Recipient Organization
UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA
200 D.W. BROOKS DR
ATHENS,GA 30602-5016
Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
Between 2016 and 2022, Georgia experienced the direct effects of nine tropical storms. Our state is subject to strong spring, summer, and tropical storms and other extreme events which can cause severe wind damage, in addition to widespread, long-term flooding and extensive power outages. Strong winds and flooding damage homes, inundates wells, and interrupt transportation. It often results in immense agricultural damage, including crop and livestock losses, destruction of fruit and nut trees, and major interruptions of supply and logistics chains.This project proposes using this opportunity to strengthen the capacity of the University of Georgia Extension's organizational commitment to provide systemic readiness in support of emergency preparedness. Building on UGA's successful 2021-2022 SLSN project which resulted in the development of four geographically dispersed specially trained small teams within the Extension System, we propose this model for expanding our capacity for readiness, response, and recovery to natural disasters and local emergencies. These teams are designed to help facilitate a quick and skilled response to the needs of employees and stakeholders before, during, and after natural disasters and emergency events. This proposal calls for the enhanced integration of local emergency response protocols and more clearly defined roles and communication strategies, and cooperation with collaborating agencies including the Georgia Department of Agriculture, the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency, Fort Valley State University, UGA Marine Extension/ Sea Grant, and the Georgia Department of Public Health. Specialized training will be provided to all project team members, including Community Emergency Response Team (CERT), Food Safety, Mental Health and Wellness First Aid, Assessing Agricultural Economic Damage, Digital Imaging for Economic Damage Assessment, Incident Command System (ICS NIMS/FEMA), Public Information Officer training/PIO, well water testing and remediation treatment, handling biohazards safely, Agrosecurity, and disaster daily life skills (sanitation and hygiene with limited water/power, etc.).
Animal Health Component
(N/A)
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
(N/A)
Developmental
(N/A)
Goals / Objectives
The long-term goal of this project is for UGA Extension to effectively elucidate their emergency preparedness education and response activities so the organization will (1) internally have more clarity and expertise in when and how to respond to emergencies and (2) externally have a reputation as an emergency preparedness asset by community members and a valuable partner in emergency response amongst other agencies.Define objectives for the proposed project.To accomplish the above goal, three objectives are proposed.Objective 1: Strengthen/expand internal capacity for UGA Extension to prepare and respond to disasters and emergenciesThere are three target audiences for this objective: district small teams already in place, district leaders including county coordinator and District Extension Directors, and the organization's Executive Administrative leadership.The target audience of this objective is the active small teams already in place in each of the four Extension districts of the state who have been extensively trained to provide expertise to local Extension offices and assist in the response and recovery to emergency events. The district teams will be preliminary focused on building capacity for emergency response with more targeted training opportunities previously requested at the end of the SLSN 21-22 grant.Requested training topics included all three programming areas of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Family and Consumer Sciences, and 4-H, and included generator and chainsaw safety, food safety, drone damage assessment, and others. The district leaders and Administrative leadership will work on elucidating protocols on when to operate teams and how to communicate statewide.Once the plans are developed, teams will respond and provide feedback to ensure that proposed plans are executable in the field.Activities will occur concurrently to ensure success.Objective 2: Strengthen alignment, coordination, and communication protocols and processes with local, state, and federal agencies that have a designated role in emergency response.The target audiences for objective two will include UGA district small teams, administrative leadership, regional Extension partners engaging in emergency response, and relevant state and local partners within Georgia. This will include at minimum the Georgia Department of Agriculture, UGA Marine Extension and Georgia Sea Grant, Fort Valley State University, Georgia Emergency Management Agency, Department of Public Health, University of Florida, North Carolina State University, and Clemson University.All of these organizations are current partners, with varying degrees of collaboration between institutions. During this two-year period, the team will work on spelling out specific roles each organization will fulfill in emergency situations, identify joint areas of need for training and development and create common communication and operation protocols for when each entity is engaged.Additionally, new resources and partners will be engaged as needs are identified to strengthen the interagency capability for success in our communities.Objective 3: Develop and implement county-based personnel preparedness training aligned with Continuity of Operations Plans (COOPs).The target audiences for objective three are county extension offices, county extension coordinators, district teams, and district extension directors.During SLSN 21-22, counties updated and/or created COOPs to guide operations during emergency situations.In in this brief time, the frequency of emergencies has increased, with counties and teams reporting varied levels of preparedness to execute plans. Working with county and district leaders, annual training sessions will be developed and taught to provide opportunities for county personnel to practice their plans.Because the frequency and types of emergencies vary statewide (ex. North Georgia is more likely to get winter emergencies while South Georgia is more susceptible to summer storms) susceptible, the trainings will be tailored to those needs. Further, the team will additional resources and trainings for counties to address this variability. The team will work internally and externally to adapt team will work internally and externally to adapt team will work internally and externally to adapt and/or create new resources for response.This may include using materials created for EDEN, state-level resources, and other appropriate, materials will be translated and adapted for non-English speaking audiences.
