Personal Assistance Services Addendum
2. Recent Disaster Assistance Application changes
3. Transparent reporting on all Rehabilitation Act monitoring,
compliance, and enforcement in all funds granted to States
from FEMA.
4. Utilizing disability-led organizations as a primary source
of qualified, culturally-appropriate Disaster Case
Management.
5. Engaging disability-led organizations throughout the
development, control, play and review of exercises at all
levels.
5. Recognize CILs and other community-based disability
organizations as eligible Private Non-Profits in the next
update of the Public Assistance Program and Policy Guide.
(Pages 45-47).
6. Provide monthly reports on the long-delayed revision of E/L 197
and other relevant training issues highlighted in the February
2017 GAO report on training with emphasis on meeting disability
rights obligations and achieving disability equity.
7. Convene a workgroup including disability-led organizations to
identify and address gaps between Emergency Support Functions 6
and 8.
8. Meet with disability-led organizations working on the midpoint
review of the United Nations Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk
Reduction 2015-2030.
9. Co-host a summit with national disability-led organizations on
implementing a realistic Personal Assistance Services plan and
performable contracts for Federal as well as SLTT.
10. Co-host a summit with national disability-led organizations on
implementation and improvement of the Integrated Public Alerts
and Warnings System to meet the notification requirements for
equally effective communication access for people with
disabilities in disaster
priorities for congress
Among the many issues we are asking this committee to prioritize,
please include the following:
Focus on disability inclusive preparedness, response, and recovery
centering the people and communities most disproportionately
underserved and left behind.
Please help us find out who is monitoring and enforcing FEMA
and HHS's use of disaster funds to ensure that every Federal
dollar spent or granted to others to spend are in full
compliance with all of the obligations under the Rehabilitation
Act of 1973? We can't seem to get that answer and can't seem to
get an answer for who is responsible for monitoring and
enforcing the agencies required to monitor and enforce the
expenditure of billions--perhaps trillions of taxpayer dollars!
Are we centering our efforts on the disaster needs of
multiply-marginalized Black, Indigenous, Brown, and other
People of Color? LGBTQIA+ people?
Are the rights and needs of disabled prisoners and detainees
in carceral facilities prioritized in emergency and disaster
planning?
What efforts are being taken to ensure the inclusion of
people with intellectual disabilities, autistic people, people
with mental health needs, people under guardianship and other
disabled people who are most often the most excluded from
emergency planning?
Why are funds being directed to improve nursing homes when
they very obviously are incapable of protecting the people in
their facilities from infections, including deadly COVID-19?
Invest funds in home and community-based services and
accessible housing!
Who is responsible for monitoring the GAO findings regarding
FEMA's obligations to people with disabilities? Despite several
recent reports about the failures of the Office of Disability
Integration and Coordination, several agreements remain
unfulfilled and although GAO reported that they weren't
conducting a civil rights review, many disability civil rights
violations have been documented and remain unresolved. If GAO
is not responsible for addressing these documented civil rights
violations, who is?
Are people with disabilities involved in planning,
participating in, and reviewing disaster exercises?
Do they get alerts and warnings in formats accessible to
them? Has the Integrated Public Alerts and Warning Act
adequately addressed all accessibility requirements?
Information must be accessible to be actionable.
Can they evacuate from multistory buildings? Can they
evacuate the community with everyone else, even if they need
accessible transportation, or are they left behind?
Are shelters prepared to meet their access and functional
needs?
Will service and emotional support animals be welcomed?
Despite relentless efforts, people with service animals are
still repeatedly denied access to shelters.
Has there been any guidance provided for assisting people
with disabilities who request reasonable accommodations for the
application process when they apply?
Will national disability organizations finally be invited to
work with FEMA's Office of Disability Integration and
Coordination after being refused time and again since 2017?
How can provision of personal assistance and other
accommodations be improved? There is still a need for immediate
solutions to prevent admissions to nursing homes and other
COVID-19-infested congregate facilities.
There is a national shortage of accessible and affordable
housing before disasters destroy homes. This must be a priority
or the cascade that leads to institutionalization won't be
stemmed.
Likewise, we must prioritize Home- and Community-based
Services funding to prevent institutionalization and provide
the resources for nursing home transition and other
deinstitutionalization for all who wish to live in the
community, without exception.
Meeting the educational needs of students with disabilities
remains an especially urgent need during the pandemic. The
disaster-related needs of students with disabilities have been
an issue in every recent disaster, and this must be addressed
so that planning can prevent the disproportionate interruption
of the educational needs of these students, in violation of
their rights under the Individuals with Disabilities Education
Act.
Disaster recovery and mitigation must always start with a
commitment to universal design standards and accessibility as
imperatives. Without accessibility, community resilience is
impossible.
Immediately pass the bi-partisan, bi-cameral Real Emergency
Access for Aging and Disability Inclusion for Disasters (REAADI
for Disasters Act)--and Disaster Relief Medicaid Act (DRMA).
These bills will go a long way toward closing many of the
deadly gaps in disasters and public health emergencies, not
just for people with disabilities, but for the whole community.
Based on the findings of the 2019 report, Preserving Our Freedom:
Ending Institutionalization of People with Disabilities During and
After Disasters, NCD recommends that:
The Department of Justice (DOJ), the Department of Health
and Human Services (HHS), the Department of Homeland Security
(DHS), and the Department of Housing and Urban Development
(HUD) monitor and enforce the Americans with Disabilities Act
(ADA) Olmstead integration mandate and the Rehabilitation Act
obligation to use Federal funds in such a way that people are
served in the most integrated setting appropriate to their
needs.
All relevant Federal agencies engage with National, State,
and local coalitions of disability-led organizations and
stakeholders.
DOJ assesses the equal access and non-discrimination civil
rights compliance performance of the American Red Cross and
other shelter and mass-care providers in relation to actions
resulting in institutionalization of disaster survivors with
disabilities.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) explore ways
to expeditiously modify its Individual Assistance registration
process to curtail the incidence of institutionalization of
individuals with disabilities.
DHS/FEMA and HHS/Administration for Community Living (ACL)
provide grant funds to support Independent Living Centers in
supporting disaster-impacted people with disabilities in their
community. (This funding should incorporate all five core
services of Independent Living Centers, including their
obligation to prevent and divert institutionalization of
disaster-impacted people throughout disaster response and
recovery.)
Relevant Federal agencies integrate disaster-related
services for veterans with disabilities with all other
emergency and disaster services in order to address the current
gap in coordination.
Legislation be introduced and swiftly enacted to address all
gaps in meeting the civil rights obligations to people with
disabilities impacted by disasters.
Recommendations from the Emergency Relocation of Congregate Setting
Residents letter to the National Governors Association:
Relocate residents to safe, non-congregate, cohort settings
that house no more than one person per room
Identify residents who want to transition to Home- &
Community-based Services (HCBS)
Require that institutions/long-term care facilities grant
access to essential CIL staff and transition coordinators in
order to implement these relocation plans
Expedite HCBS eligibility determinations for those who want
to remain in the community OR who refuse to return to an unsafe
congregate setting
Work with your Department of Commissioners, etc. to utilize
alternative funds (such as FEMA Public Assistance Category B
funds) to cover the costs of care, shelter, and food during
disaster relocations
Immediately lift the restrictions on visitations. Data shows
visits from family are critical to the well-being and quality
of life of people housed in these congregate settings. Not
allowing visitations is contributing to the increases in death.
And, the Partnership for inclusive Disaster Strategies led our
COVID-19 Coalition to issue the following Legislative Recommendations
for Public Health Emergencies and Disasters:
To meet the urgent and immediate needs of people with disabilities,
including multiply-marginalized people, throughout the COVID-19 Public
Health Emergency, Presidential Disaster Declarations, concurrent
disasters and in preparation for future disasters and public health
emergencies:
There must be the establishment and funding of one or more
Disability, Emergency, and Disaster Technical Assistance
Centers led and managed by disability inclusive emergency
management experts, operational within 30 days of enactment in
order to meet the immediate life-saving and life-sustaining
needs and protecting the rights of 61 million adults with
disabilities and for others who also have access and functional
needs in a disaster or public health emergency.
Purposes of the Disability, Emergency and Disaster Technical
Assistance Centers:
Operating a National Disability Disaster and COVID-19 Rights
and Needs Hotline
Developing and delivering remote just-in-time training on
the COVID-19 rights and needs of people with disabilities, with
a specific focus on:
The rights and immediate needs of people with disabilities
who need supports and services to protect themselves from
exposure.
People with disabilities who are in quarantine.
People with disabilities who are in isolation or in an acute
care medical setting.
Information for medical, public health, and public safety
officials, government and non-government, and private-sector
entities to understand their obligations to people with
disabilities, before, during, and after public health
emergencies and disasters.
Meeting continuity of operations and continuity of services
for serving people with disabilities across the life cycle and
throughout the disaster cycle.
Public engagement, coordination between all public and NGO
stakeholders to provide accessible information, promising and
good practices, and problem-solving via disability accessible
teleconference and web-based information sharing.
Crisis counseling and Disaster Case Management for people
with disabilities, eligible as a result of Federal Disaster
Declarations. Crisis counseling and Disaster Case Management
must be provided by disability culturally competent providers,
and must be equally effective for all people with communication
disabilities. Crisis Counseling and Disaster Case Management
must be provided without interruption and gaps. Auxiliary aids
and services to make communication equally effective include
sign language interpreters, real-time captions, CART, plain
language, easy read, Braille, large print, screen reader and
other alternative formats. Alternative and augmentative
communication is used by many people with disabilities to meet
their daily communication needs. For people with COVID-19 whose
ability to communicate may be temporarily affected, equal
access to crisis counseling can be provided by utilizing
auxiliary aids and services to meet their urgent crisis
communication needs.
Amendment to Stafford Act--Use of Disaster Response and
Recovery Funds
Fund certain ``nonprofit entities'' in Category B language--
amended to define funding for a training & technical assistance
center.
