CIP Update
January 16, 2009
This newsletter is
for public agencies, businesses, non-governmental organizations, and other
stakeholders involved or interested in public-private partnerships for joint
emergency preparedness, mitigation, response, and recovery.
Michigan State University (MSU) produces the newsletter through the Critical Incident Protocol (CIP)-Community Facilitation Program under a grant awarded by the Training & Exercise Integration/Training Operations, Federal Emergency Management Agency, U.S. Department of Homeland Security. This newsletter provides ideas, suggestions, best practices, and lessons learned to establish critical incident protocols using public-private partnerships.
Michigan State University through the CIP Program will “enhance cities, counties, and region’s capabilities to prepare for, respond to, and recover from man-made and natural disasters through public and private sector collaboration, communication, and cooperation.” MSU facilitates public-private partnerships and the CIP Program is free of charge to participating communities.
Please visit our website at www.cip.msu.edu for more information about the program.
Participating Communities in the CIP Program
The CIP Program has been
initiated in 44 communities in 23 states with over 3,600 participants
establishing community public-private partnerships for joint management of
critical incidents. We are looking to work with other cities, counties and
regions. Is there a location in the nation that you think may be interested in
developing a public-private partnership? If so, please let us know.
Currently, we are working with the following communities:
Alabama: Hoover
Arizona: Casa
Grande
California: Mountain View
Colorado: Littleton
Connecticut: Norwalk
Florida:
Western Panhandle
Illinois: Lake-Cook Regional, Libertyville, Naperville
Indiana: Evansville
Kansas: Douglas County
Maryland: Annapolis, Carroll County, Rockville
Michigan: Detroit, Marquette County, Monroe, Oakland County
Missouri/Illinois: Gateway Citizen Corps
Coalition, St. Louis
Montana: Lewis & Clark County
Nevada: Clark County
North Carolina: Buncombe County, Greensboro
Ohio: Brooklyn
Pennsylvania: Allentown, Bethlehem, Northampton County, Perkiomen Valley
South Carolina:
Columbia, Horry County
Texas: Dallas
Utah: Layton, Sandy City
Virginia: Arlington County, Richmond
Washington: Redmond
Wisconsin:
Brown
County, Dane County, Eau Claire County, Milwaukee, Outagamie County, Racine
County, Superior, Winnebago County
FEMA Region V Preparedness Summit
Last week we participated in the Preparedness Summit: A Strategy for Developing a Culture of Preparedness with professionals from around the nation representing FEMA, state administrative agencies, government, military, business, marketing, academia, behavioral specialists, and others. The Preparedness Summit was hosted by Ed Buikema, Regional Administrator and staff from FEMA Region V and the National Strategy Forum in Chicago. This brainstorming conference was one of sharing ideas, discussing programs, profiling best practices, and laying the foundation for future action items. In addition to notable speakers, such as Deputy Administrator Dennis Schrader, FEMA National Preparedness Directorate, the bulk of the conference focused on the sharing of information and eliciting ideas from the participants.
FEMA’s core mission is built around their comprehensive emergency management system of preparedness, protection, response, recovery, and mitigation. However, with certain high-profile disasters in the last decade, including Hurricane’s Katrina, Ike, and Gustav the natural inclination by state and local government and FEMA stakeholders is to focus on FEMA’s response functions. Therefore, it was innovative for conference attendees to collaborate on how to create a culture of preparedness. The FEMA Region V staff is working on the diverse and large number of suggestions and information by synthesizing them into concepts that would be eventually shared. Our compliments to Ed Buikema, Region V staff, and The National Strategy Forum personnel for making the Preparedness Summit a worthwhile event.
The Safe America Foundation
While at the Preparedness Summit in Chicago, Len Pagano, CEO of Safe America who participated will be following up with the FEMA staff on helping to move forward some of the preparedness concepts discussed. The Safe America FoundationTM is a 501(c) (3) non-profit organization licensed by the state of Georgia. Chartered in 1994, with headquarters in Marietta, Georgia, the foundation partners with corporate, governmental, public and private sector organizations, and other nonprofits to improve the safety awareness and preparedness of Americans nationwide (Safe America, 2009).
Traditionally, we use the CIP Update newsletter to promote the concept and practice of public-private partnerships for joint crisis management and occasionally profile various partnership groups and organizations. Although Safe America has a lengthy history working with corporate America and governmental agencies, they are looking to promote preparedness deeper into the nation’s psyche. Thus, this organization may be a resource for you. For more information, please go to http://www.safeamerica.org.
MetLife Foundation Community-Police Partnership Awards Program
The CIP staff fosters community-wide partnership building and has mentioned in previous editions about certain awards that recognize the value of collaboration between government and the business community. The MetLife Foundation Community-Police Partnership Award focuses on the police and community relationship.
MetLife Foundation and the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) have partnered for the eighth year to recognize, sustain and share the work of innovative partnerships between community groups and police to promote neighborhood safety and revitalization. Through this awards program, MetLife Foundation and LISC identify and honor partnerships that exhibit tangible accomplishments in their efforts to advance the process, outcome, and/or evaluation of potent police-community collaborations (LISC, 2009). To learn more about this opportunity, please go to http://www.lisc.org/section/goals/healthy/safety/awards.
Our thanks to the Private Sector Liaison Committee (PSLC), American Society for Industrial Security (ASIS) for sharing this information with us.
Public/Private Partnership Website – Disaster Ready Chippewa Valley
The Disaster Ready Chippewa Valley website is another example of community-wide public and private sector partnership. The host agency for the website is the Central Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission. If you are looking for ideas on what a partnership website might contain, please go to http://wcwrpc.org and then click on Disaster-Ready Chippewa Valley. Our compliments to the people in the greater Eau Claire, Wisconsin region for their commitment to creating a culture of joint preparedness, response, and recovery.
