Progress 09/01/09 to 08/31/14
Outputs
Target Audience: During 2014, five states were working through the ReadyCommunity process with coaching teams trained through this grant. These teams were from Virginia, Florida, Kentucky, Iowa, and Mississippi. Additionally, the SRDC began working with 1890 Land Grant partners to adapt the process to a low socio-economic audience. That work will be sustained past the life of this grant. Changes/Problems: Some rural places reported two challenges in walking through the ReadyCommunity process. First, the initial design of the needs assessment called for some data analysis that were challenging for rural places to both gather and analyze. Thus that section has been redesigned to be more relevant to both the audience and to the needs they face. Additionally, resources have been added to help the communities locate needed data in user-friendly formats. The second challenge was the length of the process. The entire process has been streamlined considerable to make better use of community members' time in the process. A significant time-saving value came in the redesign of the needs assessment piece described above as this is where most communities felt bogged down. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? A total of three train-the-trainer workshops have resulted in 10 pilot projects (community level training). Additionally, work specifically with the 1890 land grants began late in this grant cycle and will be continuing past the life of this grant. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Materials have been presented at a number of professional conferences targeting Extension agents that are engaged in disaster preparedness work. These include Galaxy, the National Association of Community Development Professionals and EDEN. Additionally, EDEN will be including the ReadyCommunity resources in their database that will be launching in early 2015. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Sept 2011 Revised Goals 1. Establish National Curriculum Development Team: Identify and organize a national curriculum development team. These will be Extension educators, researchers and others with strong backgrounds in community development and/or disaster management and communications. 2. Organize and Host Meeting of the National Curriculum Team: The curriculum development team will meet in February to develop a comprehensive outline and identify authors for key modules (6 to 8 modules in all). 3. Develop Modules: The curriculum development team will work February through April to develop the various modules, meeting at least monthly via conference call to assess progress. 4. Conduct Peer Reviews of Materials: Curricula will be sent to various colleagues across the country for peer assessment in May. These reviews will provide valuable feedback on key changes needed in the educational products. 5. Revise/Finalize Curriculum: The curriculum development team will complete revisions of the materials in light of the feedback provided by the peer reviewers. 6. Organize and Host a Train the Trainer Session with Pilot Sites: Monitor the effectiveness of the educational materials and the process being used in the pilot states. 7. Complete Final Refinements to the Training Materials: Based upon feedback from the pilot sites, the curriculum team will complete final modifications to the materials. 8. Place Materials on the SRDC and EDEN Websites: To facilitate easy access by potential users, the SRDC will place the training materials on SRDC and EDEN websites. 9. Submit Final Product to FEMA and NIFA: A polished version of the curriculum materials will be submitted to these two federal agencies. 10.Expand the Use of the Materials Via a Variety of Strategies: The SRDC will work with FEMA, NIFA, the RRDCs, EDEN and other key groups and individuals for the purpose of communicating the availability of these new resources for use by interested parties. SRDC will help EDEN organize webinars and members of the curriculum team will present highlights of the materials at various professional venues. Goals 1-6 were completed during 2013. Goals 7-10 have been completed within 2014. The exception is that the materials were not double posted to the EDEN website as the redundancy would make keeping materials updated challenging. However, SRDC presented the materials at the 2013 EDEN conference to promote cross-use. Materials are posted to http://srdc.msstate.edu/readycommunity/. FEMA co-branded the material (Goal 9). 1890 University partnership with ReadyCommunity began in July 2014 with a workshop to explore recommended adaptations of the material to better fit low socio-economic audiences. This work will continue to be sustained through 2015 (Goal 10)
Publications
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Progress 09/01/12 to 08/31/13
Outputs
Target Audience: During 2013, six sites were being led through the ReadyCommunity process by coaching teams trained through this grant. These sites were: Bolivar County, MS; Maysville, MO; Mountrail County, ND; Whitman County, WA and Cass and Marion counties in Texas. Additionally, coaching teams from five states were trained to expand ReadyCommunity to new sites in the coming year. These teams were from Virginia, Florida, Kentucky, Iowa, and Mississippi. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? The SRDC hosted a coaches' training workshop in September for training teams from five states: Mississippi, Iowa, Virginia, Florida, and Kentucky. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Presentations have been made at Galaxy Conference, EDEN Conference and several webinars including one targeting the entire North Central Region. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? During the early months of 2014, SRDC plans to finish the final revisions to the ReadyCommunity curriculum, including incorporating the co-branded logo designed in conjunction with FEMA. Discussions with FEMA will continue to explore opportunities to expand the use of the material through both the RRDC/Land Grant system and FEMA's networks.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Sept 2011 Revised Goals Establish National Curriculum Development Team: Identify and organize a national curriculum development team. These will be Extension educators, researchers and others with strong backgrounds in community development and/or disaster management and communications. Organize and Host Meeting of the National Curriculum Team: The curriculum development team will meet in February to develop a comprehensive outline and identify authors for key modules (6 to 8 modules in all). Develop Modules: The curriculum development team will work February through April to develop the various modules, meeting at least monthly via conference call to assess progress. Conduct Peer Reviews of Materials: Curricula will be sent to various colleagues across the country for peer assessment in May. These reviews will provide valuable feedback on key changes needed in the educational products. Revise/Finalize Curriculum: The curriculum development team will complete revisions of the materials in light of the feedback provided by the peer