Funding for disability-led organizations providing life-
saving and life-sustaining assistance in a Federally-declared,
Stafford Act-eligible disaster or emergency.
Fund State, local, Tribal, and territorial government
entities to track the displacement of people with disabilities
into skilled nursing facilities (SNF) and other institutions
with or without the use of a CMS 1135 Blanket Waiver.
Require and fund Federal, State, local, Tribal, and
territorial government entities to ensure disability services
and supports are provided in the most integrated settings
appropriate to the person.
If the person is in an acute care setting, all reasonable
accessibility accommodations and modifications of policies and
practices are provided without interruption.
To maintain all reasonable accessibility accommodations and
modifications of policies and practices are provided without
interruption at home and throughout transition home from an
acute care or institutional setting.
Increase Home- and Community-based Services (HCBS) funding
Expand funding for Money Follows the Person (MFP)
Fund Federal entities to monitor recipients and
subrecipients of Federal funds to ensure compliance throughout
all disaster-related placement decisions by recipients and
subrecipients of Federal financial funds within 30 days, and
with quarterly reports to Congress.
Additional recommendations for legislative action are all drawn
from the 5/24/19 report from the National Council on Disability report
to President Trump: Preserving Our Freedom: Ending Institutionalization
of People with Disabilities During and After Disasters:
Require CMS to establish a process for Medicaid portability
and continuity of services within States and among States,
Tribes, and territories during disasters and public health
emergencies to ensure uninterrupted health maintenance and
medical care in the least restrictive environment for Medicaid
recipients.
Require that all recipients and subrecipients of Federal
funds receive just-in-time training in the scope of their
obligations to people with disabilities. This training must be
developed and delivered by disability-led organizations with
knowledge, skills, and abilities. This training must include
information advising that Federal funds may be revoked due to
noncompliance with the obligation to receive services in the
most integrated setting appropriate and that this obligation
applies during disasters.
Training on the scope of the obligations of recipients and
subrecipients of Federal financial assistance to people with
disabilities during the period of hospitalization and discharge
for individuals impacted by public health emergencies and
disasters, including those who have been abandoned during
evacuation, sheltering, and transition to long-term housing.
Funding will be provided to disability-led organizations to
deliver technical assistance to local, State, Tribal,
territorial, and Federal agencies responsible for emergency
preparedness, community resilience, and disaster-related
services, programs, supports, or activities to engage with
national, State, and local coalitions of disability-led
organizations and stakeholders.
Fund NCD to lead a review of the National Response
Framework, Emergency Support Function Annexes, and Federal
Interagency Operations Plans and all other applicable Federal
doctrine to determine any required updates to specifically
address responsibility for meeting the equal access, health
maintenance, safety, and independence needs of children and
adults with disabilities to prevent institutionalization.
Fund an organization with expertise in IDEA, ADA, Rehab Act
and Stafford Act to assess and make recommendations that
disaster-impacted students with disabilities are not excluded
from distance learning and returning to school with their peers
and that all supports and services included on their IEP or
Section 504 plan are provided without interruption. This
includes providing services during school closure and upon
school reopening in order to meet their individualized
educational needs and to prevent institutionalization.
Fund a comprehensive assessment of with recommendations for
the establishment and execution of a seamless and integrated
process in Emergency Support Functions No. 6 and No. 8 to
prioritize health maintenance for children and adults with
disabilities and seamlessly deliver services and supports to
people in the most integrated setting throughout the
evacuation, sheltering, hospitalization, temporary housing, and
disaster recovery. Recommendations must include actionable
steps for the HHS Secretary's Operations Center and the FEMA
Emergency Support Function Leadership Group to ensure the
rights and needs of people with disabilities are maintained
throughout the period of a declared public health emergency and
disaster.
Establish a roster of Federal agencies who must provide
senior leadership participation and active engagement in a
community-led public-private partnership with disability
organizations with specific expertise and involvement in
national disability inclusive emergency management policy and
practice.
Authorize and appropriate funds for DHS and FEMA to provide
disaster preparedness grants specifically targeted to
organizations led by and serving marginalized communities,
including but not limited to people with disabilities
experiencing poverty; people with disabilities experiencing
homelessness; women with disabilities; people of color with
disabilities; and members of the LGBTQ community with
disabilities.
Provide funding and quarterly reporting by DOJ, DHS, and HHS
to monitor and enforce the obligation under both the ADA and
the Rehabilitation Act to serve people with disabilities in the
most integrated setting appropriate to their needs.
Fund the FCC to reestablish its Emergency Access Advisory
Committee to establish effective communication access
requirements for alerts, warnings, and notification, including
provision of American Sign Language and other existing and new
assistive technology. These guidelines should be developed in
consultation and collaboration with DOJ, applying the
requirements for equal effective communication access.
Implementation should include monitoring and enforcement by the
FCC and DOJ.
Fund immediate operations and research into solutions for
existing disability service providers (such as independent
living centers, paratransit service providers, meals on wheels,
medical supply providers, developmental disability service
providers, personal assistants, direct support professionals,
birth to 3, ADRCs, AAA, sign language interpreters, peer
support, respite, etc to jointly plan for, share information,
and meet the emergency and disaster needs of the people one or
more of them maintain in their database.
Fund research on HIPAA and Privacy Act laws to determine if
and how they need to be revised to allow providers to share
information and resources in emergencies and disasters. This is
an alternative to the use of ``special'' registries that
repeatedly fail to provide a solution for meeting the civil
rights obligations the Government has to people with
disabilities in emergencies and disasters.
Fund NCD to review the Federal Mass Evacuation Plan, DRRA,
and PKEMRA evacuation planning requirements, and any other
plans that use Federal funding for evacuation be reviewed by
the Department of Justice, Department of Transportation,
Department of Homeland Security, and other Federal agencies
with a role in planning, implementing, and/or funding
evacuation initiatives to ensure compliance with disability
civil rights obligations throughout disaster response and
implement all necessary corrective action immediately.
Fund HHS CMS to develop and implement within 30 days, a
comprehensive Federal database in collaboration with all other
Federal entities with admission and monitoring or funding and
reimbursement obligations to ensure that all admissions to
hospitals and long-term care facilities during and after
disasters are monitored at every admission and discharge and
that people placed are provided with the assistance needed to
return to their community with all supports and services they
need to regain and maintain their independence. Reporting to
Congress must begin NLT 60 days and must continue quarterly
until all admissions from the start of a declared emergency
(including public health emergency) and disaster have returned
home (or died).
Fund DOJ and other Federal entities with enforcement
authority to monitor and prohibit the automatic placement of
individuals with disabilities in hospital and nursing home
settings and direct State and local entities to immediately
provide supports and services in the most integrated setting
appropriate to any person who does not need this level of care.
Monitor and enforce civil rights compliance with Titles II and
III of the ADA regarding sheltering.
Fund DOJ, DHS, and HUD to monitor and enforce compliance
with obligations for emergency sheltering in a disaster
consistent with emergency sheltering requirements under the
Fair Housing Amendments Act. Compliance should occur in
transient and long-term emergency shelters.
Congress funds all elements of the REAADI and DRMA Acts not
otherwise specified in these recommendations to ensure that the
rights of people with disabilities are protected and that the
needs of people with disabilities and older adults are met in
concurrent and future disasters.
This includes:
Establish a National Research Center to conduct research and
collect and analyze data to determine recommended practices for
including people with disabilities and older adults in planning
during and following disasters. Establish a ``projects of
National significance'' program to increase the involvement of
people with disabilities and older adults in the planning and
response to disasters.
Establish a National Commission on Disability Rights, Aging,
and Disasters that will provide recommendations on how to
ensure effective emergency preparedness, disaster response,
recovery, and community resilience efforts for people with
disabilities and older adults.
Establish 1 National and 10 regional Training and Technical
Assistance Disability and Disaster Centers that provide
comprehensive training, technical assistance, development of
funding sources, and support to State, Tribal, and local
disaster relief; public health entities; social service
agencies; and stakeholder groups.
Require and fund DOJ to create an oversight committee that
will review all ADA settlement continued agreements related to
disaster-response activities for the years 2005 to 2017.
Medicaid Relief for Disaster Survivors:
Amending the Social Security Act to provide medical
assistance available to relief-eligible survivors of
disasters during relief coverage periods in accordance with
section 1947.
Disaster Relief Medicaid for Survivors of Major Disasters.
Promoting Effective and Innovative State Responses to
Increased Demand for Medical Assistance Following a
Disaster.
HCBS Emergency Response Corps Grant Program.
Targeted Medicaid Relief for Direct Impact Areas.
Presumptive and Continuous Eligibility, No Documentation
Required.
Fund DOJ to provide pointed guidance to sister Federal
agencies to address the issue of outdated regulations that
conflict with the Olmstead integration mandate.
Fund the University of Minnesota Institute on Community
Integration University Center on Excellence in Disabilities
Residential Information Systems Project (RISP) to expand their
research on institutionalization during and after disasters in
all States and territories to include people with all types of
disabilities.
Fund DOJ to assess the equal access and non-discrimination
civil rights compliance performance of the American Red Cross
and other shelter and mass care providers in relation to
actions resulting in institutionalization of disaster survivors
and issue orders for immediate corrective actions as needed.
Fund DOJ to issue a fact sheet that defines monitoring and
enforcement obligations in order to ensure compliance with
civil rights requirements in the placement, as well as to track
and use of Federal funds associated with emergency and disaster
sheltering of people with disabilities.
Fund Independent Living Centers and other affordable and
accessible housing experts to provide individual and household
disaster case management focused on the transition and
permanent housing needs of disaster-impacted people with
disabilities.
Fund Independent Living Centers and other experts on
affordable and accessible housing to provide individual and
household disaster case management focused on the transition
and permanent housing needs of disaster-impacted people with
disabilities during concurrent and future disasters.
Fund HUD to establish metrics and measure the Nation-wide
availability of the ready supply of accessible, adaptable,
affordable, and disaster-resistant permanent and temporary
housing.
