Issue link: https://blog.providence.org/i/1367431
15 Local Government Local government also has an extremely important role to play in leading disaster prepared- ness and response. They must connect between the national government agencies, local CBOs, and citizens. Careful planning and coordination are crucial. Sometimes this planning will require Joint Power Agreements (JPAs), when multiple local government agencies have a role in a similar mandate. The literature indicates that in planning, it is important for local government to do the following 12 : • Partner with local resources • Recruit citizens to participate • Schedule regular group meetings • Identify vulnerable groups • Establish or update an Emergency Notification System and recruit sign-ups for that system • Establish and practice evacuation plans Additionally, after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the Federal Coordination and Compliance Sec- tion of the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice (along with other departments: DHS, HHS, HUD, DOT) issued the guidance to state and local governments to essentially apply an equity lens to their disaster preparedness and response work. Their recommendations include for state and local governments to: • Reaffirm their commitment to nondiscrimination protections • Engage with and include diverse racial, ethnic, and limited English proficient populations • Provide meaningful access to LEP individuals • Include immigrant communities in preparedness, response, mitigation (i.e. planning and resilience), and recovery efforts • Collect and analyze data Leadership, planning, communication with all stakeholders, and equity are all part of the best practices for local government. As the fires were still raging, the philanthropic community immediately sprang into action. They mobilized existing resources and quickly worked to bring additional support to those suffering from the effects of the fires. They were able to focus on immediate relief efforts during and immediately after the fires, while also bringing resources to support longer term recovery and resilience efforts. By all measures, these efforts were substantial and highly beneficial to the community. Es- timates of the support provided by the philanthropic community alone are in excess of 140 million dollars. Each funder did what they could, with the amount of funding provided per funder ranging from $75,000 to over $34 million. According to the funder survey, 62% of funders, including most of the large funders, raised new money in response to the wildfires. Funder Response Findings 12 Strait, Ryan, Civic Plus, "8 Tips for Local Government Community Preparedness", accessed at https://www.civicplus.com/blog/ps/local-government-community-emergency-preparedness.