In 2023, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) conducted a grant effectiveness case study with the San Francisco Bay Area Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) to better understand how the region used its fiscal year (FY) 2019 and FY 2020 Regional Catastrophic Preparedness Grant Program (RCPGP) awards to build state and local capacity to manage catastrophic incidents. To develop this case study, FEMA conducted an on-site visit to San Francisco, California to meet with key stakeholders across the region. Overall, this case study resulted in the following key findings:
- The interconnectedness of the Bay Area UASI region, including twelve counties and the jurisdictions within, creates unique challenges and opportunities that require both localized and regional preparedness strategies.
- The Bay Area UASI uses a jurisdiction-focused approach to provide technical assistance and develop customizable templates/tools. This approach empowered jurisdictions to overcome enduring challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic related to staffing, turnover rates, loss of institutional knowledge in emergency management, and more.
- RCPGP awards supported the creation of 80 new Commodity Point of Distribution (C-POD) site plans and five iterations of a two-day C-POD Operations and Management training followed by a two-day Disaster Logistics for Practitioners training, all of which provided trainees with experience in all-hazards scenarios that can be applied to real-world incidents.
- The annual regionwide Golden Eagle Exercise, currently supported by RCPGP, builds momentum among stakeholders that carries over into ongoing collaboration at the state and local levels and allows regional partners to better cooperate to allocate scarce resources during catastrophic incidents.
This case study is part of a series of case studies FEMA is conducting to better understand the implementation of RCPGP awards. These case studies explore RCPGP grant recipients’ efforts to improve regional collaboration, communication, trust, and stakeholder relationships, in addition to grant recipients’ efforts to improve regional capability in areas targeted by the RCPGP.
The following section describes the background of the Bay Area UASI and its unique challenges. Next, the report outlines investment priorities to illustrate the Bay Area UASI’s regional approach to preparedness. Finally, the report highlights specific RCPGP-funded projects throughout the Bay Area UASI region and describes the experiences of jurisdictions, their communities, and project stakeholders
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