Fund FEMA and HUD to create systems for collecting and
publishing all disaster recovery and mitigation expenditures
for housing that is subject to compliance with requirements
under the Rehabilitation Act, Fair Housing Amendments Act, and
the ADA. This reporting systems must measure and report
compliance with accessibility standards.
Fund DOJ to monitor and enforce civil rights compliance
throughout all phases of disaster response to: (a) Prevent
abandonment on the part of Government entities, such as
National Guard and other recipients and subrecipients of
Federal financial assistance, (b) Ensure compliance throughout
all disaster-related placement decisions made by recipients and
subrecipients of Federal financial assistance, (c) Ensure
compliance with Titles II and III of the ADA pertaining to
sheltering.
Fund FEMA to explore ways to modify their Individual
Assistance registration process expeditiously to curtail the
incidence of institutionalization of individuals with
disabilities during concurrent and future disasters.
Fund the DHS Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties to
lead and manage the 25-plus Federal agencies included in
Executive Order 13347, which established the Interagency
Coordinating Council on Emergency Preparedness and Individuals
with Disabilities (ICC), to collaborate to ensure moving
forward that emergency preparedness plans incorporate the
perspectives and needs of individuals with disabilities, and
that barriers to access, services, and planning are removed.
Fund member agencies of the ICC to place disability experts
from their agency into the field during Federally-declared
disasters in all FEMA Joint Field Offices and Area Field
Offices throughout disaster operations. These experts must be
qualified by either the FEMA Qualification System or the
National Qualification System to ensure adequate expertise in
guiding compliance with the civil rights of disaster-impacted
people with disabilities to prevent institutionalization during
concurrent and future disasters.
Fund HHS to establish a process for States and territories
to immediately loan and replace durable medical equipment,
consumable medical supplies, assistive technology, and
disability services and supports, well as disaster case
management to disaster survivors with disabilities, in order to
provide equal access and non-discrimination throughout
emergency response to meet immediate health, safety, and
independence needs.
Fund the Veterans Administration and HHS to ensure disaster-
related services for veterans are integrated with all other
emergency and disaster services to address the current gap in
coordination between services for veterans with disabilities
and services for other people with disabilities.
Fund the immediate provision of experts on reasonable
accommodations for every disaster applicant until such time as
applicants with disabilities can request and receive these
reasonable accommodations through the FEMA application.
one last thing . . .
Our Federal complaint process does not work in disasters. Waiting
until there is measurable harm to an eligible complainant before the
complaint can be acted upon probably doesn't work well under any
circumstances. It most definitely doesn't work in a disaster. We must
have a process for immediate action when a rights violation is about to
occur. This includes failing to provide accessible alerts and warnings,
accessible building evacuation and transportation, shelters without
accessible bathrooms and showers, lack of access to resources to
maintain health, safety, and independence, turning service animals and
emotional support animals away from shelters, failing to keep people in
the most integrated setting appropriate to their needs, failing to
provide equally effective communication access, plain language,
reasonable modifications, meet specific dietary needs, separating
families and natural supports, forcing people into medical settings to
access electricity and so many other rights violations. If we had a way
to intervene before the harm occurred, lives would be saved, disaster
outcomes would improve and the whole community would benefit.
in closing
One of my favorite sayings is associated with the Chinese symbols
for Crisis, Danger, and Opportunity. ``Crisis is an opportunity riding
on a dangerous wind.''
In these very troubled times, we all face three choices. Do we
``build back'' to what wasn't working before? Do we stay stuck right
where we are until the next catastrophic event forces us to scramble
again, or do we use this unprecedented opportunity to boldly build
FORWARD, riding the fierce wind that is blowing, all of us, to create
and sustain a resilient country that prioritizes equity and equality
for the people who will once again be left behind if we don't act.
I choose the bold commitment to equity, resilience, and justice for
all and I ask you to join me in turning words into action.
Thank you for listening.
Mr. Payne. Thank you. Thank you very much for your
testimony. I now recognize Mr. Antoine B. Richards to summarize
his statement for 5 minutes.
STATEMENT OF ANTOINE B. RICHARDS, CHIEF OF STAFF, INSTITUTE FOR
DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION IN EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT
Mr. Richards. Excellent, thank you. Excuse me. Chairman
Payne, Ranking Member Cammack, and Members of the Subcommittee
on Emergency Preparedness, Response, and Recovery, I thank you
for the opportunity to testify before you today on the highly
significant topic of supporting underserved communities in
emergency management. My name is Antoine Richards and I serve
as chief of staff of the Institute for Diversity and Inclusion
in Emergency Management. I-DIEM has been a strong advocate for
vulnerable, underserved, and marginalized populations having
previously testified before Congress on topics including
Experiences of Vulnerable Populations During Disasters,
Ensuring Equity in FEMA's Disaster Preparedness, Response, and
Recovery, and Health Disparities and the Novel Coronavirus
Pandemic. Our work is dedicated to the empowerment of
marginalized communities within all phases of the disaster
management cycle to promote a more resilient and sustainable
future.
Whether hosting virtual equity roundtables with communities
from Alaska to Miami, deploying equity response teams following
Hurricane IDA in the Midwest tornadoes, or working directly
with communities and Tribal nations in the Mississippi Delta
and coastal Louisiana, the experiences of our communities
remain the same. Our most underserved communities express
stories of exclusion, lack of access and awareness to funding,
lack of understanding of complex administrative, bureaucratic
processes, and an overall lack of support from Federal, State,
and/or local government.
While progress is being made toward the integration of
equity in strategic priorities, measures, and initiatives, the
structural processes that have created inequity remain the
same. Policies such as the Stafford Act in our current disaster
declaration process remain relatively the same.
The suffering of communities remains the same. The
disproportionate impacts of disasters remain the same. As
disasters increase in frequency and strength, there is less
time for adequate recovery among our Nation's most vulnerable
communities contributing to increased suffering. We must change
the way we do emergency management. We must do disasters
differently. We must focus on the communities that we serve.
I-DIEM's on-the-ground efforts allow us to truly engage,
listen, and learn from the experiences of our communities,
opportunities to learn from the decimated walls of houses, and
see face-to-face the tears of the individuals, families, and
communities that suffer within a system that structurally
denies them the assistance and resilience of their wealthier
counterparts. We see the devastation of these communities for
weeks and months on end, understanding that recovery may never
be a possibility because the next major disaster is always
around the corner due to the current climate crisis.
It is the responsibility of Congress, policy makers, and
emergency managers Nation-wide to protect its citizens. Whether
intentionally or unintentionally, we all play our part in the
disparities that underserved communities face by operating
within the constraints of policies, practices, and programs
that create barriers to resilience. As the current climate
crisis continues to bear impact socially, culturally, and
economically, we can no longer afford to seek temporary
solutions and initiatives without addressing the root causes of
vulnerability.
We must do disasters differently. We must invest in our
communities and put our communities at the forefront of our
work as public servants. Our policies should be people-centric
and focused on what can be achieved within the context of our
communities. To achieve this, we offer the recommendations that
it is imperative to incorporate policies that support
community-based funding, indoctrinate sustainability measures
for equity initiatives, prioritize funding and accountability
mechanisms, improve the understanding of communities through
vulnerability assessments and community profiles, and take
legislative and budgetary authority through our agencies and
through Congress and policies to integrate equity in programs
and policies.
As an organization, we applaud Congressman Thompson and the
House of Representatives for the introduction and passing of
the FEMA Equity Act, which supports FEMA in its efforts in
instilling equity as a foundation of emergency management.
Further, we recognize the current administrator's efforts to
instill equity as a priority in FEMA policies, programs, and
procedures. These actions represent a key example of how we can
begin to stop the suffering and do disasters differently.
I-DIEM recognizes that there is still work to be done and
improved outcomes cannot be done alone. The responsibility lies
with you and it requires equity-focused policy and approaches
as cornerstones of a more resilient future. I thank you for the
time today and the opportunity to share this testimony. Thank
you.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Richards follows:]
Prepared Statement of Antoine B. Richards
July 19, 2022
Chairwomen Demings, Ranking Member Cammack, and Members of the
Subcommittee on Emergency Preparedness, Response, and Recovery, thank
you for the opportunity to testify before you today on this highly
significant topic of supporting underserved communities in emergency
management. My name is Antoine Richards, and I serve as chief of staff
of the Institute for Diversity and Inclusion in Emergency Management
(I-DIEM). I-DIEM has been a strong advocate for vulnerable,
underserved, and marginalized populations having previously testified
before Congress on topics including ``Experiences of Vulnerable
Populations During Disasters,'' ``Ensuring Equity in FEMA's Disaster
Preparedness, Response, and Recovery,'' and ``Health Disparities and
the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic.'' Our work is dedicated to
the empowerment of marginalized communities within all phases of the
disaster management cycle to promote a more resilient and sustainable
future.
Whether hosting Virtual Equity Roundtables with communities from
Alaska to Miami, deploying Equity Response Teams following Hurricane
Ida and the Midwest tornadoes, or working directly with communities and
Tribal nations in the Mississippi Delta and coastal Louisiana, the
experiences of our communities remain the same. Our most underserved
communities' express stories of exclusion, lack of access and awareness
to funding, lack of understanding of complex administrative,
bureaucratic processes, and an overall lack of support from Federal,
State, and/or local government. While progress is being made toward the
integration of equity in strategic priorities, measures, and
initiatives, the structural processes that have created inequity remain
the same.
The Nation's most vulnerable, underserved, and marginalized
communities have been pushed to the outskirts of our Nation and the
wallows of urban civilization establishing a tone for discrimination
whether by age, income, race or ethnicity, disability, sexual
orientation, gender, culture, and geographic location. Each of these
factors create the culture of our communities and the fabric of our
society while also serving as the foundation that defines underserved
communities and outlines inequities within each subpopulation. Elderly,
low-income, BIPOC, individuals with access and functional needs,
LGBTQIA+, women, children, and rural communities are experiencing
decreased quality of life and access due to policy, programs, and
practices which will inevitably be exacerbated by the current climate
crisis.