reviewers. Organize and Host a Train the Trainer Session with Pilot Sites: Identify at least 2 sites that will pilot test the materials in their communities. Monitor the effectiveness of the educational materials and the process being used in the pilot states. Complete Final Refinements to the Training Materials: Based upon feedback from the pilot sites, the curriculum team will complete final modifications to the materials. Place Materials on the SRDC and EDEN Websites: To facilitate easy access by potential users, the SRDC will place the training materials on SRDC and EDEN websites. Submit Final Product to FEMA and NIFA: A polished version of the curriculum materials will be submitted to these two federal agencies. Expand the Use of the Materials Via a Variety of Strategies: The SRDC will work with FEMA, NIFA, the RRDCs, EDEN and other key groups and individuals for the purpose of communicating the availability of these new resources for use by interested parties. SRDC will help EDEN organize webinars and members of the curriculum team will present highlights of the materials at various professional venues. To date, goals 1-6 have been completed. Goal 7 is anticipated to be complete by early 2014. Materials are posted to SRDC site (Goal 8): http://srdc.msstate.edu/readycommunity/. FEMA has recently co-branded the material (Goal 9). Plans are underway to recruit 1890 University participation to expand ReadyCommunity. Presentations have been made during this past year at Galaxy, EDEN Conference, and via webinars (Goal 10).
Publications
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Progress 09/01/11 to 08/31/12
Outputs
OUTPUTS: Working in partnership with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the SRDC is coordinating a national initiative to enhance the capacity of rural communities to develop sound operational disaster plans. Based on FEMA's Comprehensive Preparedness Guide 101, the Center is coordinating the companion ReadyCommunity Guide, which offers a step-by-step process for involving residents in the preparation and implementation of a locally-vetted emergency plan. ReadyCommunity will create links to needed assets and resources within the community and supply current data to help guide the planning process. The six-step guide will be tested in 2012 six communities in Montana, New York, Oklahoma and Texas. The pilot effort will also help identify areas in which refinements to the ReadyCommunity materials will strengthen the process prior to the program's expansion to other communities across the country. PARTICIPANTS: An initial curriculum development team has been identified and commitments received. The team will continue to search out additional experts as the curriculum needs warrant. Those already committed include Bo Beaulieu and Rachel Welborn from the Southern Rural Development Center. Don Albrecht and Betsy Newman from the Wester Rural Development Center, and land grant specialists from around the nation including Virginia Morgan, Shelly Murdock, Deborah Tootle, Brian Calhoun, Lori Garkovich, Brian Whitacre. Additional expertise comes from outside the land grant system with the addition of John Green and John Cooper. TARGET AUDIENCES: Two target communities have been identified thus far for piloting the curriculum under development. One is in New York and one in Oklahoma. Further conversations are underway to establish at least one additional site. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
A draft of a comprehensive training document has now been developed and is being piloted in four states and six communities. The pilot states were trained over the course of a three-day, face to face workshop coordinated by the SRDC and held in Nashville, Tenn. The training has prepared the pilot states to begin implementing the ReadyCommunity program in 2012.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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Progress 09/01/10 to 08/31/11
Outputs
OUTPUTS: The revised plan of work and related budget have been submitted for formal review. The national curriculum team has been identified and has held its first meeting to determine content and timelines for the development of the new material discussed below under Major Changes. A literature review is underway as is the identification of best practices. The team has set monthly calls to foster ongoing coordination during the writing period. PARTICIPANTS: An initial curriculum development team has been identified and commitments received. The team will continue to search out additional experts as the curriculum needs warrant. Those already committed include Bo Beaulieu and Rachel Welborn from the Southern Rural Development Center, Don Albrecht and Betsy Newman from the Western Rural Development Center, and land grant specialists from around the nation including Virginia Morgan, Shelly Murdock, Deborah Tootle, Brian Calhoun, Lori Garkovich, Brian Whitacre. Additional expertise comes from outside the land grant system with the addition of John Green and John Cooper. TARGET AUDIENCES: Two target communities have been identified thus far for piloting the curriculum under development. One is in New York and one in Oklahoma. Further conversations are underway to establish at least one additional site. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: The initial project proposal was to work with select REGGIE sites to vet their regional plans to community audiences. However, delays in completion of the plans among REGGIE coordinators have led to a needed change in this proposal's approach. After discussion with national FEMA leadership, the following process has been adopted. The overall purpose is to strengthen community capacity to prepare for and respond to disaster, with an emphasis on rural areas that tend to lack the resources to prepare adequately. First, identify and organize a national curriculum development team. These will be Extension educators, researchers and others with strong backgrounds in community development and/or disaster management and communications. Second, the curriculum development team will meet to develop a comprehensive outline and identify authors for key modules to be used to guide the process in communities. Third, the curriculum development team will work to develop the various modules, meeting at least monthly via conference call to assess progress. Fourth, curricula will be sent to various colleagues across the country for peer assessment. These reviews will provide valuable feedback on key changes needed in the educational products. Fifth, the curriculum development team will complete revisions of the materials in light of the feedback provided by the peer reviewers. Sixth, identify at least two sites that will pilot test the materials in their communities. Monitor the effectiveness of the educational materials and the process being used in the pilot states. Seventh, based upon feedback from the pilot sites, the curriculum team will complete final modifications to the materials and place them on the SRDC and EDEN websites to facilitate easy access by potential users. Final products will also be submitted to FEMA and NIFA.
