1. Overview of the Whole Community Approach, Disability Rights, and FNSS Integration in Emergency Management
Welcome and instructor self-introduction.
Instructor’s Name

2. Topics Concept of the Whole Community approach
Legal foundations of disability rights
Key accessibility and nondiscrimination concepts
Key considerations for the delivery of Functional Needs Support Services (FNSS)
Implementation strategies
Texas FNSS toolkit
Say: In this training, we are going to talk about several important issues (pointing at the screen to direct attendees’ attention to the slide). By the end of this 15 minutes, you should be able to
describe the whole community approach in your own words.
identify legal foundations for planning and meeting the needs of individuals with disabilities during preparedness and response activities
list at least 2 key accessibility and nondiscrimination concepts
list at least 2 considerations for the delivery of Functional Needs Support Services for children and adults in emergency management. 
recall implementation strategies for the delivery of FNSS &
use the Texas FNSS toolkit for your future reference
I know we are trying to cover a lot of ground in this training, which is why we are only going to focus on the overall picture and I will show you some useful references for your further study on this topic.

3. Take a Guess What is the “Whole Community approach”?
Why is it important?
How can this approach improve the ability to meet the needs of people with access and functional needs in an emergency?
Say: Before we start, I would like to invite you to take a guess. What do you think the whole community approach means? Why is it important? How can this approach improve the ability to meet the needs of people with access and functional needs in an emergency?
[If the crowd is shy, give them at least 10 seconds before calling on people to answer.
Repeat their answers so that everybody can hear them.
Make sure to give appropriate comment after each volunteer offers an answer.
Validate the correct answers and acknowledge their efforts, meanwhile, taking this opportunity to point out what’s missing or erroneous in their answers.]
Say: to summarize,
The Whole Community concept is defined as “the means by which residents, emergency management practitioners, organizational and community leaders, and government officials can collectively understand and assess the needs of their respective communities and determine the best ways to organize and strengthen their assets, capacities, and interests.” This includes meeting the needs of individuals with disabilities, and those with functional & access needs. Both these terms will be defined in later slides.
The Whole Community approach is not just planning for the whole community but with the whole community. This type of planning will result in a better understanding of the needs of the community, the resources available in the community, more community buy-in and will ultimately result in a more resilient community and more effective disaster response.
Craig Fugate, Administrator for FEMA, summarized the need for whole community planning by stating: “Government can and will continue to serve disaster survivors. However, we fully recognize that a government-centric approach to disaster management will not be enough to meet the challenges posed by a catastrophic incident. That is why we must fully engage our entire societal capacity....”*
(* except from “A Whole Community Approach to Emergency Management: Principles, Themes, and Pathways for Action by FEMA”)
[move on to the next slide]

4. Whole Community Approach Principles
Understand and meet the actual needs of the whole community
Engage and empower all parts of the community
Strengthen what works well in the communities on a daily basis
Say: In short, it embraces these three principles:
Understand and meet the actual needs of the whole community
Engagement with the community can lead to a better understanding of the diverse needs of the population
Engage and empower all parts of the community
When a community is engaged in disaster planning discussions, it empowers them to identify and plan for the needs of the community
Strengthen what works well in the communities on a daily basis
Leverage the existing relationships in the community to more effectively respond during and recover after a disaster

5. Whole Community Strategic Themes
Understand community complexity
Recognize community capabilities and needs
Foster relationships with community leaders
Build and maintain partnerships
Empower local action
Leverage and strengthen social infrastructures, networks, and assets
Say: The following strategic themes were identified as ways to effectively implement the Whole Community approach:
Understand the community complexity
Learn how communities social activity is organized and how needs are met under normal circumstances. This will lead to a better understanding of the community complexity which will help emergency managers determine how they can best collaborate with and support the community to meet its true needs in times of crisis.
Recognize community capabilities and needs
Recognize the communities needs and collective capabilities, identify how they can contribute to improve pre- and post- event outcomes, and actively engage them in all aspects of the emergency management process. This will help emergency managers plan for what communities will really need after an incident.
Foster relationships with community leaders
Collaborate with community leaders to solve non-emergency activities. This will help build the relationship and trust. Community leaders can provide insight into the needs and capabilities of the community. They can also help ramp up interest about emergency management programs.
Build and maintain partnerships
Build relationships with agencies and organizations within the community. This will ensure the involvement of a wide range of local community members. These relationships will bring greater capabilities to the initiatives, provide greater opportunities to reach agreement throughout the community, and influence others to participate and support activities.
Empower local action
Recognize that government at all levels cannot manage disasters alone. Enable the public to lead, not follow, in identifying priorities, organizing support, implementing programs, and evaluating outcomes. Empower them to draw on their full potential in developing collective actions and solutions.
Leverage and strengthen social infrastructures, networks, and assets
Invest in the social, economic, and political structures that make up daily life and connect them to emergency management programs. Align emergency management activities to support the institutions, assets, and networks that people turn to in order to solve problems on a daily basis.
If you are interested in learning more about the Whole Community approach, read “A Whole Community Approach to Emergency Management: Principles, Themes, and Pathways for Action.” It can be found online through FEMA.

6. Access and Functional Needs
People with access and functional needs are those individuals which may require additional assistance before, during and after an incident including but not limited to maintaining independence, communication, transportation, supervision and medical care.
Say: By using the Whole Community approach, a community can ensure their response plans are inclusive and leverage resources that better address the access and functional needs of the community.
People with access and functional needs are those individuals which may require additional assistance before, during and after an incident including but not limited to maintaining independence, communication, transportation, supervision and medical care (CMIST). Individuals in need of additional response assistance may include those who have disabilities, live in institutionalized settings, are seniors, are children, are from diverse cultures, are transportation disadvantaged, or have limited English proficiency or are non-English speaking.
An elderly person who needs assistance with way finding is an example of someone with a functional need. A person may have a functional need and also a disability such as a person who is blind or has low vision. The terms “functional and access needs” and “people with disabilities” are often used interchangeably, but they are different. The terms apply to two distinct but overlapping groups of individuals.