Private Sector Survey of Preparedness & Continuity Practices – Please Participate
Would you (private sector) be willing to participate in a national online survey for the business community and non-profit organizations? Survey responses do not seek individual/organizational information. We encourage you to complete the survey as soon as possible. The results may assist public and private sector organizations, communities, and government entities on responding to and recovering from natural disasters and other hazards. Please note that this information was in our October 24, 2008 newsletter edition; therefore, please disregard if you have already completed the survey. However, we are encouraging those who have not completed the survey to do so, as the survey will no longer be available after January 31st. A reminder – this is for the private sector only.
The goal of the project is to develop a method for assessing emergency preparedness in the business community across the nation. The results of the survey will be provided to Michigan State University so that we can share the information with you.
The survey was developed by Michael Dunaway, who participated in the CIP Program a few years ago in the Annapolis, MD area. The survey is also under the direction of Marvine Hamner, Ph.D., George Washington University under a grant from the University of Maryland.
You may access the survey at http://www.surveymonkey.com/Region8, which takes about 20 minutes to complete. This survey targets members of private sector organizations that read the CIP Update newsletter. Previously, other businesses and non-profit organizations from various regions across the nation completed the same survey, and their results will be utilized for comparison purposes.
The CIP staff appreciates you taking the time for participating in this important project! We look forward to sharing the results with you.
Voluntary Private Sector Accreditation and Certification Preparedness Program (PS-Prep)
Many businesses are aware of the PS-Prep, which is a direct result of a 911 Commission recommendation to enhance the preparedness level of businesses throughout the nation. The PS-Prep program is formally established under Title IX of the 9/11 Recommendations Act, Public Law No. 110-53. Through the Act, DHS is to establish a common set of criteria for private sector preparedness, including disaster management, emergency management, and business continuity programs. The goal of this voluntary program is to enhance nationwide resilience in an all hazards environment by improving private sector preparedness.
Specifically, DHS is empowered to raise the level of preparedness in the private sector through several initiatives, including:
Currently, FEMA is seeking public comments on this new regulation, and to learn more, please go to
http://www.fema.gov/business/certification/index.htm.
Center for Critical Infrastructure Protection, George Mason University
When defining critical infrastructure protection – one can get many different interpretations. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has formally identified the types of critical infrastructure; however, the level of protection can vary for these entities depending on regulatory mandates, assessments, and recommendations. Another important issue is defining what is protected versus unprotected critical infrastructure. For example, financial institutions are classified as critical infrastructure. Does this mean that every financial institution across the nation is considered critical infrastructure? Can one financial institution have minimal levels of protection while another financial entity located nearby maintains a higher level of protection?
An important resource on this topic to address questions is the Center for Critical Infrastructure Protection (CCIP), operated by George Mason University. Among the many topics explored by CIPP are the key areas of cyber-security, physical security, information sharing between public and private sectors, regional, state and local issues, and privacy concerns. The CIPP website is comprehensive, and they offer The CIP Report, a free on-line newsletter. To learn more, please go to http://cipp.gmu.edu.
Recent Postings to the CIP Information
Exchange Website
The
CIP Information Exchange website is a large database for public and private
sector professionals interested in homeland security, emergency preparedness,
business continuity, disaster recovery, and emergency management. It also
contains research publications, government documents, news items, and more.
To enter the ‘CIP Information Exchange’ database, please go to https://angel.msu.edu and using the drop-down menu click on Angel Guest Account. Click on ‘proceed’, and on the next webpage, enter “msu.msu” in the Angel Guest User box and “partnership” (both without quotation marks) as the password. Then click on Log On. On the next page, click on Critical Incident Protocol (CIP) – Community Facilitation, which launches to the main menu.
Located in the folder "Bulletin Board - Information for all Communities" are a variety of recent postings, including:
· DHS’s Role in State and Local Fusion Centers is Evolving
· FEMA – Analysis of State and Local Officials’ Views on Federal Preparedness Requirements
· Providing Access to Resilience-Enhancing Technologies for Disadvantaged Communities and Vulnerable Populations
· National Infrastructure Protection Plan (NIPP) 2007/2008 Update
There are numerous other resources located on the website. To locate a specific topic, utilize the "search" function.
Past Newsletters
If you are interested in viewing
past CIP Update newsletters, please go to www.cip.msu.edu and select "Newsletters"
from the main menu.
Closing
If you have any topics and/or
ideas for a future CIP Update newsletter, please contact Brit Weber at weberbr@msu.edu or (517) 355-2227 or other MSU staff
members. About every three weeks you will receive this newsletter via email. If
you no longer wish to be on this list, please reply to this email.
Disclaimer
The views expressed here are
those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S.
Department of Homeland Security or Michigan State University.
Sources
Safe America Foundation. (2009). Website, About Webpage, Our Organization paragraph. Retrieved on January 13, 2009 from http://www.safeamerica.org/index.php/about-us/mission-a-history.
Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC). 2009. Website, Home webpage, first paragraph. Retrieved on January 16, 2009 from http://www.lisc.org/section/goals/healthy/safety/awards.
Brit Weber
Program
Director
CIP-Community
Facilitation Program
School
of Criminal Justice
Michigan
State University
1407
S. Harrison Rd., 335 Nisbet Bldg.
East
Lansing, MI 48823
Work:
(517) 355-2227 Cell: (517) 206-1640
weberbr@msu.edu
Please
visit our website: http://www.cip.msu.edu