1. National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster 1501 Lee Highway, Suite 170, Arlington, VA, 22209 Superstorm Sandy Hot Wash Review Report Warren S. Eller, School of Public Health West Virginia University Brian J. Gerber Buechner Institute for Governance University of Colorado Denver Presentation made at the National VOAD Annual Conference Portland, OR May 13, 2013

2. Background Purpose – Hotwash (incident review) and AAR Day 1: Challenges, Mass Care, Short-term recovery, operating relationships Day 2: LTR Review – Participants Review of Newark NJ – Summary report Interviews/Survey – this week AAR completed July 2013 Today: Review of challenges and strengths

3. Challenges National Level Partners  Coordination With state level VOAD partners With National VOAD With State Agencies With Federal Agencies  Communications Internal With State Partners Across jurisdictions  Logistics Supplies for relief Supplies for operations  Volunteer Management Utilizing spontaneous volunteers Availability of trained volunteers for sustained operations  Fundraising  Operational Environment Dealing with unfamiliar urban environment Verticality issues

4. Challenges State/Local Partners  Information Management Timeliness of information for situational awareness Dealing with the volume of information Getting information to survivors  Coordination With National VOAD With state/local partners  Volunteers Shortage of skilled manpower Dealing with spontaneous groups Responder fatigue  Resources Dealing with changing levels/sources Inability to fundraise Initial access to resources  Operations Internal leadership Needs-resource matching State/local partners not collaborating Lack of knowledge of VOAD capacity/capability  Operational Environment Lack of community preparedness Lack of local capacity

5. Challenges Federal /State Government Partners  Information Management Lack of adequate records Access to operational information Duplicate requests  Poor coordination across lower level actors  States/counties not familiar with the processes  Shortage of trained staff  Political conflicts Leadership not familiar with local operations Coordinating with NYC  Unfamiliar operational environment  Coordination State level response Volunteers  Leadership Lack of leadership Lack of established relationships Leadership stonewalling VOAD movement response  Information exchange  Operations Transitioning to response activities Time lag in shifting operations to response No prior experience with response processes  Lack of sound planning Federal GovernmentState Government

6. Strengths National Level Partners  Partnerships Improved relationships with partner VOADs Improved relationships with FEMA Focused on partnerships  Survivor Care Listened to survivor stories Provided spiritual care Followed-up with survivors  Operations Increased flexibility Unprecedented response time to volunteers on the ground Met diverse needs Unprecedented scope of operations Trained huge numbers of new volunteers Created replicable models

7. Strengths State/Local Partners  Partnerships Improved relationships with partner VOADs  Survivor Care Met needs (food/clothing/sheltering) in record time and numbers  Operations Increased flexibility Unprecedented response time to volunteers on the ground Met diverse needs Unprecedented scope of operations Trained huge numbers of new volunteers

8. Strengths Federal /State Government Partners  Quick mobilization  Massive movement of resources  Modified operational and informational processes to meet environment  Adapted to use of social media  Unprecedented operations to support communication  Quickly made staff available and implemented training  Developed outreach programs Federal GovernmentState Government

9. Path Forward Complete After Action Report – Content analysis of hotwash notes – Interview assessments – Meet with National and State VOAD leaders and Federal and State government to identify actionable items Complete Impact Report – Complete web based survey of VOAD community – Access state level AAR’s