From 1980-present, the United States has sustained 332 weather- and
climate-related disasters where overall damages/costs reached or
exceeded $1 billion for a total cost of $2.275 trillion. By decade, we
averaged $5.5 billion events per year in the 1990's, $6.7- in the
2000's, $12.8- in the 2010's, $17.8- per year in the last 5 years,
$18.7- in the last 3 years, and last year ranked second in the total
number of billion-dollar events from this time frame. Currently, the
United States has experience 9 separate billion-dollar disasters from
January-June without reaching peak hurricane season placing us on par
for another record year in terms of extreme weather events and
costs.\1\
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\1\ Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters/National Centers
for Environmental Information (NCEI) (noaa.gov).
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The steady increase in frequency and strength of disasters during
our current climate crisis contributes to a decrease in adequate
recovery and resilience among our communities. There is inadequate time
to effectively recover before experiencing the next major disaster.
Moreover, we often hear stories from our communities that resources for
response and recovery often do not reach underserved communities while
research consistently shows that poverty rate and higher proportions of
racial and ethnic populations typically receive less funding support
for mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery.\2\ This is
further exacerbated for communities with pre-existing vulnerabilities
which suffer from the complexities of meeting basic daily needs.
Moreover, the compounding impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic continue to
spotlight disparities among our most marginalized communities as cases
surge to approximately 100,000 new cases daily among reported cases \3\
and the burden of the virus on people of color, low-income, and other
structurally disadvantaged populations remain prevalent.\4\
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\2\ Sullivan, P., Sutley, E., Wu, Y., Lyles, L.W. (2022). Who gets
Federal financial resources to mitigate and recover from disasters?
National Hazards Workshop [Virtual Poster Presentation].
\3\ Sullivan, P. (2022). COVID-19 cases are on the rise. Does it
matter anymore? The Hill. COVID-19 cases are on the rise. Does it
matter anymore? (yahoo.com)
\4\ Wasfy, J.H., Hidrue, M.K., Rockett, H., Cafiero-Fonseca, E.T.,
Ferris, T.G., del Carmen, M.G. (2021). Socioeconomic and demographic
characteristics of both inpatients and outpatients with positive
testing for SARS-CoV-2. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 36, 2522-
2524.
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Taking into account both climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic,
an estimated 100 million people are expected to be pushed into poverty
globally by 2030.\5\ For the United States, there is a projected
increase in poverty levels approximately 30 percent over the next 10
years while climate change will exacerbate negative poverty trends
within our communities. This indicates a shift where the projected
costs will continue to rise under our current system and communities
will continue to suffer unless we effectively adapt our approach to
emergency management to better understand and support underserved
communities.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\5\ Mahler, D.G., Lakner, C., Aguilar, R.A.C., Wu, H. (2020).
Updated estimates of the impact of COVID-19 on global poverty. The
World Bank. Updated estimates of the impact of COVID-19 on global
poverty (worldbank.org).
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In recent reports from the State Resilience Partnership, findings
reveal that 84 percent of State flood plans do nor, or only minimally,
consider how flooding will disproportionately affect vulnerable
communities. While 82% of state flood plans identify counties as
responsible for implementation at the community level, only 39% of
plans include specific strategies to assist low-capacity communities.
Moreover, public engagement efforts were often associated with new and
experimental initiatives that connect State-level strategy to local
communities that engage directly with local communities however most
State flood planning efforts involved little to no public outreach.\6\
Subsequently, the whole-community approach continues to exclude the
whole community contributing to negative impacts which the Institute
has witnessed first-hand through our on-the-ground efforts. Our
approaches must improve upon our understanding of underserved
populations to influence effective strategy and change.
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\6\ State Resilience Partnership (2022). State flood planning
landscape. Planning. Planning--State Resilience Partnership.
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For example, 26 percent of Tribal nations are currently living
below poverty level \7\ while 66 percent of Tribes have no community
disaster plans or family resources. Moreover, through our work with
Tribal nations in coastal Louisiana, we understand that Tribal nations
without Federal and/or State recognition have decreased access to
funding and, reliance on Federal, State, and local governments to
ensure the safety and support of these nations, as U.S. citizens, has
only increased the negative impacts of disasters nationally. Moreover,
while policy and programs are often strongly-rooted data, research and
engagement among Tribal nations is often limited creating a barrier to
substantial, necessary change. Challenges of Tribal nations are also
greatly impacted by limited access and resources within rural
communities. Compared to urban areas, access to resources for rural
communities are often complex and vulnerable people in rural
populations are at increased risk to disasters as result.
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\7\ Krogstad, J.M. (2014). One-in-four Native Americans and Alaska
natives are living in poverty. Pew Research Trust. One-in-four Native
Americans and Alaska Natives are living in poverty/Pew Research Center.
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Bearing the burden of chronic disease, COVID-19, and poverty due to
access issues (i.e., access to healthy food, access to affordable
health care, and underinsured or uninsured individuals and families),
low-income communities and communities of color face additional
barriers related to environmental justice and disasters. From an
environmental perspective, Black and Latino communities are often
situated in high-hazard locations and breathe 56 percent and 63 percent
more pollution than they produce, respectively.\8\ From an emergency
management perspective, communities with higher poverty rates and
higher proportions of Black residents often receive less funding in
Hazard Mitigation Assistance and Individual Assistance. Additionally,
counties with higher percentages of minority residents typically
receive less funding than the value of damage assessed by FEMA during
inspection.\2\ This aligns with a long-standing focus on widening
racial wealth gaps as a result of disasters which highlighted higher
accumulated wealth after disaster among white communities opposed to
communities of color.\9\ In addition, for communities where English is
a second language (ESOL), language barriers contribute to inequitable
access to communication and resources as well as effective community
engagement strategies while cultural familial structures contribute to
common disparities indicative of communities of color. It is these same
familial structures that are affected by gender inequities that find
women and children 14x more likely to than men to die during a disaster
often as a result of gender and cultural norms present in our
society.\10\
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\8\ Tessum, C.W., Apte, J.S., Goodkind, A.L. (2019). Inequity in
consumption of goods and services adds to racial-ethnic disparities in
air pollution exposure. Social Sciences, 116(13), 6001-6006.
\9\ Howell, J. (2018). Natural disasters widen racial wealth gap.
Social Problems. Natural disasters widen racial wealth gap/EurekAlert!
\10\ International Union for Conservation of Nature [IUCN] (n.d.).
Disaster and gender statistics. Microsoft Word--Disaster and Gender
Statistics.doc (unisdr.org)
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Individually, inequities rooted in these social determinants are
impactful; however, with underserved communities, it is worth looking
beyond individual contexts and exploring the intersections of each
variable and how they influence outcomes among underserved communities
creating compounding vulnerability. For example, the intersection of
gender and income shows that vulnerability increases among women in
lower socioeconomic groups.\11\ This is further impacted by
intersections of gender, income, and race/ethnicity contributing to
multiple inherited disparities as a result of our current system. It is
our policies, programs, and practices that are contributory to these
outcomes and our strategies require us to be culturally competent,
intentional, and actionable to address underlying impacts at their
core, through policy and legislation. We can no longer afford to seek
temporary programs and initiatives that address issues without
substantial change to the policies and practices that have created
these inequities.
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\11\ Center for Disaster Philanthropy [CDP] (2022). Women and girls
in disaster. CDP. Women and Girls in Disasters--Center for Disaster
Philanthropy.
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Future approaches require us to invest within our communities and
put our communities at the forefront of our work as emergency managers
and public servants. Supporting underserved communities in emergency
management requires us to focus beyond a broken system and find new
approaches for emergency management that focus on community investment,
community revitalization, and community engagement. Our policies should
be people-centric and focused on what can be achieved within the
context of our current structure and where we can improve upon
structurally to eliminate inequities. To highlight opportunities for
emergency management to more strongly support underserved communities,
I-DIEM offers the following recommendations.
recommendations
Incorporate policy to integrate community-based support in
Federal funding strategies.--Funding, including Federal
assistance grants, programs, and contracts, must incorporate
policies and procedures that support communities. Funding
strategies should be developed that allocates funding directly
to communities. These approaches can include percent-based
community allocation initiatives, subcontracting initiatives
for local businesses and contractors, and requirements for
community-based participatory approaches for funding receipt.
Funding for nonprofit and community-based organizations.--
Initiatives should be developed that support direct funding for
on-the-ground organizations, nonprofits, and community-based
organizations that work directly with the communities on
mitigation, preparedness, response, recovery, and resilience.
Sustainability measures for equity initiatives.--Key best
practices and appointment advisors should be indoctrinated into
current policies to ensure sustainability of equity and
community-support measures.
Prioritized funding streams and accountability.--
Incorporation of policies and procedures that prioritize
community funding streams and holds State and local governments
accountable for ensuring that funding matches target
communities.
Improved vulnerability assessments and community profiles.--
Expand research to include key data on demographics and
community profiles allowing all funding support and initiatives
to align with target communities and holding all funders
accountable for ensuring equity in transaction.
Incorporate training for emergency management workforce on
cultural competency and trauma-informed community engagement
strategies.--Incorporate training on cultural competency and
trauma-informed community engagement to improve relationships
between underserved communities and government.
Promote efforts to increase diversity within the field of
emergency management.--This should include an analysis of the
emergency management profession in comparison to the greater
community with the understanding that lack of diversity,
equity, and inclusion promotes inequitable emergency management
policies and programs on Federal, State, and local levels and
within the private and nonprofit sectors.
Expand and sustain whole-community approaches.--Identify,
develop, and implement initiatives within the whole-community
approach to advocate expansion of whole-community support
initiatives with a prioritization for vulnerable, underserved,
and marginalized communities.
Improved pre-planning for community dynamic needs.--Improve
pre-planning requirements for community-based mitigation and
preparedness that incorporates community profiles, target
areas, and tailored approaches to sustainability.
