Mass care and human services requirements may rapidly exceed the capabilities of SLTT departments, agencies, and NGOs in affected and nearby jurisdictions. During a multi-state or catastrophic incident, there may be shortages of critical resources including food, potable water, trained personnel, warehouses, transportation, and housing. These shortages will likely be exacerbated due to the unique impacts of chemical incidents. Each SLTT and/or federal stakeholder may seek to independently acquire needed resources; however, varying SLTT and federal authorities and regulations may inhibit the acquisition of resources necessary to support response operations directly associated with the procurement of supplies and/or delivery of mass care services. Therefore, ensuring that life-sustaining services are provided to disaster survivors and impacted, nearby jurisdictions requires coordination across government, NGOs, VOADs, faith-based organizations, and private sector entities.
FEMA plays the key coordination role for federal assistance including for resource acquisition and deployment, and implementation of financial, and/or direct assistance programs. As a component of the overall response, FEMA Mass Care administers programs that include feeding support, crisis counseling, disaster unemployment assistance, legal services, case management, temporary housing, and loans (see box). FEMA hosts Disaster Recovery Centers (DRCs), which are fixed or mobile facilities that provide a central location where FSLTT and non-governmental organizations can provide recovery information, assistance, and services to disaster survivors.80
For chemical incidents specifically, FEMA can provide referrals to local COSS and chemical release modeling capabilities, among others. As chemical safety professionals, COSS can provide expert chemical information to responders and emergency managers, are familiar with what federal resources can be brought in to assist response and recovery activities, and can assist communications staff in simplifying and clarifying information. FEMA’s IMAAC provides access to modeling resources that can help determine appropriate courses of action, including what areas to evacuate and what areas can safely support shelters and information and human services centers. (A host of such resources are described in the Planning, Decision Support, and Modeling Resources for Chemical Incidents section of this document; chemical incident response teams that may be able to assist in response and recovery activities are listed in Appendix G. For more information on the application of modeling information for the protection of area populations, see KPF 4, Control the Spread of Contamination.)
When federal support is requested, ESF #6 – Mass Care, Emergency Assistance, Housing, and Human Services is the overarching interagency collaboration and coordination group activated to assist individuals impacted by potential or actual disasters. ESF #6 support comes from over a dozen federal agencies as well as volunteer and non-governmental support organizations. FEMA serves to coordinate and lead federal resources to support SLTT and voluntary agencies in performance of activities under ESF #6 and the Mass Evacuation Incident Annex to the National Response Framework. Services and programs implemented under ESF #6 include those supported by FEMA’s Mass Care component and many others, and are organized into four primary functions:
- Mass Care: Includes sheltering, feeding operations, emergency first aid, and bulk distribution of emergency items.
- Emergency Assistance: Assistance required by individuals, families, and their communities to ensure that immediate needs beyond the scope of the traditional “mass care” services provided at the local level are addressed. These services include: support to evacuations (including registration and tracking of evacuees); reunification of families; provision of aid and services to vulnerable populations; evacuation, sheltering, and other emergency services for household pets, service, and assistance animals; support to specialized shelters; support to medical shelters; non-conventional shelter support; coordination of donated goods and services; and coordination of voluntary agency assistance.
- Housing: Includes housing options such as rental assistance, repair, loan assistance, replacement, factory-built housing, semi-permanent and permanent construction, referrals, identification and provision of accessible housing, and access to other sources of housing assistance.
- Human Services: Includes the implementation of disaster assistance programs to help disaster survivors recover their non-housing losses, including programs to replace destroyed personal property, and help to obtain disaster loans, food stamps, crisis counseling, disaster unemployment, disaster legal services, support and services for vulnerable populations, and other federal and state benefits.
FEMA Voluntary Agency Liaisons (VALs) or ESF #6 coordinators work with VOADs to facilitate additional mass care support activities. The American Red Cross works with FEMA to provide services under the NRF and ESF #6; this role is separate and distinct from ARC’s role as the nation’s largest local-level mass care service provider to survivors of every disaster.
FEMA programs designed to support disaster survivors include:80
- Disaster Unemployment Assistance (DUA) provides unemployment benefits and re-employment assistance services to survivors affected by a disaster who are not eligible for regular state unemployment insurance.
- Disaster Case Management (DCM) employs partnerships between case managers and disaster survivors to assess and address unmet needs and develop disaster recovery plans that include guidance on decision-making.
- Disaster Legal Services (DLS) provides legal aid to survivors affected by a presidentially declared major disaster who qualify as low-income and are limited to cases that would not normally incur legal fees. This aid typically includes help with insurance claims (e.g., health, property, or life), recovery or reproduction of lost legal documents, help with home repairs and disputes with contractors and/or landlords, the preparation of powers of attorney and guardianship materials, and FEMA appeals.
- The Crisis Counseling Assistance and Training Program (CCP) provides funding to assist disaster-impacted individuals and communities in recovering from adverse reactions to disasters and rebuilding their lives through community-based outreach and psycho-educational services.
- Mass care and emergency assistance staff and resources can be deployed to local response centers in affected areas and offer services including: sheltering; feeding; distribution of emergency supplies; support for individuals with disabilities and limited mobility; reunification services; support for pets, service, and assistance animals; and mass evacuee support.
- Voluntary Agency Liaisons (VALs) support and collaborate with voluntary organizations to provide technical guidance and program information, and assist in the development of long-term recovery groups. Voluntary organizations provide mass care services, conduct unmet needs assessments, manage donations and volunteers, conduct home repair, and other assistance. These groups are among the first and last to provide survivor support services post-disaster, and their work often complements federal assistance programs.
Additional mass care and human services support activities are directed by the following ESFs:
- ESF #8 – Public Health and Medical Services, led by HHS
- Supports behavioral needs consisting of both mental health and substance abuse considerations for survivors and response workers, individuals in need of additional medical response assistance, and veterinary and/or animal health issues.
- ESF #10 – Oil and Hazardous Materials Response, led by EPA and/or USCG
- Supports decontamination actions for hazardous substances, pollutants, and contaminants.
- ESF #11 – Agriculture and Natural Resources, led by USDA
- The Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) identifies, secures, and arranges for the transportation of food and/or the provision of food stamp benefits to affected areas and supports FEMA Mass Care in providing food for shelters and other mass feeding sites.
- USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) ensures the safety and security of the nation’s commercial food supply (e.g., meat, poultry, and egg products), and mitigates the effect of the incident on the U.S. population and environment.
- USDA APHIS supports FEMA to ensure an integrated response that provides for the safety and well-being of household pets during emergency events that result in the mass displacement of civilian populations.
- Department of the Interior (DOI), as the primary agency for natural and cultural resources and historic properties (NCH), organizes and coordinates the capabilities and resources of the Federal Government to facilitate the delivery of services, technical assistance, expertise, etc. for the protection, preservation, conservation, rehabilitation, recovery, and restoration of NCH resources.
Footnotes
80. Federal Emergency Management Agency. (2020, June 5). COVID-19 Pandemic Operational Guidance for the 2020 Hurricane Season.