Red Cross cut @ 1/3 of their HQ workforce (1,000) people, including many in their Federal Response
and Disaster Services offices last week.
FEMA to take over mass care role formerly held by Red
Cross
By Katherine McIntire Peters
March 7, 2008
Emergency management professionals learned many
lessons from the chaotic response to Hurricane Katrina
in 2005, among them the need for a more coherent
approach to providing mass care. The storm destroyed
or rendered uninhabitable more than 300,000 homes,
sending nearly a million people in search of shelter.
As a result of that unprecedented experience, the
American Red Cross and the Federal Emergency
Management Agency agreed last year that FEMA should
have responsibility for coordinating mass care, and
not the Red Cross, as had been the case. That's
because FEMA could direct federal resources to meet
mass care needs, while the private Red Cross could not
-- a factor that added to the confusion in the
aftermath of Katrina.
That agreement was codified earlier this year in the
National Response Framework, the emergency response
blueprint FEMA published in January with input from
other federal agencies and state, local and private
entities involved in disaster management.
A recent report by the Government Accountability
Office raises concerns about the new arrangement,
however. While GAO supports FEMA's role as the primary
agency for providing mass care, it questions whether
it has the staff and resources to do so adequately.
Additionally, neither FEMA nor the Red Cross nor other
volunteer organizations are sufficiently prepared to
support the elderly or people with disabilities during
a disaster, auditors found.
While the role of the Red Cross will remain largely
the same as in the past, it no longer will be
responsible for reporting data on all shelters,
something it had been required to do. Now, the Red
Cross will report only on its own shelters and states
will be responsible for reporting on all other
shelters. FEMA will be responsible for compiling the
data on all shelters into a centralized database,
still under development.
Some state officials told GAO they did not think they
would be able to provide complete information about
unplanned shelters that may emerge in a disaster, in
part because those often are operated by volunteer
organizations with no disaster response experience.
GAO also found that FEMA has only one liaison working
in each region to coordinate issues between volunteer
organizations and FEMA.
Under the National Response Framework, the National
Voluntary Organizations Active in Disasters, an
umbrella organization for 49 volunteer agencies, is
supposed to coordinate with FEMA. But that group has
only two employees, GAO found, noting the staff had
doubled since Katrina.
Marko Bourne, director of policy and program analysis
at FEMA, said in a recent interview that the agency
has been working with states to identify gaps in
planning and preparedness by systematically analyzing
issues across 17 major categories, including holes in
mass care planning. FEMA began the process with
hurricane-prone states last year and will roll out the
gap analysis program nationwide this year, Bourne
said.
"It was the first time we went to the states and sat
down and said 'Look, say there's going to be X event,
in this case a hurricane, what is your local capacity
to evacuate every major city on your coastline? Where
would you put them? How are you going to feed them?
What are you going to do with debris? What's your
shelter plan? What are you doing? And then, let's take
a look at those things that we collectively agree are
the gaps, and let's see how we can fill them,'" Bourne
said.
"The idea is it's a collaborative process between
ourselves and the states and major jurisdictions," he
said.
GAO acknowledged that FEMA has made progress with the
gap analysis program, but said the agency had to do
more, especially to address the needs of the disabled.
FEMA "has generally not coordinated with disability
experts as required by the [2006 Post-Katrina
Emergency Management Reform Act]." GAO specifically
chastised FEMA for not coordinating efforts with the
National Council on Disability, a federal agency that
addresses disability issues. Such coordination is
required by the law.
"It's a real challenge," said Martin Gould, director
of research and technology at the council. "We're
doing the best we can to address the Post-Katrina Act
mandate." He pointed out that the agency needs to have
direct involvement in FEMA planning. On Wednesday,
March 5, the council received an "11th hour"
invitation to attend a meeting with FEMA
representatives the following Monday to discuss
special needs shelters, Gould said, adding that the
council welcomes the opportunity.