“Reaching Everyone” The Howard County Experience Unlike most jurisdictions, the Howard County Department of Citizen Services, not the Department of Social Services has the responsibility for Care and Shelter (ESF 6) Also responsible for ESF 15 (Volunteer Management) and ESF 17 (Donations Management). Positives and negatives exist to having a local agency responsible for mass care and shelter Careful and deliberate partnerships are necessary to ensure communication lines are kept open.

Partners Other County Agencies  Office of Emergency Management/Fire and Rescue Corrections Recreation and Parks Police Department State Agencies Department of Human Resources Department of Social Services Department of Health and Mental Hygiene Local Health Department Non-Profits Sector Regional Red Cross Grassroots Volunteer Center of Howard County Faith Community

What works well Citizen Services staff works with functional needs populations on a daily basis Member of County’s EMOG (Emergency Management Opperations Group) Permanent seat in the Emergency Operations Center during disasters Immediately available to assist with “human service” issues of county residents, including those with functional needs Can respond rapidly to the need for shelter Examples Anticipating and pre-positioning staff, supplies and equipment in preparation for Sandy Collaboration with the local Health Department during the Derecho.

Challenges Lack of communication between local agencies and state agencies Duplication of efforts Unrealistic expectation of local capabilities Examples: Multiple calls to assisted living facilities Availability of Red Cross preparation and assistance during Sandy

Communication and Coordination Multi-agency Coordination System (MACS): a combination of facilities, equipment, personnel, procedures, and communications integrated into a common system with responsibility for coordination of assisting agency resources and support to agency emergency operations.

MACS Functions Evaluate and prioritize incidents Ensure agency resource situation status is current Determine specific incident and agency resource requirements Determine agency resource availability for out-of-jurisdiction assignment at this time Determine need and designate regional mobilization centers Allocate resources to incidents based on priorities Anticipate future agency/regional resource needs Communicate MACS "decisions" back to agencies/incidents Review policies/agreements for regional resource allocations Review need for other agencies involvement in MACS Provide necessary liaison with other coordinating facilities and agencies as appropriate

System Challenges Limited and decreasing resources – budgetary and human State and Federal Expectations Adequate number of qualified staff to be effective with all functional needs populations Resources for shelter residents who have no permanent home either due to homelessness or the result of the event ● “Sometimes it feels like we are planning for the invasion of flying monkeys”