Impacts
While the revised project is in its early stages, initial evaluation is planned in the form of vetting of the proposed curriculum content. This is planned for May 2011. The outline vetting will take place among Extension colleagues and within communities that have been hard hit by recent disasters.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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Progress 09/01/09 to 08/31/10
Outputs
OUTPUTS: Early in the project's life, the RRDC leaders and federal partners all met together to give direction to the project. During this initial meeting, project leaders provided an overview of the proposal design and fashioned a plan for helping Reggie staff and CES staff in each area to connect and explore partnership options. Since that time each of the RRDC leaders has had a one-on-one conference call or face to face meeting with the local Reggie leadership residing in that RRDC region. Following these initial connections, all of the federal, RRDC, CES, and Reggie partners were invited to participate in a national webinar during which participants actively explored assets and concerns that could help shape the partnerships. The next task will be for each regional team, composed of the RRDC, CES and Reggie staff from each region to conduct a planning session to determine actual strategies to pursue in partnership. While these regional goals among the five sites may vary, common themes and directions will be pursued as a joint national effort among the five sites. PARTICIPANTS: This project is focusing on five of FEMA's ten Regional Catastrophic Preparedness Grant Program (Reggie) sites. The overarching purpose of the grant is to foster win-win partnerships between the Cooperative Extension Service and the Reggie sites so that through their combined strengths, these communities are better prepared to face disaster situations. The project sites are the areas including and surrounding Houston, Norfolk, Chicago, New York, and San Francisco Bay. Facilitating the partnership on the federal level are Sally Maggard (National Program Leader, ECS, USDA-NIFA), Nick Sleptzoff, (Program Specialist, FEMA), and Ralph Swisher (Policy Specialist, FEMA). Each of the four Regional Rural Development Centers (RRDC) are serving as key initiators in one or more of the sites. Participants include Bo Beaulieu (Director, Southern Rural Development Center), Deborah Tootle (Co-PI, University of Arkansas), Ann Nieuwenhuis (Emergency Planning Extension Specialist, North Central Regional Center for Rural Development), Don Albrecht (Director, Western Rural Development Center), and Heidi Mouillesseaux-Kunzman (Associate Director, Northeast Regional Center for Rural Development). One point of contact has been established within each of the FEMA Reggie sites to help facilitate partnerships between Cooperative Extension Service and the Reggies. Those contacts are Randy Meshell (Houston), Nicholas DeJesse (Norfolk), Vince Parisi (Chicago), Terrence Flynn (New York), and Dan Stevens (San Francisco Bay). Cooperative Extension Service partners are being recruited. Those already involved include Greg Taylor (Texas), Brian Calhoun (Virginia), and Shelley Murdock (California). TARGET AUDIENCES: This project has two waves of influence that will shift as the project moves forward. For the initial phase, attention has been on helping the various partners come to an understanding of each other's missions and strengths so that we can move forward toward joint community work. Thus, the target audience, so far, has been the Regional Rural Development Center staff, Reggie staff, Cooperative Extension Service staff, and federal partners. These include all of the participants listed above plus key staff working under each of these key leaders. As regional partnerships solidify around key goals and strategies, community members will be the target audience for some aspects of the initiative. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: When the proposal was initially developed and submitted, FEMA anticipated that Reggie planning processes would be closer to completion. As such, the original proposal centered on working together to fine tune and strengthen the existing documents and implementing key goals of the plans. However, the Reggie plans are not yet complete. Thus, much of the progress thus far has been centered on learning how the partners can work together starting from where the Reggie projects actually are now. This has resulted in more "up front" time together as the RRDCs, Reggies, CES partners, and federal partners explore new avenues for partnering.
Impacts
While it is early in the project's process for outcomes, one early "win" is the expanded joint understanding between FEMA and the RRDCs/Land Grant Universities of what each organization brings to communities in the way of strengthening and supporting in the face of disaster. Both groups are eager to explore practical ways to put this newfound knowledge to work.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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