7. Individuals with Disabilities
A person who:
Has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities
Has a record of such an impairment
Is regarded as having such an impairment
Say: Under ADA, Americans with Disabilities Act, an individual with a disability is a person who: (1) has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities; (2) has a record of such an impairment; or (3) is regarded as having such an impairment.
Examples include: an individual with a mobility disability who uses a wheelchair or someone who is blind or has low vision and uses a service dog or white cane. There are also disabilities that are not visible or obvious, such as cystic fibrosis or some developmental disabilities, like autism.
These populations are protected classes. As you will see on the next slide, we have multiple laws which protect these individuals.

8. Legal Foundations Federal State Local Stafford Act
Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act (PKEMRA)
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
Rehabilitation Act (RA)
Fair Housing Act Amendments
Architectural Barriers Act
State
Texas Accessibility Standards
Texas Web Accessibility Standards
Local
Say: There are specific legal requirements for the inclusion of people with disabilities into emergency management programs, and they are not new. The authorities come from the federal level, the state level, and even the local level. Here’s a sample list of them [point at the items on the slide].
For example: [Read 2 of the laws from the screen]
It is important to know what these authorities are and understand the local requirements in your jurisdiction.

9. Key Accessibility and Nondiscrimination Concepts
Self-determination
Physical access
No “One Size Fits All”
Equal access
Equal opportunity to benefits
Effective communication
Inclusion
Program modifications
Integration
No Charge
Say: On the slide is a sample list of the key accessibility and nondiscrimination concepts. Familiarize yourself with these concepts. It will be an important step to help you meet the legal requirements. For example, “equal opportunity to benefits”. People with disabilities must have the same opportunities to benefit from emergency programs, services, and activities as people without disabilities before, during, and after a disaster. Another key concept is “effective communication”, all information provided must be comparable in content and detail to the information given to the general public and in an accessible, understandable format.

10. Functional Needs Support Services
(FNSS)
Say: Both individuals with disabilities and individuals with functional and access needs may require Functional Needs Support Services to maintain their independence in a general population shelter. Functional Needs Support Services enable children and adults- with or without disabilities- who have access and functional needs to maintain their health, safety, and independence in a general population shelter.
FNSS includes:
• reasonable modification to policies, practices, and procedures
• durable medical equipment (DME)
• consumable medical supplies (CMS)
• personal assistance services (PAS)
• other goods and services as needed
On the slide are some images of these services, such as a sign language interpreter or accommodation for service dogs.

11. Key Considerations in Emergency Management
Services for return
Safe/accessible housing options
Ensure physical access to shelters before a disaster strikes
Emergency notifications
Equal access
Disability stakeholder inclusion
Demographic awareness
Prepared-
ness
Response
Recovery
Mitigation
Say: Here’s a wheel showing the different phases of emergency management. In each phase, there are different key issues to consider. In the handout I gave you, you can see a sample list of key considerations for each of them. For example, in the preparedness phase, you might want to ensure that individuals with disabilities, functional and access needs are included in exercises and are part of training programs that you develop and put on. Or in the response phase, ensure that important notifications or announcements reach everybody.

12. Establish working groups
Implementation Strategies
Establish working groups
Reach out to communities
Seek education opportunities
Utilize toolkits and references
Say: To put these concepts into action, there are several things you can do, such as
Establish working groups that include stakeholders from the community
Reach out to communities with established programs of this type, for example, Governor’s Committee on People with Disabilities or local Mayor’s committee on people with disabilities
Seek education opportunities
Utilize toolkits or references, such as the Texas Toolkit
Let me show you one of the tools.
[Next, open a browser and repeat the name of the website Texas FNSS toolkit. Also remind them that they an also Google it by the keyword “Texas FNSS toolkit”. Once on the website, highlight some of the useful tools, such as the download link of the toolkit or the pictographs. Encourage them to revisit it on their own after this.]

13. What you have learned: Concept of whole community approach
Legal foundations
Key accessibility and Nondiscrimination concepts
Key considerations for the delivery of Functional Needs Support Services (FNSS)
Implementation strategies
Texas FNSS toolkit
Say: Today I have given you an overall view of these important topics. Now you should be able to
describe the whole community approach in your own words.
name the legal foundations for planning and meeting the needs of individuals with disabilities during preparedness and response activities
list the key accessibility and nondiscrimination concepts
recall considerations for the delivery of Functional Needs Support Services for children and adults in emergency management. 
identify implementation strategies for the delivery of FNSS &
use the Texas FNSS toolkit for your future reference
We still have a few minutes left. Let’s see if you got them all.

14. Let’s see if you get it What does whole community approach mean?
By which laws is it mandated?
Key inclusion concepts?
Key considerations for the delivery of FNSS?
Moving forward strategies?
Useful tool/reference?
Say: On the slide, I have some review questions for you. Let’s start with the first one “what does whole community approach mean?” Can I have a volunteer?
[Ask these questions and invite people to answer. If the crowd is shy, give them at least 15 seconds before calling on people to answer.
Repeat their answers so that everybody can hear them.
Make sure to give appropriate comment after each volunteer offers an answer.
Validate the correct answers and acknowledge their efforts, meanwhile, taking this opportunity to point out what’s missing or erroneous in their answers.]
[Repeat this for the other question.]
[Closing the session by thanking their participation]