Project Methods
During the 2021-2022 SLSN Grant, district level, interdisciplinary teams were created to help UGA Extension prepare and respond to emergency situations. The teams were trained in foundational elements (ex. ICS 700, CERT) to build capacity for response.Counties updated their Continuity of Operations Plans (COOPs) to outline procedures for emergency response and partnerships were created and/or strengthen with state and local agencies associated with emergencies in response to plan creation.Since the conclusion of the SLSN 21-22 grant, the teams report a lack of clarity in their roles moving forward, county personnel have not been trained in their response procedures and while partners work more directly with UGA Extension, additional alignment is needed to ensure all entities are responding effectively.Based on these needs, the efforts are being divided into three categories: 1)internal capacity building within teams and clearer guidance from administrative and district leaders; 2) stronger alignment with external partners, including the development of more clear operating procedures and communication procedures; and 3) develop and implement county-level personnel preparedness training aligned with the COOPs and materials with offices to prepare them for potential emergencies. For the internal capacity building, the project leadership will use feedback from the end of the SLSN 21-23 close-out survey to identify specific training requested by the teams.These will be a combination of program area-specific content as well as team building and readiness activities.As appropriate, state and local agencies and other state Extension systems will be invited to conduct the trainings.The administrative and district leadership will work on developing proposed county operating procedures, including when and how to activate teams, communication strategies between teams, districts, and administration, and identify materials needed for a seamless implementation. To build a strong partnership with external agencies, several activities will occur. First, the administrative and project leadership will collaborate with partnerships to determine and elucidate best practices in inter-agency communication.Second, joint training and learning opportunities will be developed and planned to assist personnel in working with other agencies.Finally, opportunities for formalized partnerships (ex. Grants) will be identified and explored.To develop and implement county-based personnel preparedness training aligned with the COOPs, district, and team leaders will work with county Extension offices to complete and/or refine plans based on recent emergencies in the area.County personnel will be engaged in yearly, scenario-based exercises to build skills in recognizing a potential emergency and executing a plan of action. Both county and district personnel will be solicited to provide input on resources needed for emergency response in the offices and counties.Existing, research-based information will be identified, and where missing, new materials developed. All documents developed will be reviewed by district teams to ensure clarity of purpose and ease of implementation.Where possible, teams will have a multi-lingual individual to help facilitate clear communication with audiences for whom English may not be their first language. In Georgia, many farm and ag laborers speak Spanish, and toolkit materials and social media messaging will be made available in Spanish to reach this audience. Field experts will be recruited to peer review new toolkit materials. Experts will be identified through the EDEN network and other sister institutions participating in the project. The Extension Materials Assessment Tool (Braun, McCoy, & Finkbeiner, 2014) will serve as the primary guide for this process.Evaluation:The aim of the proposed project is to develop systemic readiness in support of emergencyresponse through a multi-pronged strategy: (1)Strengthen/expand internal capacity for UGA Extension to prepare and respond to disasters and emergencies; (2)Strengthen alignment, coordination, and communication protocols and processes with local, state, and federal agencies that have a designated role in emergency response; and (3)Develop and implement county-based personnel preparedness training aligned with Continuity of Operations Plans (COOPs). In order to determine whether these strategies are successful, we will conduct both process and outcome evaluations for each project activity.Process Evaluation. The goals of our process evaluation are to describe how well the projectactivities were implemented under specific circumstances and in specific settings, to identifychallenges and missed opportunities, and to provide information for increasing project efficiencyand effectiveness. The process evaluation questions are guided by the activities described in ourlogic model. All project staff will collect process evaluation data. Drs. Bowie, Brown, and Martin will develop forms for each process evaluation question and protocol, will train staff (as appropriate) on implementing process evaluation measures, and will be present at select data collection points to ensure compliance with the protocol.Outcome Evaluation. The goal of our outcome evaluation is to determine the effectiveness ofeach project activity in meeting the project objectives. Evaluation questions willmeasure each short-term outcome and the training-related medium-term outcomes described inthe logic model. Data will be collected by project staff. Dr. Brown will provide leadership forthe development of all outcome evaluation protocols and measures, in consultation withDrs. Bowie,Martin, and Post, as well as CoPIs Tedrow, Griner and Moore will train appropriate project staff in outcome evaluation protocols and will be present at selected data collection points to ensure protocol adherence. Individual quantitative data will be collected online through structured surveys. Detailed checks for data fidelity will be conducted prior to the analysis of data files using statistical software.Project communication will occur among co-PIs and Extension agents through one-on-one phone calls, conference calls, online meetings, and face-to-face meetings. Communicationwith sister, agencies will occur via email, conference calls, and face-to-face meetings. The team will work to distribute materials developed during the project and provide training opportunities for their response team members. The University of Georgia uses an internally developed web-based system for financial reporting, budgeting, personnel, and departmental accounting.