FEMA Just-in-Time Training.

• Author: Haroon, Mehreen
• Position: GFOA COLLABORATIONS

The 2017 Atlantic hurricane season was the costliest one to date, racking up approximately $3 billion in damages following hurricanes Harvey, Irma, Maria, and Nate. And research has indicated that the severity and frequency of natural disasters is expected to increase in the future. Post-disaster recovery is therefore more relevant than ever, especially for local governments that face a greater risk of disaster. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Community Planning Capacity Building (CPCB) Team has worked in collaboration with more than 50 federal, state, local, private, and nonprofit partners, including GFOA, to develop the Just-in-Time Recovery Management Training (JIT RMT). The JIT RMT will provide local government officials with the information they need during the actual post-disaster recovery period.

THE NEED FOR JUST-IN-TIME TRAINING

Post-disaster recovery can be complex, particularly for communities that lack the experience to effectively manage the aftermath of a disaster. Smaller localities find themselves at a disadvantage compared to larger communities that have withstood disasters and emerged better prepared to maneuver the post-disaster phases. Natural disasters are often unexpected and intensive, requiring local governments to navigate through unfamiliar programs, obscure financing, compliance requirements, new planning considerations, and multi-agency collaborations, all in short time frames. The steep learning curve and information overload can lead to overwhelmed administrators.

Skills developed through pre-disaster trainings are useful but comparatively limited in the absence of a genuine crisis. Widespread disaster impacts in a city, town, or county may stem from the same event, but the characteristics unique to individual communities can make developing useful pre-disaster trainings challenging, sometimes resulting in unwieldy and overly broad content. The JIT RMT provides a solution through a series of customized trainings that are conducted during the post-disaster recovery, serving as a vital resource for local governments when they need and can best use the information.

PARTNERSHIP

GFOA's Accounting, Auditing, and Financial Reporting Committee vice-chair Diane Allison participated as a subject matter expert on behalf of GFOA in developing the training. FEMA's CPCB Team gathered feedback from more than 50 other partners through extensive interviews and requesting verbal and written input on key learning objectives...