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RDPO Citizen Corps Work Group�Achievements: January 2020-Present

October 18, 2021

Presentation to Program Committee

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Agenda

What is Citizen Corps
What is the RDPO Citizen Corps Work Group
How have they been funded
What have they done with the funds

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What is Citizen Corps?

HHS

DOJ

National Sheriffs’ Association

NVFC, IAFF, IAFC

FEMA

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Citizen Corps came out of the terrorist attacks of 9/11 in an effort formalize the spirit of community volunteerism that emerged.

The mission of Citizen Corps is to harness the power of every individual through education, training, and volunteer service to make communities safer, stronger, and better prepared to respond to the threats of terrorism, crime, public health issues, and disasters of all kinds

These are the 5 federally-sponsored partner programs that help build capacity for first responders through the use of volunteers.

Volunteers in Police Service (VIPS) works to enhance the capacity of state and local law enforcement to utilize volunteers. VIPS serves as a gateway to resources and information for and about law enforcement volunteer programs. Funded by DOJ, VIPS is managed and implemented by the International Association of Chiefs of Police. Please visit Volunteers in Police Service for more information.

The Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) Program strengthens communities by helping medical, public health and other volunteers offer their expertise throughout the year as well as during local emergencies and other times of community need. MRC volunteers work in coordination with existing local emergency response programs and also supplement existing community public health initiatives, such as outreach and prevention, immunization programs, blood drives, case management, care planning, and other efforts. The MRC program is administered by HHS. Please visit the Medical Reserve Corps for more information.

The National Neighborhood Watch Program (formerly USAonWatch), housed within the National Sheriffs’ Association, has worked to unite law enforcement agencies, private organizations, and individual citizens in a nation-wide effort to reduce crime and improve local communities. In the aftermath of September 11, 2001, Neighborhood Watch programs have expanded beyond their traditional crime prevention role to help neighborhoods focus on disaster preparedness, emergency response and terrorism awareness. The Neighborhood Watch Program draws upon the compassion of average citizens, asking them to lend their neighbors a hand. Please visit http://www.nnw.org/ for more information.

The Fire Corps promotes the use of citizen advocates to enhance the capacity of resource-constrained fire and rescue departments at all levels: volunteer, combination, and career. Citizen advocates can assist local fire departments in a range of activities including fire safety outreach, youth programs, and administrative support. Fire Corps provides resources to assist fire and rescue departments in creating opportunities for citizen advocates and promotes citizen participation. Fire Corps is funded through DHS and is managed and implemented through a partnership between the National Volunteer Fire Council, the International Association of Fire Fighters, and the International Association of Fire Chiefs. Please visit Fire Corps for more information.

The Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) Program educates people about disaster preparedness and trains them in basic disaster response skills, such as fire safety, light search and rescue, and disaster medical operations. Using their training, CERT members can assist others in their neighborhood or workplace following an event and can take a more active role in preparing their community. The program is administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Please visit the CERT program web page for more information.

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RDPO Citizen Corps Work Group

5 counties and 2 cities

EMPG recipients or designees
Represent 2.3 million residents of the metro area

Each is part of local Citizen Corps Council, VOAD, or COAD
Current work areas:

Collaboration on CERT programs
Volunteer training standardization
Community outreach
Supporting emerging and developing programs

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UASI Funds Award History

2017: $91,520
2018: $351,912🡪$264,850 (25% cut)
2018 reprogramming*: $200,209🡪 $134,609 (32% cut)
2019: $357,170🡪$275,769 (23% cut)
2020*: $422,708🡪$151,284 (64% cut)

*2020 budget was not fully awarded and only includes planning/training. Equipment requests were re-submitted under 2018 reprogramming and faced additional cuts.

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Clackamas: Fire District 1 CERT

Staffed 10 Vaccination Clinics (Feb-Jun) for total of 1,734 hours of CERT and NET time supporting CFD and Clackamas County Health Authority
CERTs from Milwaukie, Oak Lodge, Happy Valley, Willamette Falls, and Portland NETs worked together

Value of volunteer time at clinics: $49,488

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Clackamas: Fire District 1 CERT

UASI funded equipment used:

Radios

Five-level parking garage at CTC
Acre+ parking lot at CHS

Hi-viz vests
Banners for community�awareness of CERT
Folding tables

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Clark County/CRESA

CERT: Drive Thru Testing Clinic June-Dec 2020
MRC: Onsite Mobile Testing June-Dec 2020
CERT: Drive Thru Vaccination Clinic Jan-May 2021
MRC: Onsite Mobile Vaccination Jan-May 2021
CERT: July 4th Call Center Support July 2021

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Columbia County: St. Helens CERT

Community Events Support:

Covid Testing, January thru October all Wednesdays
Boat Inspections – February 13
mEGGa Egg Hunt – April 3
Fairgrounds Concerts – June 26
4^th of July Festivities
Fair Plant Sale – July 5 thru 11
Columbia Challenge Bike Ride – June 12
Rainier Days – July 10

Scappoose 100 Year Celebration – August 13 & 14
Railway Station 100 Year Celebration – September 18
Halloweentown Parking – September 18, 19, 25, 26, October 2, 3, 9, 10, 16, 17, 23, 24, 30, 31

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Columbia County: CERT, VIPS/SAR

Other Activities

Emergency Shelter Training – June 3
Cooling Center – June 26, 27, 28
Fair First Aid Booth – July 14 thru 18
First Aid/CPR Trainings – August 18, 21, 28 & Sept. 11
Emergency Cook out – September 2
Preparedness meeting – October 7

VIPS/SAR activities:

Boat inspections-ongoing
All Covid Testing and Vaccinations
Columbia County Fair
Heritage Days, Clatskanie
Wings and Wheels
13 nights on the river
4^th July St Helens
Scappoose Centennial

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Columbia County: St. Helens CERT

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Multnomah County

Starting June 23, the county opened three 24-hour cooling centers and nine cooling spaces.

