In 2023, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) conducted a grant effectiveness case study with the Baltimore Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) to increase understanding of how this region used its Regional Catastrophic Preparedness Grant Program (RCPGP) award for fiscal years (FY) 2019 and 2020 to build state and local capacity to manage catastrophic incidents. FEMA conducted an on-site visit to Baltimore, Maryland, to meet with key stakeholders from the Baltimore UASI, including the Baltimore Metropolitan Council (BMC) and members of the RCPGP Task Force. The site visit helped FEMA to gain insight into investment decision-making, regional capability-building strategies, and community-level experiences with RCPGP-funded projects. Overall, this case
study resulted in the following key findings:
- The BMC Emergency Management (EM) team acts as connective tissue between jurisdictions to help facilitate equitable administration of the UASI awards to jurisdictions throughout the Baltimore region.
- The RCPGP Task Force consists of representatives from each of the Baltimore UASI jurisdictions, which helps to break down silos, establishes partnerships at the local, state, and even national levels, and encourages sustainable collaboration between jurisdictions.
- Using grant funds, the BMC EM team created tools such as the Regional Catastrophic Food and Water Resilience Map with a just-in-time methodology and the Housing Formula, which helps planners calculate the number of housing units necessary for disaster housing in a jurisdiction. These tools empower jurisdictions to better assess their food, water, and housing gaps and capabilities.
- The RCPGP helps the Baltimore UASI region validate and build capabilities to thrive and grow during real-world incident responses, regardless of current budget capacity, by encouraging greater sharing of resources and information during incidents as well as sharing best practices and lessons learned after an incident
This case study is part of a series that FEMA is conducting to understand the implementation and use of RCPGP awards. These case studies explore the RCPGP grant recipients’ efforts to improve regional collaboration and stakeholder relationships, in addition to their efforts to build regional
capability in areas targeted by the RCPGP.
The following section provides a brief overview of the Baltimore UASI and its unique challenges. Next, the report outlines investment priorities to illustrate the Baltimore UASI’s regional approach to preparedness. Finally, the report discusses specific RCPGP-funded projects and describes their benefits to Baltimore jurisdictions and their communities.
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