Capability Cliff Notes Series PHEP Capability 15—Volunteer Management What Is It And How Will We Measure It?

Learning Objectives Become familiar with Capability Functions Become familiar with Tasks that complete the Functions Understand how these Functions and Tasks are measured or may be measured in the future (Performance Measures)

Volunteer Coordination Volunteer management is the ability to coordinate the identification, recruitment, registration, credential verification, training, and engagement of volunteers to support the public health agency’s response to incidents. How can public health departments effectively recruit, acquire, and use volunteers?

Volunteer Management Functions What Are Steps for Effectively Managing Volunteers? 1.Coordinate volunteers 2.Notify volunteers 3.Organize, assemble, and dispatch volunteers 4.Demobilize volunteers

Capabilities and Measures Resources The presentation will be an overview of what the functions and tasks mean, linked to the performance measures. Please note that since the capabilities PDF document has come out, more performance measures have been developed. If performance measures have come out since the creation of the capabilities document below, they have been included in these tutorials following their function slide, even if the PDF lists that there are no measures for that function. For functions that still have no measures, questions for health departments to begin thinking about measures have been included instead. For exact lists of the capabilities and performance measures, and data collected for the measures, documents can be found at these links: For Capabilities, Functions, and Tasks: For Performance Measures:

Function 1: Coordinate volunteers Tasks: What steps should health departments take to coordinate volunteers? 1.Before an incident, identify the types and numbers of volunteers most likely to be needed in a public health agency’s response, based on the risk assessment. 2.Before an incident, coordinate with existing volunteer programs (e.g., ESAR-VHP, Medical Reserve Corps) and partner organizations to support the recruitment of volunteers for a public health response. 3.Before an incident, assure screening and verification of volunteers’ credentials through ESAR-VHP and Medical Reserve Corps. 4.Before an incident and at the time of an incident, support emergency response training for registered volunteers, in collaboration with partner groups.

Function 1 Measurement How does CDC measure if public health departments have the ability to coordinate volunteers for a public health response? Do state health department have plans, processes and procedures in place to manage volunteers supporting a public health or medical incident? Do their plans include the following required elements: Receiving volunteers Determining volunteer affiliation, including procedures for integrating non- registered or spontaneous volunteers into operations, or referring them to other sites Confirming volunteer credentials Assigning roles and responsibilities to volunteers Providing Just-in-Time Training for volunteers Tracking volunteers Out-processing volunteers Other data elements that are included in calculating this measure can be found in PHEP Performance Measures on pgs :

Function 2: Notify volunteers Tasks: What are the steps for notifying volunteers? 1.At the time of an incident, identify the desired skills and quantity of volunteers needed for the incident from the existing volunteer registration. 2.At the time of an incident, contact registered volunteers using multiple modes of communication. 3.At the time of an incident, notify volunteers who are able and willing to respond of where and how to report. 4.At the time of an incident, coordinate with partner agencies to confirm credentials of responding volunteers. 5.At the time of an incident, notify partner agencies of any need for additional volunteers.

Function 2 Measurement How does CDC measure if public health departments have the ability to coordinate volunteers for a public health response? Do state health department have plans, processes and procedures in place to manage volunteers supporting a public health or medical incident? Do their plans include the following required elements: Receiving volunteers Determining volunteer affiliation, including procedures for integrating non- registered or spontaneous volunteers into operations, or referring them to other sites Confirming volunteer credentials Assigning roles and responsibilities to volunteers Providing Just-in-Time Training for volunteers Tracking volunteers Out-processing volunteers Other data elements that are included in calculating this measure can be found in PHEP Performance Measures on pgs :

Function 3: Organize, assemble, and dispatch volunteers Tasks: What steps will ensure that public health departments can organize and send volunteers to where they are needed? 1.Identify additional volunteers that have the necessary credentials and skills, if the incident exceeds or differs from the public health departments’ volunteer plans. 2.Assure deployment briefing of public health volunteers, including safety and incident-specific training. 3.Assure tracking and rotation of volunteers according to incident and job functions. 4.Manage spontaneous volunteers, either by incorporating them into the response or by triaging them to other potential volunteer resources. 5.Coordinate state and jurisdictional response roles for federal public health staff deployed to the jurisdiction.

Function 3 HPP-PHEP Shared Measurement How does CDC measure if public health departments can effectively organize and send out volunteers? Proportion of volunteers deployed to support a public health/medical incident within an appropriate timeframe Numerator: Number of volunteers deployed to support a public health/medical incident within a specified timeframe Denominator: Number of volunteers requested to deploy in support of a public health/medical incident within a specified timeframe Other data elements that are included in calculating this measure can be found in PHEP Performance Measures on pgs :

Function 4: Demobilize volunteers Tasks: How should health departments ensure complete demobilization of volunteers? 1.Track the demobilization of volunteers. 2.Coordinate volunteers leaving the incident (out-processing). 3.Identify community resources to support volunteer medical screening, stress, and well-being assessment and, when requested or indicated, referral to medical and mental/behavioral health services after deployment.

Function 4 HPP-PHEP Shared Measurement How does CDC measure if public health departments can effectively organize and send out volunteers? Proportion of volunteers deployed to support a public health/medical incident within an appropriate timeframe Numerator: Number of volunteers deployed to support a public health/medical incident within a specified timeframe Denominator: Number of volunteers requested to deploy in support of a public health/medical incident within a specified timeframe Other data elements that are included in calculating this measure can be found at this link, pgs :

Additional Considerations For Demobilization What are some other questions that can indicate complete demobilization?: Are there demobilization records for all volunteers who participated in the incident? Have all volunteers left the scene and how long did it take them to leave? Have volunteers received information about medical/mental/behavioral healthcare at demobilization? Have volunteers received medical/mental/behavioral healthcare after deployment? Has there been any follow-up on health outcomes for volunteers after deployment? What were those outcomes?

Questions? Please contact: Rachel Coles Program Evaluator--CDPHE