Take action via legislation and budget authority including
FEMA and other Federal agencies with disaster response and
recovery responsibilities to integrate equity into programs and
policies.
closing remarks
Supporting underserved communities is the responsibility of
Government and an inherited right of United States citizens across the
Nation. It is imperative that we focus on new ways to practice
emergency management that are ground-up, and community-driven providing
the necessary support and investment into communities. Through this
approach, underserved communities are empowered to become stewards of
their own resilience and maintain the necessary engagement mechanisms
to facilitate impactful change with the support of Government. As an
organization, we applaud Congressman Thompson and the House of
Representatives for the introduction and passing of the FEMA Equity Act
which supports FEMA in its efforts at instilling equity as a foundation
of emergency management. Further, we recognize the current
administrator's efforts to instill equity as a priority in FEMA
policies, programs, and procedures. These actions represent a key
example of how we, as policy makers and emergency managers, can do
disasters differently. They represent a focus on humanity and the
empowerment of our communities. As the leader in disaster equity, I-
DIEM recognizes that there is still work to be done, but a coordinated
approach yields substantial impacts for our Nation's most underserved
communities. As disasters continue to exacerbate disproportionate
burdens, equity-focused policy and approaches are the cornerstone of a
more resilient future.
Mr. Payne. Thank you for your testimony. I now recognize
Mr. Preston Bowlin to summarize his statement for 5 minutes.
STATEMENT OF PRESTON BOWLIN, EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT DIRECTOR,
EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT DIVISION, MARION COUNTY
Mr. Bowlin. Good morning, Mr. Chair Payne, Ranking Member
Cammack, and Members. My name is Preston Bowlin, emergency
management director, Marion County Sheriff's Office. I have
been a public servant for over 30 years in the fire service as
a paramedic firefighter and a sworn law enforcement officer
responding to catastrophic disasters within the State of
Florida and across State lines. I am privileged to come to the
Capitol to testify and share experiences and concerns from
Marion County, Florida counties, and throughout the Nation
through lessons learned and to discuss preparedness for our
citizens.
I have prepared four written testimonies provided to you
that have an impact on rural counties that affect our citizens
to prepare and recover in catastrophic events. The first one is
weather radar coverage; No. 2, emergency short-term and long-
term housing; No. 3, bidirectional amplifier antennas in
schools, hospitals, and large industrial structures; and No. 4,
redundant prime communication towers. Due to time constraints,
my verbal testimony and opening will concentrate on two:
Weather radar coverage and emergency short-term and long-term
housing.
The first one, weather radar coverage. The National Weather
Service activates the Emergency Alert System most frequently
for imminent and dangerous weather conditions, severe weather
storms, and tornadoes. The National Weather Service uses the
NOAA Weather Radio as its primary means to activate the
Emergency Alert System. When watches and warnings are issued by
the National Weather Service, it triggers alert messages for
local authorities. Having the right data at the right time is
critical to emergency managers so we can make informed
decisions and protect our communities before, during, and after
a severe weather event.
Currently, rural parts of North Central Florida contain
dead zones, or zones where tornadoes may not be detected on
radar. This has been formally acknowledged by the National
Weather Service. The dead zone where tornadoes may not be
detected on radar is covering a part of North Central Florida
that has been hit with destructive tornadoes in the past
without warning.
When the radars were initially established, they were
positioned in areas that were already or were anticipated to
become densely-populated areas. The current radar
infrastructure and lack of new radars in fast-growing parts of
our country, can and has prevented more rural counties and
communities from receiving timely warning and notifications.
These areas tend to consist of thousands of modular homes and
large migrant worker populations that rely on the weather radio
to provide them with timely warning. Marion County, Florida's
fifth-largest county in the State of Florida, is home to over
33,000 modular homes and a large elderly population. Our rural
jurisdictions are confronted with these unique challenges, and
we must ensure our communities are equipped with the tools and
infrastructure needed to ensure that the critical life-saving
emergency notifications reach everyone they are intended for.
On March 12, 2022, Marion County, Florida experienced an
EF-1 tornado that went undetected on radar. Because of that, no
tornado warnings were issued by the National Weather Service,
which in turn, did not trigger our local Alert Marion emergency
notification system. As a result of this tornado, 184 families
had to be relocated in one apartment complex alone and 259
residential structures affected.
Within the past 2 years, Marion County, Florida has
experienced three confirmed tornadoes that were undetected on
radar; therefore, no warnings were issued. Due to the distance
of the county to the closest national weather radar, tornadoes
are hard to detect below 10,000 feet. There is a critical need
of additional Federal weather radar coverage in North Central
Florida.
The second one is emergency short-term and long-term
housing. Community resilience has become a critical focus for
emergency managers and policy makers concerned about disaster
risk and vulnerability in rural areas. Following a disaster,
finding a permanent housing solution for low-income and
underserved households may be especially difficult during a
housing shortage. Available housing in many high-tourist and
high-income areas may be out of the acceptable rental range for
low-income households because they lack the financial resources
to begin rehabilitation, reconstruction, or obtain permanent
housing. During this time, provisions for basic human needs,
food, water, and supplies for sanitation and shelter, may be in
short supply or unavailable.
Following the tornado that took place on March 12, 2022, in
Marion County, Florida, dozens of residents were instantly
without housing. Homes were destroyed and an apartment complex
was partially condemned. During these times of rising rent
pricing and the very limited availability of homes in the State
of Florida, securing temporary housing both short-term and
long-term possesses a critical challenge.
The average rent in Marion County, Florida is between
$1,500 and $1,700, so when families are faced with being
displaced, producing first, last, and the security deposits,
along with moving, transportation, and utilities, can be
impossible. The State of Florida has a housing contract, but it
would require a block grant by FEMA that allows most
flexibility for State and counties. The FEMA individual
assistance declaration process is flawed. The current
mechanisms in place are specifically geared to areas with
denser population. Rural counties are usually holistically
lower incomes and less tax base versus a dense population with
sporadic lower incomes and a significant higher tax base.
While locally we work with partners such as the American
Red Cross and United Way to assist with immediate needs, we
find there should be an individual assistance declaration
process designed for rural, lower-income, lower-tax-base
communities. FEMA should have a swifter process in place to
assist the State's Division of Emergency Management to assist
with emergency housing during State and local declared
emergencies and local events.
In closing, I thank you for this opportunity to testify
before this committee.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Bowlin follows:]
Prepared Statement of Preston Bowlin
Good morning, Madam Chair Demings, Ranking Member Cammack, and
committee Members, my name is Preston Bowlin, director of emergency
management, Marion County Sheriff's Office. I've been a public servant
for over 30 years in the fire service as a paramedic firefighter and a
sworn law enforcement officer responding to catastrophic disasters
within the State of Florida and across State lines. I am privileged to
come to the Capitol to testify and share experiences and concerns from
Marion County, Florida counties and throughout the Nation, through
lessons learned and to discuss preparedness for our citizens.
Now as an emergency manager for the fifth largest county in the
State of Florida here are four concerns that have an impact on rural
and underserved counties that affect our citizens to prepare and
recover from catastrophic events.
1. Redundant Prime Communication Towers
2. Bi-Directional Amplifier Antennas in Schools, Hospitals, and
Large Industrial Commercial Structures.
3. National Weather Radar Sites
4. Short- & Long-Term Housing Plans for Disasters.
1. redundant prime communication towers
Background: triggered by the tragedy of September 11, Marion
County, Florida's Board of County Commissioners authorized the
replacement of the public safety radio system in 2005. Approximately 5
years later, in 2010, the radio system was upgraded to add capacity for
additional critical partners and agencies. This same system is
implemented in more than 50 counties in Florida and throughout the
Nation.
P25 was formed in 1990 in an agreement among the Association of
Public-Safety Communications Officials (APCO), the National Association
of State Technology Directors (NASTD), and agencies of the U.S. Federal
Government. Marion County was the first county in Florida to implement
a Project 25 7/800 MHz radio system to create a unique user-driven
process of working with equipment manufacturers to establish wireless
land mobile radio (LMR) communication standards that meet the
requirements of the public safety community.
Following the terrorist attacks on 9/11, P25 took on a more
immediate significance as the need for reliable, interoperable
emergency communications was apparent. SAFECOM, a joint venture of the
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and then newly-formed
Department of Homeland Security (DHS), was established specifically to
improve interoperable communications within the public safety
community.
The Marion County P25 700/800 MHz radio system is the county's most
critical infrastructure comprising of 10 radio towers and a master
site. Due to the advantages provided by its central location with the
State of Florida, Marion County serves as an ample nexus point for
logistics and planning. More than 40 government departments and
divisions, municipal law enforcement, fire rescue, and emergency
medical services departments, area hospitals, an airport, and the
public safety agencies of neighboring counties rely on the radio system
for the emergency operations they conduct. Marion County's chief
stakeholders are the citizens and visitors who travel through its
borders, public safety agencies, municipalities, and neighboring
counties. The current radio system serves the several municipalities
and partner agencies.
There is a significant threat that has persisted for Marion County,
as with others. Historically, counties have developed in self-imposed
siloes. However, due to increased communicativeness and intentional
interoperability developed through mutual-aid agreements between
contiguous counties, a common single point of failure in the respective
emergency communications infrastructures has become known: the lack of
prime tower site redundancy.
A geo-diverse redundant prime site will provide increased
resiliency and reliability of the radio system. This consideration is
essential due to population density increases across the county as well
as an increase in the tornadic activity in the area, the redundant
prime site project will provide additional coverage to the areas
proximal to it and increase the reliability of the radio system which
has a goal of 95 percent system availability.
On February 07, 2007, a catastrophe befell a neighboring county
when a tornado struck their radio system prime site, just 1,500-foot
radio tower and destroyed mission-critical area communications
equipment.
