The terms “vulnerable,” “at-risk,” and “underserved populations” are associated with specific groups or segments of a community whose needs often are not met through the traditional services provided by political subdivisions, especially during periods of local emergencies or disasters. These populations represent people who are physically or mentally disabled, non-English-speaking residents, the culturally inaccessible, the medically or chemically dependent, elderly folks or children, and the homeless.

These vulnerable populations usually are associated with community-based organizations (CBOs), that is, with local organizations, usually nonprofit, that reside in communities and serve the needs of specific groups within these communities. CBO clients are traditionally the community’s underserved or at-risk and vulnerable people.

The Issue
During the past 10 years, in the aftermath of numerous natural and man-made disasters throughout the United States, a variety of complex and special human services needs have surfaced affecting thousands of people. Have state and local governments adequately planned for, and are they prepared to meet, these needs?

After the October 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake in the San Francisco area and the Northridge earthquake in Los Angeles in January 1994, emergency services professionals became aware that traditional response and recovery systems were not able to satisfy successfully all of the human services requirements, especially those that involved people with special needs.

San Leandro, California, in partnership with Collaborating Agencies Responding to Disasters (CARD) of Alameda County, has addressed these special needs and co-developed an alliance to ensure that high-risk clients are remembered during the response and recovery phases of an emergency.

The strategy is founded on the premise that each CBO should have an emergency plan and be prepared to survive on its own for a minimum of 72 hours until help arrives. This would enable CBOs to continue a minimum level of critical services to their clients, who are traditionally the community’s most vulnerable populations. The union of San Leandro, CARD, and the city’s CBOs has come to be known as the Triad Alliance.

The Alliance
San Leandro and CARD began a partnership focused on preparing for the most significant natural hazard threatening the community, an earthquake, using the strategy listed above. And the Triad Alliance emerged.

This alliance became the advocate and instrument to implement, facilitate, and maintain the strategy, in union with the city’s CBOs. The organizational components of this collaborative union are:

San Leandro’s emergency services division. Located in the city manager’s office, emergency services is an active cofounder of the alliance and represents the city in its activities. Its mission, in part, is to “continue to develop, implement, and maintain a comprehensive and progressive emergency management program focused on the effective delivery of emergency services to the community.”

The alliance strategy complements a key objective of the division’s mission to “enhance the capability to coordinate emergency response and recovery efforts among city government, school districts, business, community-based organizations, and special districts.”

Collaborating Agencies Responding to Disasters (CARD). Also a cofounder of the alliance, CARD is a nonprofit organization founded in 1994 with the support of the American Red Cross and the United Way. It was organized as a result of the unmet needs of the vulnerable populations during California’s 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. CARD’s focus is the community’s underserved, and its mission statement aims to “. . . prepare local community-based organizations to survive at least 72 hours and effectively participate in local government response and recovery efforts in serving the special needs of their clients . . . the vulnerable, culturally diverse, and underserved populations.”

Community-based organizations (CBOs). CBOs constitute the third principal member of the alliance. All 40 CBOs within the city are part of the alliance and form a direct link to the community’s vulnerable populations who are their clients. CBOs have the special experience and knowledge necessary to serve their clients—an asset that becomes an invaluable resource during the response and recovery phases of an emergency or disaster.

The city’s emergency strategy becomes more responsive and effective when CBOs are incorporated into the emergency plan and emergency organization. This is accomplished by designating two CBOs as lead agencies, which are critical links between the city and the other CBOs. Lead agencies facilitate local CBO meetings, participate as members of the city’s emergency organization, and maintain a critical network of information among the city, CARD, and the other CBOs.

The Triad Alliance has become the best assurance that special needs will be dealt with during short- and long-term emergency operations. The alliance consists of a number of essential elements that together make up a program in which CBOs are more disaster-prepared, enabling better service to their clients during and following a disaster.

Elements of Success
Members of the alliance have developed and implemented this set of program elements that form the foundation of its strategy:

1. Annual training plan. The training plan consists of six core courses taught by the emergency services division and CARD, which teaches the majority of courses. These courses are: an overview of the standardized emergency management system; a basic emergency plan, and disaster first aid; self/home preparation and hazards in the workplace; a tabletop disaster exercise; cost recovery guidelines; and CPR and first aid. The courses are free to CBOs, except for a minimal charge for equipment and material costs involved in the CPR and first-aid course.

Courses are offered several times throughout the fiscal year to accommodate individual CBO schedules. They are designed to provide each CBO with an individualized agency emergency plan and basic emergency education, training, and awareness specific to San Leandro. Individual CBOs that receive grant funding from the city are required to participate in the first four courses listed above in order to maintain their funding eligibility.

As part of the training, CARD has designed and distributed three critical emergency documents to the CBOs, including an agency emergency plan, a cost recovery guide, and a county-coordinated disaster response plan.

2. Memorandum of understanding (MOU). The city, CARD, and two designated lead CBOs have entered into an MOU delineating the specific alliance responsibilities of each member. The memorandum, which has been signed by the city manager and the CBO executive directors, recognizes and formalizes the Triad Alliance as an integral part of the city’s emergency services program and strategy.

3. Emergency organization. Representatives from CARD and the lead CBOs have been formally added to the city’s emergency organization, located in the operations section, as reflected in the city’s incident command system. Thus, during emergencies when the city’s emergency operations center (EOC) is activated, CARD and the lead agencies enhance response and recovery efforts by providing unique expertise and knowledge involving vulnerable populations.

They also become the critical link between CBOs located throughout the community and the city’s emergency organization by furnishing and coordinating specific information and resources. As members of the emergency organization, CARD and the lead CBO agencies routinely participate in all EOC training, including disaster exercises.

4. Quarterly meetings. San Leandro hosts quarterly CBO meetings; the CBO lead agencies and CARD facilitate them. The emergency services division and CARD develop meeting agendas that focus on emergency management preparedness, mitigation, and response and recovery factors affecting CBOs and the vulnerable populations.

5. Budget. Funding is an essential component of any program, and the Triad Alliance is no exception. CARD provides the ongoing emergency management services (meetings and training) as a permanent member of the city’s emergency organization; facilitates CBO meetings; conducts CBO training and workshops; and performs on-site mitigation surveys for the CBOs. These services are essential to the success of the alliance and of San Leandro’s emergency response strategy, which is why the city has added CARD as a permanent part of the emergency services division’s budget.

Even with these essential elements, the alliance would not exist without three more important components: executive support, a program mentor, and a CBO with a unique mission. The Triad Alliance was fortunate to have the enduring support of the mayor and council and the operational support of the city manager and assistant city manager, as well as to have the emergency services manager assuming the role of program mentor. CARD’s unique mission in preparing other CBOs to survive disasters was a natural fit for the alliance. This support, mentorship, and fit have become crucial in setting up and funding the alliance.

The Challenge
Recent disasters have demonstrated that traditional response agencies can be ill equipped to respond to the needs of vulnerable populations. Given the potential for future catastrophic disasters, it is imperative to establish an emergency protocol and plan for community-based organizations that have expertise in delivering services to people with language, cultural, and accessibility needs.

The challenge is to integrate CBOs’ skills and knowledge into emergency service plans and strategies, connecting them to local government and enhancing the response and recovery efforts for special populations. 

Dan Lunsford is emergency services manager, San Leandro, California. For more information about the Triad Alliance, call 510/577-3332; e-mail, Dan Lunsford.

For more information on CARD of Alameda County and other PrepareNow collaboratives serving people with special needs in times of disaster, call 510/451-3140 or visit Web site www.prepare now.org.