Regional Sheltering Plan
Through numerous meetings of the Regional Sheltering planning team, which consists of over 100 subject matter experts in a variety of disciplines from across the Region, all content development for the Regional Sheltering Plan is completed. The plan divides the sheltering mission into four Interagency Task Forces (ITFs): Shelter Operations, Functional Needs, Children's Needs and Household Pets & Service Animals. The plan also provides toolsets with mission statements, member lists, agendas, reporting forms and resource needed.
The Regional Sheltering Plan consists of three plans plus a resource annex:
- Regional Playbook—provides framework for Regional coordination
- Local/State Plan—provides state and local jurisdictions with a template for sheltering preparedness and response
- Federal Integration Plan—outlines how the federal government may integrate to support the local response
- Annex—provides additional useful sheltering information, resources, and sample forms
Click to enlarge
The Regional Sheltering Plan:
- Provides an organizational framework to provide safe, secured, supplied and staffed emergency shelters in response to a catastrophic incident
- Presents all-hazard response and preparedness guidance for jurisdictions to develop emergency sheltering protocols intended to support the whole community
- Outlines roles and responsibilities of local, state, and federal agencies as well as nonprofit and private sector organizations
- Identifies key data points required to establish situational awareness
- Breaks down the massive operation into manageable pieces, known as Interagency Task Forces (ITFs)
Click to enlarge
Regional Sheltering Plan ITFs
Due to the complexity of providing emergency sheltering following a catastrophic event, the plan divides the overall sheltering mission into four historically critical functional areas. To address each of these areas, the plan proposes a coordination structure of ITFs, which are groups of agency representatives focused around a common mission. For each ITF, the plan provides a mission statement, a matrix of lead and support agencies, an agenda, key data requirements, and a reporting structure.
Regional Sheltering Plan Annex
The plan Annex contains two additional documents to facilitate emergency sheltering after a catastrophic event, a Preparedness Toolkit and a Transitional Sheltering Guide. The Preparedness Toolkit outlines planning steps, structured around the four Regional Sheltering Plan ITFs, for any jurisdiction within the Region build a new or enhance an already existing an sheltering plan. The Transitional Sheltering Guide outlines considerations for the provision of longer-term sheltering that would likely be required after a catastrophic event.