In the past 18 months, three tornadoes have made landfall in Marion
County. On March 12, 2022, the third of three tornadoes touched down on
a major thoroughfare and proceeded in the direction of Marion County's
prime site, and just barely missed it. If any of the three tornadoes
were to strike the Marion County prime site, the entire county--both
county operations and those of the Ocala Police Department--would go
comms dark. It's not a matter of IF it will happen, it's a matter of
WHEN, and a matter of WILL we be prepared.
To remedy the situation, and assure that communications remain
reliable for the operations, counties must have the funds and support
from our local, State, and Federal agencies to ensure that public
safety communications have redundant prime towers in case of man-made
or natural catastrophic events impacting our rural communities. An
approximate cost for a rural county our size is $5 million current-day
pricing.
2. bi-directional amplifier antennas in schools, hospitals, and large
industrial commercial structures
Understanding public safety communication is crucial. With so many
unfortunate events happening in our schools and hospitals, police and
firefighters must be able to communicate with each other once they
enter these school buildings. We need a reliable emergency
communications system installed in these facilities can keep students,
staff members, and first responders safe. These facilities are solid
structures with poured concrete walls and full of steel that make
communications for especially 800 MHz sometimes impossible to
communicate with each other or to contact our communication centers.
A BDA (Bi-directional Amplifier) system is an in-building
communication system that brings wireless signals into the structure
from outside, amplifies those signals with a signal booster, and then
evenly distributes the amplified signals to our two-way radio service
via an antenna system. This ensures that our first responders can
maintain wireless communications within a building during medical
emergencies, fires, natural disasters, active shooter, and other
events.
Marion County has experienced this first-hand like many other
Florida counties responding to emergencies at schools and hospitals and
were not able to communicate within our own agency, our communication
center, and not to mention mutual-aid responders during an active-
shooter event at a local high school.
Requirements must be made on a State and National level to ensure
that all schools, hospitals, and large commercial structures be
required to have adequate radio strengths for all first responders
responding to life threat incidents. For a rural county our size the
cost of a retrofit project for 50 schools is at an approximate cost of
$8-12 million. Counties would benefit from assistance from the State
and Federal Government for implementation.
3. weather radar coverage--severe weather forecasting and emergency
warnings
The National Weather Service activates the Emergency Alert System
(EAS) most frequently for imminent and dangerous weather conditions
like flash flooding, severe thunderstorms, and tornadoes including
watches and warnings. The National Weather Service uses the NOAA
Weather Radio (NWR) as its primary means to activate the Emergency
Alert System (EAS). The Emergency Alert System (EAS) is also activated
to enable State and local authorities to communicate important weather
messages including warnings and watches. When watches and warnings are
issued by the National Weather Service it triggers alert messages for
local authorities. Weather data is the critical piece to every weather
forecast. Having the right data at the right time is critical to
emergency managers so we can make informed decisions and protect our
communities before, during, and after a severe weather event.
Tornadoes and flash floods are two of nature's most violent events,
sometimes leaving incredible damage and casualties in their path.
Weather radars are the most important source of information for
detecting heavy rainfall, but in poor radar coverage can inhibit
forecasters from making critical warning decisions. Using these radars,
forecasters can spot the existence of a tornado by detecting airborne
debris lofted by the twister's circulation. Warning accuracy for weaker
tornadoes, between EF-0 and EF-2 intensity, as well as flash flood
warning performance, for areas that are farther from a radar site is
significantly compromised.
Currently rural parts of north central Florida contain ``dead
zones,'' or zones where tornadoes may not be detected on radar. This
has been formally acknowledged by the National Weather Service. The
dead zone, where tornadoes may not be detected on radar, is covering a
part of north central Florida that has been hit with destructive
tornadoes in the past. The greater distance a location is from a radar
site, the higher in the sky the radar scans for trouble.
When the radars were initially established, they were positioned in
areas that were already or were anticipated to become densely-populated
areas. The current radar infrastructure and lack of new radars in fast-
growing parts of our country, can and has prevented more rural
communities from receiving timely warning and notifications. These
areas tend to consist of thousands of modular homes and large migrant
worker populations that rely on the weather radio to provide them with
timely warning. Marion County, Florida the 5th-largest county in the
State of Florida is home to over 33,000 modular homes and a large
elderly population. Our rural jurisdictions are confronted with these
unique challenges, and we must ensure our communities are equipped with
the tools and infrastructure needed to ensure that critical life-saving
emergency notifications reach everyone they are intended for.
On March 12, 2022, Marion County, FL experienced an EF-1 tornado
that went undetected on radar. Because of that, no tornado warnings
were issued by the National Weather Service which in turn did not
trigger our local AlertMarion emergency notification system. As a
result of this tornado, 184 families had to be relocated in one
apartment complex alone and 259 residential structures affected. Within
the past 2 years, Marion County, Florida has experienced 3 confirmed
tornados that went undetected on radar; therefore, no warnings were
issued. In Sumter County, Florida, where The Villages' population
continues to boom, they rely on a Tampa area radar, which again, is too
far to pick up all the action on the ground. Due to the distance of our
county to the closest NWS radar tornadoes are hard to detect below
10,000 feet. In conclusion, there is a critical need for more robust
and additional Federal weather radar coverage in north central Florida.
A partnership with rural populations and consideration of rural
circumstances in preparing for emergencies will ensure that emergency
preparedness is adequately addressed in some of the most vulnerable and
underserved communities in the country.
4. emergency short-term and long-term housing
Community resilience has become a critical focus for emergency
managers and policy makers concerned about disaster risk and
vulnerability in rural areas. Following a disaster, finding a permanent
housing solution for low-income and underserved households may be
especially difficult during a housing shortage. Available housing in
many high-tourist and high-income areas may be out of the acceptable
rental range for low-income households because they lack the financial
resources to begin rehabilitation, reconstruction, or to obtain
permanent housing. During this time, provisions for basic human needs
(food, water, and supplies for sanitation and shelter) may be in short
supply or unavailable. Transportation routes may be blocked for days or
weeks.
Following the tornado that took place on March 12, 2022, in Marion
County, Florida dozens of residents were instantly without housing.
Homes were destroyed and an apartment complex was partially condemned.
During these times of rising rent pricing and the very limited
availability of homes in the State of Florida, securing temporary
housing both short-term and long-term poses a critical challenge. The
average rent in Marion County, Florida is between $1,500-1,700 dollars,
so when families are faced with being displaced, producing first, last,
and the security deposits along with moving, transportation, utilities
can be impossible. With additional costs of the State of Florida has a
housing contract, but it would require a block grant by FEMA that
allows most flexibility for State and counties. The FEMA Individual
Assistance (IA) declaration process is flawed. The current mechanisms
in place are specifically geared to areas with denser populations.
Rural counties are usually, holistically, lower incomes and less tax
base versus a dense population with sporadic lower incomes and a
significantly higher tax base. While locally we work with our partners
such as The American Red Cross and United Way to assist with immediate
needs, we find there should be an Individual Assistance (IA)
declaration process designed for rural, lower-income, lower-tax-base
communities. FEMA should have a swifter process in place to assist the
State's Division of Emergency Management to assist with emergency
housing during State-declared emergencies and local events.
Mr. Payne. Thank you for your testimony. I want to thank
all the witnesses for their testimony. I will remind each
Member that he or she will have 5 minutes to question the
witnesses. I will now recognize myself for questions.
Let's see. Ms. Ammirati, as I mentioned earlier, in June my
legislation, the Homeland Security for Children Act was signed
into law by President Biden. This law authorized a children's
technical expert will ensure children's needs are incorporated
throughout the Department of Homeland Security's policies.
Moving forward, what steps can FEMA take to ensure the
meaningful implementation of this legislation?
Ms. Ammirati. Thank you so much and first and foremost,
thank you for pushing this forward. I think that the tremendous
strides have been made and the policies and processes that you
reference are wonderful. They must be operationalized and they
must be operationalized from Federal, to State, to local, to
the Tribal, to the communities. Each of our colleagues, and
associates, and peers on the call have mentioned how important
that is.
So, specific funding for them to operationalize those, to
have the advisor really do a deep dive on studies to ensure
that they understand who is being impacted. What is the effect
of having schools closed on children? What is the effect of
having children isolated should they be sheltered? I think
those are our main responses to that. But a huge thank you for
pushing it forward.
Mr. Payne. Thank you very much. Let's see. Ms. Bottcher and
Mr. Richards, whether someone is rich or poor influences how
someone fares during a disaster. For example, families with
cars who can afford gas and a place to stay will be more likely
to evacuate than those who do not have those resources. Ms.
Bottcher and Mr. Richards, how can State, local, and Federal
Governments help low-income communities and older adults who
are often living on fixed incomes to ensure that income levels
do not determine disaster outcomes? Ms. Bottcher first.
Ms. Bottcher. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would say that
meeting people where they are and providing them transportation
options is the best way to get people out of harm's way if an
evacuation is called. To do that can be very difficult with
those particularly older adults with physical limitations. So,
in Louisiana, we have several parishes that have a registry
where older adults with disabilities or physical limitations
can actually register so that local authorities know where they
live and what their needs are so that we can be better prepared
to get them out of harm's way.
Mr. Payne. Thank you. Mr. Richards.
Mr. Richards. Excellent, thank you for this question. I
think it is really important to understand, as mentioned
earlier during the summary testimony, that we do disasters
differently. We have to understand the communities that we
serve, where those vulnerabilities exist, those social
determinants of health, right? We have to really engage with
communities.
So, when we look at it at a local and a State level, each
level should be informing where those communities exist. They
should understand what the dynamics of those communities are.
They should understand how to best serve those communities.
Include those communities in their process to understand their
needs. This will help frame the policies that we put in place
for the programs that are developed to focus on these
populations to meet the needs of these populations to truly
understand what it is they need and how to best facilitate
those needs for them in the most efficient and effective
manner.
