The following is for widest distribution.

U.S. Department of Homeland Security

Federal Emergency Management Agency

Public-Private Partnerships Team

Office of External Affairs

FEMA-IGA@fema.dhs.gov

Private Sector Advisory

FEMA Seeks Stakeholder Feedback on Trio of Guidance Documents

September 12, 2019

Today, the Federal Emergency Management Agency released for national engagement three documents designed to provide guidance to state, local, tribal and territorial jurisdictions in preparedness as well as response and recovery activities.

The documents on which FEMA is seeking feedback are “Planning Considerations: Disaster Housing,” the “Disaster Financial Management Guide” and the “National Incident Management System Basic Guidance for Public Information Officers.”

Housing recovery is the cornerstone to a community’s resilience. By helping survivors achieve sustainable housing after a disaster, leaders move their communities toward stability and improving resiliency for future incidents. Achieving widespread sustainable housing after a disaster improves a community’s ability to recover.

The “Planning Considerations: Disaster Housing” document supplements “Comprehensive Preparedness Guide (CPG) 101: Developing and Maintaining Emergency Operations Plans” by providing guidance on national housing priorities, types of housing, key considerations, and housing-specific planning recommendations that jurisdictions can apply when developing or improving housing plans. This planning document is a tool for use in conjunction with the Six-Step Planning Process described in CPG 101.

Effective disaster financial management is critical for successful response and recovery. It helps jurisdictions obtain the resources needed to support their community, increases the efficiency of recovery efforts, and reduces the likelihood of audit failures and financial penalties for the jurisdiction.

The “Disaster Financial Management Guide” is intended to support jurisdictions in establishing and implementing sound disaster financial management practices. The document also presents an overview of common disaster recovery funding programs and resources that may be beneficial to jurisdictions’ recovery efforts.

FEMA last revised the NIMS Basic Guidance for Public Information Officers in 2007 and is now updating the document to ensure it is consistency, to incorporate stakeholder input, and to make it a more clear and useful tool for public information officers as they are involved in emergency management activities.

The updated document has a broader scope and includes digital engagement and social media protocols as well as provides operational practices to help PIOs perform their duties within the NIMS Command and Coordination structures.

FEMA will host a series of 60-minute engagement webinars to describe the draft document and answer participants’ questions about providing feedback. The webinars will be open to the whole community.

To review the draft housing and financial management documents, please visit https://www.fema.gov/plan. For the draft PIOs document, go to https://www.fema.gov/national-incident-management-system/national-engagement. Information on the webinars is available on both webpages. 

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