So, I believe that the first step is truly in engaging with
the communities. But then also, coordinating between the local,
the State, and the Federal Government to expound upon that
engagement and truly understand. But I as mentioned before, we
meet the community where they are, we understand their issues,
and then we take that and we use that community-based
participatory research, what we have learned, those
experiences, to develop programs and initiatives that could
make a big difference. Thanks.
Mr. Payne. Thank you. I agree, we know where these
communities are. They are identified. So, we need to bring the
resources to them instead of being--need to be proactive in
that effort. So, thank the both of you. I will now recognize
the Ranking Member, Mrs. Cammack, for 5 minutes.
Mrs. Cammack. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Director Bowlin, it
is my understanding that Marion County operates and maintains a
registry of individuals who may need additional assistance
during a disaster. How does this work? Do individuals have to
qualify? Is there a criteria? How do they register? Who is
responsible for maintaining this registry? Then how is it
utilized in an emergency situation?
Mr. Bowlin. Yes, we do have a special needs registry. The
initial responsibility is out of my Office of Emergency
Management but we work very close with our Department of
Health. So, those applications come into our office; therefore,
we put them on our registry. There are various questions that
are screened, not only medically through the Health Department
for their needs medically, but also whether or not they need
transportation.
One of the things we realized is a lot of those with
special needs do have pets. So, if we do not have pet-friendly
shelters that they can take their pets with them, they will not
go to shelters. So, we do have pet-friendly shelters at our
special needs shelters for them to be able to assist them with
that as well.
So, those with other service animals, you know, we are able
to accommodate. We have some that are not able to go our
special needs shelters due to other medical concerns that we
could not handle in a shelter. So, we are working with our
nursing homes, our hospitals, to make sure transportation, not
only to our special needs shelters, but also to hospitals. This
is all vetted twice a year through the special needs registry.
Mrs. Cammack. How many people are on the registry
currently?
Mr. Bowlin. We currently have between 675 and 700 special
needs registry clients. One of the things we recognize right
before storms,----
Mrs. Cammack. Mm-hmm.
Mr. Bowlin [continuing]. We will starting getting, our
office will get lit up with calls, people trying to get on last
minute, you know, sometimes 100, 150, trying to get on the
registry.
Mrs. Cammack. Now, I know that your written testimony
concerns two other areas that you weren't able to summarize in
your opening remarks. We have had several conversations about
shelters, buildings, public spaces, and active-shooter threats,
and the need for emergency communications and why that is so
important. Can you elaborate?
Mr. Bowlin. Quickly, redundant prime communication towers
is a big thing, not only in Marion County, but in other Florida
counties and throughout the Nation, is a lot of agencies and
especially after September 11, with an enhancement of public
safety communication radios. We did go to the P25 system and
upgraded because all our agencies in Marion County are on one
prime tower. We have seen the need through the State of Florida
as many counties do not have a redundant tower. So, if that
tower goes down, and we did have a situation back in 2007 in a
neighboring county where a tornado hit their prime tower, which
caused catastrophic communication issues, is the need for
counties to work together even with redundancy for financially
to be able to share these prime towers, or redundant towers, so
if a system goes down, we could have a secondary tower. Again,
this is something that is not just new to Marion County, but
nation-wide, and we need that.
The second is bi-directional amplifier antennas in schools,
hospitals, and large industrial commercial areas. As a public
safety person, I personally have experienced this responding to
emergencies in schools and hospitals. We too, in Marion County
have had a school shooting. We have had a hospital shooting.
Responding for public safety, going into there, these
structures are concrete and steel. Communications is poor. We
know this. We have experienced it. We really need to work with
bi-directional antennas in these facilities, these critical
facilities, to keep our students safe, keep our staff safe, and
first responders responding to these locations in emergencies.
To be able to put these in to be able to broadcast our
communications not only to responders, but also be able to get
that information back to our communications centers. It is
almost impossible in a lot of these facilities and we are
seeing this Nation-wide, you know, in the news daily, and it is
of concern Nation-wide.
Mrs. Cammack. So, in the last 30 seconds that we have left,
I would like to give you the floor just to talk about how FEMA
can be better in terms of responding to some of these
emergencies, for example, these undetected tornadoes that are
tearing through, they create havoc and chaos, but it doesn't
trigger a FEMA response. But this is an underserved community,
so, how do you recommend that FEMA go forward?
Mr. Bowlin. So, that is----
Mr. Payne. In 8 seconds.
Mr. Bowlin. All right. Radar, we are so far from the
National Weather Service in Jacksonville and Tampa. As radar
comes over Marion County, it does not detect anything under
10,000 feet. There is short coverage there. The National
Weather Service puts a meteorologist in our EOC during tropical
storms because the coverage is not sufficient for Central
Florida, Marion County, Sumpter County. There are a few
counties in there that share the same concerns. Thank you.
Mrs. Cammack. Thank you. I yield back.
Mr. Payne. Thank you. I now recognize Mrs. Watson Coleman
for 5 minutes.
Mrs. Watson Coleman. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I want to
thank all the witnesses. Your testimony has been very helpful
for me to understand what you are experiencing and I want to
know how FEMA can do better for those constituents that you all
represent here.
Ms. Bottcher, and Ms. Ammirati, and Mr. Richards, in my
district and across the Nation, we are seeing historic heat
waves. I introduced a bill, H.R. 7949, the Stay Cool Act, to
address the threat of extreme heat. As we see these increased
incidences of the extreme heat, how should the Federal
Government account for the unique needs of vulnerable
communities, including older adults, children, individuals with
disabilities, and of course, low-income residents? What is it
that we should be doing, that FEMA should be doing in these
areas? Ms. Bottcher.
Ms. Bottcher. Yes, thank you so much----
Mrs. Watson Coleman. Ms. Ammirati and----
Ms. Bottcher [continuing]. For the question.
Mrs. Watson Coleman [continuing]. Mr. Richards, yes.
Ms. Bottcher. As I stated in my testimony, heat was the
biggest threat to older adults after Hurricane Ida where it was
incredibly hot and humid. I would say that we--having the
reliable systems. That is first and foremost is to invest in
our infrastructure so that we have reliable systems that we can
count on. In the event that we cannot, we have to have the
ability to have cooling centers within communities, to be able
to point people in the right direction of where those centers
are.
In fact, in New Orleans right now, they are investing a lot
of dollars into libraries, senior centers, community centers,
rec centers, to have generator power in the event that the
entire city is in a blackout so that they can have cooling
centers to prevent those heat-related illnesses and deaths.
Thank you.
Mrs. Watson Coleman. Thank you. Ms. Ammirati and Mr.
Richards, do you have anything you would like to contribute to
that?
Ms. Ammirati. Sure, thank you so much. I would say that
children are particularly susceptible to dehydration more so
than older teens and adults because they have smaller bodies.
They have smaller reserves of water and they have more body
surface per pound of weight. So, anyone can become dehydrated
and but infants and children are the most likely group to
experience severe diarrhea, vomiting, and are especially
vulnerable to dehydration.
In low-income communities, we know that they have less
access to safe green space, community water features, pools,
sprinklers, parks, et cetera. Importantly, with regard to
education and learning, old school buildings, to my colleague's
reference to infrastructure, that don't have appropriate
cooling systems, which lead to learning loss.
So, a study by the Government Accountability Office found
that about 41 percent of public-school districts in the United
States need to update or replace the heating, cooling, and
ventilation systems in at least half of their schools. That
represents about 36,000 schools Nation-wide.
Mrs. Watson Coleman. Thank you.
Ms. Ammirati. You are welcome.
Mrs. Watson Coleman. Mr. Richards, do you have anything you
want to contribute to that? If not, I have another question for
you.
Mr. Richards. Absolutely. I want to definitely take the
time to contribute just in saying that community assessments
here are important, understanding the community. There are
intersections between heat and chronic disease, heat and age,
and all of those things. So, understanding the community,
assessing the community, and identifying those community needs
ahead of time make a big difference.
When we can understand those needs ahead of time, that
allows us to better pre-identify the resources that are needed
for those vulnerable populations. It allows us to make sure
that we have the tools already in place. Heat is not a new
issue, but it is one that is rising and it is one that we
should intentionally raise awareness to and continue to focus
on how we can better mitigate that.
Mrs. Watson Coleman. Yes. For all of you, Mr. Bowser thank
you for your testimony--Mr. Bowlin, I am sorry. For all of you,
do you all interact with sort-of a national network who address
the same constituents that you do in terms of issues of this
nature? That is No. 1. No. 2, what do you think is FEMA's
greatest fault in redressing those needs of individuals and
communities in the sort-of poor income districts or
communities?
Mr. Payne. In 2 seconds.
Mrs. Watson Coleman. I will start with you, Mr. Richards.
Oh, geez. Maybe I will yield for a second.
Mr. Payne. Yes, if the gentlelady would yield. We do have
time to go around----
Mrs. Watson Coleman. You got it.
Mr. Payne [continuing]. For a second round of questioning.
Mrs. Watson Coleman. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Payne. So, thank you for yielding. I will now recognize
myself for a second round.
Mr. Richards and Ms. Roth, under the Biden administration,
FEMA has set forth goals to increase diversity among its work
force. Mr. Richards and Ms. Roth, what can FEMA do to prepare
its work force to deal with the diverse needs of underserved
communities? We will go with Ms. Roth first.
Ms. Roth. Thank you, Chairman, for that question. So, FEMA
since 2017, has had several GAO, Government Accountability
Office, open and closed recommendations focusing on training.
Those have not been fulfilled and that training is focused on
both the work force and the community and the need for
inclusion and, you know, diversity, inclusion, and
accessibility.
When I left FEMA in 2017, they were on their way to a work
force of 285 disability experts. Unfortunately, most of those
folks are no longer there. So, as they are focusing on
rebuilding the work force, it is going to be imperative that
they focus on rebuilding the expertise to serve multiply-
marginalized disabled people.
Mr. Payne. Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Richards.
Mr. Richards. Excellent, thank you for this question. You
know, I think that there has to be intentionality behind
everything that we do. One of the ways that I think this could
be done, of course, is through diversifying the work force. The
work force and the leadership in FEMA have to be representative
of the communities that we serve. They have to be inclusive of
the communities that we serve.
There is a bit of a disconnect, you know, between the
communities and then the Federal Government, whether it is lack
of trust or just issues and barriers that are in place. I think
connecting more with those communities has got to be imperative
but then also, diversifying a work force that can facilitate
those connections.
There also needs to be improvements in training in terms of
culturally-competent training and how we identify with those
communities. How we engage communities. So, community
engagement. Informed community engagement to that matter too.
A lot of these communities have gone through trauma. They
are going through vulnerabilities. They are going through
experiences. Knowing how to address those experiences is as
much of a mental issue, as it is a, I am doing my job as an
emergency management professional issue, right? So, that mixed
with cultural competence would be a huge help.
Then I also think there has to be ways to improve some
pipeline opportunities into employment whether it is for
younger individuals that are seeing emergency management,
seeing leaders that look like them, that are familiar with
them, that they can identify with, that is another way that
they can focus on intentionally creating opportunities to
diversify the work force.
Mr. Payne. Thank you. Let's see. Continuing on that, let's
see, this is for Mr. Richards, Ms. Roth, Ms. Ammirati, and Ms.
Bottcher. Extreme weather events are causing millions,
especially in the underserved community, to lose their homes
and so much more. In recent years, we have seen historic
flooding, record-breaking hurricanes, and wildfire seasons. Mr.
Richards and Ms. Roth, what actions should FEMA take to help
the underserved communities that are adversely impacted by
climate change? Quickly. Ms. Roth.
Ms. Roth. Very simply, they need to work with the community
leaders. We have a robust national group led by people with
disabilities. We welcome involvement with FEMA to work together
on issues around climate and extreme weather, as well as other
disasters.
Mr. Payne. Thank you. Mr. Richards, quickly.
Mr. Richards. I think it would be important here again to
focus on the community assessment and understanding the
community, being able to identify where those issues exist, and
then working toward that. You know, when we look at kind-of
State flood plans, 84 percent of State flood plans didn't
consider how flooding disproportionately affected throughout
vulnerable populations. There are accountability measures that
I believe that FEMA can put in place in terms of their funding
or their approaches in working with State and local governments
that can also encourage better approaches to how we engage
communities.
Mr. Payne. Thank you. Thank you very much. I will now
recognize the Ranking Member, Mrs. Cammack, for 5 minutes.
Mrs. Cammack. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am going to jump
over to Ms. Bottcher. You mentioned that AARP regularly leads
programming through rural free delivery TV to educate your
members in remote and rural areas about how to better prepare
for disasters. Can you talk a little bit more about this
program and just dig into some of the highlights in the release
that you all just had?
Ms. Bottcher. Thank you so much, Congresswoman. Yes, so,
AARP really tries to maintain the state of preparedness. So,
hurricane season is a season, right? It is June 1 through
November 31. We are very familiar with that along the coast.
But I think it is important that we keep that state of
preparedness year-round for all sorts of emergencies. So, AARP
State offices and through its rural television program
continually educates its members about how to stay prepared.
Those emergency go-bags that we have. What financial documents
you may need to have at the ready, right? So, that they are
protected, that you can just grab and go when you need to. I
mean, all those types of things. Then we help them try to
navigate recovery that is oftentimes so complex, right? It is
on-line. We help them get to the right people.
The other thing I want to add, and Mr. Richards had said
the word, intentionality. It is so important that we are very
intentional in this work and that we have collaborative
partnerships across the board from FEMA to our emergency
managers, to stakeholders like AARP, Save the Children. It is
important that we all come together and talk about how best to
serve these vulnerable communities, how we educate them, and
how we help them through recovery. Thank you.
Mrs. Cammack. I appreciate that. Thank you. Director
Bowlin, AARP is a great example of some of our external
stakeholders. Can you list out and talk about your relationship
and how you engage with some of these outside stakeholders? Do
you work with AARP, for example, in the community?
Mr. Bowlin. Absolutely. Center of Independent Living, we
work with AARP. We also working with our county health
department, you know, a lot of the other programs, you know,
with our FEMA programs, our community emergency response team
trainings, and the other not-for-profit organizations, the
American Red Cross, our county Families and Children's
Services, to be able to provide education, training, and also
financial assistance. Then a lot of our faith-based
organizations to be able to have funding available to educate
and, you know, provide services throughout the community.
Mrs. Cammack. Excellent. I know my colleague, Mrs. Watson
Coleman, she was kind-of alluding to one of the earlier
questions about best practices. How can FEMA be better in terms
of working with our local counties and States in executing on
their mission? So, if Mr. Bowlin, if you can take that and I am
sure she is going to follow up with some extra time for you as
well.
Mr. Bowlin. So, one of the things is, you know, especially,
you know, during a declared emergency, you know, through the
State and through FEMA is bringing in assistance and funding to
be able to come into our rural communities especially for
housing. Housing is almost impossible in Marion County to find
after all.
But one of the things especially on a local level, when
there is not a declaration and counties do not meet their
thresholds, that meet the State thresholds for Federal FEMA
assistance to come in, is being able to provide assistance on a
local level, you know. This was a big impact for Marion County.
Over 252 homes, you know, that were lost trying to find
housing, provide transportation, and everything that kind-of
goes along with that move.
So, you know, working with State EM, emergency management
and local emergency management directors, are in robust
conversations to ensure that when catastrophic events happen,
we are prepared to serve the underserved and those in need. One
of the bigger things, as an example, is on a Federal level
during COVID, there was the ARPA money, there was the Cares Act
money. Again, they pushed those down to the State and local
levels because we know what we need. We need those immediate
resources, especially with housing, to get these families out
of the shelters or, you know, out of hotels to be able to get
back to schools. These are the needs that we see but we don't
have the funding. The State has housing contracts, but they
need grant blocks, funding from the Federal Government to go in
place. When there is not a Federal declaration, those funds and
those resources are really needed at a local and rural level.
Mrs. Cammack. Thank you. I yield back.
Mr. Payne. The gentlelady yields back. I now recognize Mrs.
Watson Coleman for 5 minutes.
Mrs. Watson Coleman. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Bowlin,
ask you a question, a declaration is determined based upon the
cost of the loss during a situation. Is it dollars that
determines whether or not a declaration is--or is it the amount
of loss of property? I am trying to understand why in rural
areas and in low-income areas the declarations don't seem to
come as quickly as possible. Is it a function of the value that
is placed on those losses?
Mr. Bowlin. To be honest with you I am not exactly sure. It
is just one of the things that, you know, that we have
experienced, you know, even after Hurricane Irma is bringing in
those resources of, you know, whether it be the DLOCs or, you
know, those services to be able to bring in and be able to
provide those, you know, filling out applications. I know, you
know, it was pretty quick with especially with the tornadoes
that came in through Marion County is, you know, having the
Small Business Association, you know, loans that are available.
But again, those with lower incomes are the ones that need
immediate assistance are probably going to be denied those
resources through SBA. Again, by the time that these services
are coming in and is being set up to be able to start the
process, it takes very long periods of time to be able to
provide that financial assistance on a short-term, you know,
before they even get to that long-term need.
Mrs. Watson Coleman. Thank you. With regard to Ms. Roth and
Mr. Richards, for those individuals who have a multiplicity of
issues, disability, poor, minority, you know, low-income, all
that kind of stuff, what do you think is the greatest deficit
that you experience with FEMA in determining how to make these
individuals whole and restoring them after a disaster? Ms. Roth
and then Mr. Richards.
Ms. Roth. So, for many people, the limits of assistance
that are available to them mean that they are not going to be
able, you know, $35,000 max grant, which most people don't ever
actually receive. Coupled with what many people have talked
about earlier today, lack of housing. Coupled with the
complexities that many people face in navigating post-
disasters.
Mrs. Watson Coleman. So, is it the amount that you are
eligible for representative of a percentage of your loss? Or is
that just like a maximum that FEMA would give--if you lost a
$500,000 home, is FEMA still only going to give you $35,000?
Ms. Roth. Yes. If you have a $500,000 home, if you have
homeowner's insurance, if is more than $35,000, you don't get
anything. Which, is, you know, I mean, we could have a separate
conversation about that. But the bottom line is that for most
people, it is those local experts who can help them to navigate
the resources. Yet, those local disability-led organizations,
in particular, are not funded and not included in helping
people to be----
Mrs. Watson Coleman. Thank you.
Ms. Roth [continuing]. Able to access resources.
Mrs. Watson Coleman. I have 1 minute and 3 seconds. Mr.
Richards, do you want to comment on that in terms of minority
communities and low-income communities?
Mr. Richards. Absolutely. You know, the issue there is
access. So, access to information, access to education, access
to capacity support to apply for these grants. Knowing how to
apply for them, knowing where to find the funding. There has to
be intentional efforts toward these communities that do that.
That has to come from the top at the Federal level. That also
has to come at the State level and the local level. There needs
to be intention about it. Those vulnerability assessments we
talked about. Understanding the community dynamics, demographic
analyses, and where those vulnerabilities----
Mrs. Watson Coleman. Thank you.
Mr. Richards [continuing]. Exist allow us to really look
into those things and then better put our resources into.
Mrs. Watson Coleman. All right. In closing, is FEMA not
putting the resources necessary into being able to facilitate
that information on the local level, being shared by people who
know the communities?
Mr. Richards. I believe there has to be a better investment
in communities. Community-based organizations, non-profit.
Mrs. Watson Coleman. Thank you. I yield back, sir.
Mr. Payne. The gentlelady yields back. I want to thank the
witnesses for their testimony, their valuable testimony, and
the Members for all their questions. The Members of the
subcommittee may have additional questions for the witnesses.
We ask that you respond expeditiously in writing to those
questions.
The Chair reminds Members that the committee record will
remain open for 10 business days. Without objection, the
subcommittee stands adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 10:15 a.m., the subcommittee was adjourned.]
[all]