1,040 overnight guests, 7,610 guests at cooling spaces.
County employees and volunteers from many organizations staffed them

Distributed hundreds of fans

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City of Portland: NET

COVID-19 Portland ECC Response: 95 NET volunteers worked 584 shifts for a total of 2,867 hours, March 11 to September 18.
Portland Mask Project: 68 volunteers, gave 12,000 hours to sew 20,000 masks for distribution to vulnerable individuals. 45 CBOs distributed the masks. Original design based on extensive research. April 21, 2020 to September 28, 2021.
Clackamas Wildfires Response: NETs operated evacuation center at Clackamas Town Center from 09/11/2020 to 09/18/2020. 113 volunteers, 143 shifts, total of 668 volunteer hours.

Value of volunteer time for listed activities:

$504,073

Compare to total 2019 UASI Citizen Corps grant funding for 5 counties: $275,769

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City of Portland: NET

Vaccine connections project: March 15 to June 7, 2021, NET volunteers worked with Meals on Wheels to connect their clients to vaccine opportunities and arrange rides to vaccination sites. Served around 200 people and got them connected to vaccines.
PCC Flu Clinic: NET volunteers managed on-site traffic in support of Multnomah County’s weekly COVID-19 test/flu shot clinic at PCC Cascades, which is promoted primarily to traditionally underserved and BIPOC communities. 221 shifts, 552 volunteer hours. Deployment ran from December 23, 2020 to March 31, 2021.
Winter 2020 – 2021 responses: NETs worked with Portland Street Response to distribute blankets to the homeless, form perimeters around down power lines, fill shifts at homeless shelters, clear snow from critical public walkways, and help extricate cars from deep piled snow for persons with mobility impairments.

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City of Portland: NET

Summer heatwave responses: Three NET deployments for 2021 summer heatwaves: 06/25 – 07/02, 07/29 – 07/31, and 08/11 – 08/15. Filled shifts at cooling centers, made welfare check phone calls to vulnerable persons, and moved supplies at logistics centers. Over the three deployments, 174 NET volunteers took 284 shifts and put in around 1,575 volunteer hours.
First Basic NET class in Spanish: In late 2020, PBEM partnered with Verde for first Spanish-speaking full NET course. 24 trainees full NET certified.
Training videos: Thanks to UASI resources, developed (and are continuing to develop) quite a few training videos.

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City of Portland: NET

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Washington County: Beaverton CERT

173 volunteers active since January 2020
220 events

9 cooling center nights-2 concurrent centers
Dozens of vaccine clinics: Nike, Columbia, community
Continuing training-attending and delivering
Mask making: 428 masks, 136 hours
Radio set up and testing
Office support-move

4,239 hours since Jan. 2020

Value of volunteer time since Jan. 2020: $120,988

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Washington County: Hillsboro CERT

75+ active volunteers in 2021
Staffed dozens of vaccination clinics

Partnered with other CERT groups and MRC
Held in conjunction with Washington County.

Staffed cooling shelters

Several shelters within city limits
CERT volunteers supported

County cooling centers

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Washington County: Tigard CERT

For 3.5 months 2 CERTs staffed City’s EOC Call Center 8am-5pm
Made over 1,500 cloth face coverings for the those in need.
Held 2 Food & Essential Needs Drives for the Tigard Community (Including an additional 9 days of sorting/boxing/distributing)
3 PPE distribution events for small businesses in Tigard.
Monthly staff meeting and CERT Training via Zoom

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Washington County: Tigard CERT

2021 Stats to date:

Supported 76 covid vaccine clinics in Washington & Clackamas County (Jan 21 - June 19).
PPE distribution event for small businesses in Tigard.
Supported Call Center 1 day during chlorine shortage.
Supported 3 separate Cooling Center events (9 days total).
Provided traffic management for local road race.
Monthly staff meetings.
CERT Training via Zoom continues.

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Washington County: Tualatin CERT

Training:

Virtual Basic CERT Training
Digital radio training
Online neighborhood preparedness

training (Tualatin NeighborhoodReady)

Supported City in response to February ice storm

60+ volunteers
Four different debris drop-off sites
Multiple daily shifts for five days

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Tualatin CERT and Ham Team remained active during the pandemic shutdown, since our team membership was willing to go digital and to practice safe COVID protocols. Monthly team meetings and ongoing training were conducted via Zoom. Individual and neighborhood residents training (aka Tualatin Neighborhood Ready) was also offered on Zoom or outside with social distancing. The Spring 2020 Basic CERT class was taught by our most senior trainer via Zoom. Fall 2020 and Spring 2021 classes enrolled in the University of Utah’s online Basic CERT course. Their Basic hands-on training will be conducted in person (subject to Covid restrictions) later this month.

We adjusted our potential emergency response procedures to exclude medical operations set ups (to avoid cross infections of Covid) and focused our efforts on establishing neighborhood response teams.

In February 2021, the City of Tualatin was struck by a severe ice storm. This event shut down roads, schools, and many neighborhoods due to fallen trees, powerlines, and storm debris. At the City of Tualatin’s request, CERT provided 60+ volunteers to staff up to four different drop off sites with multiple daily shifts for five days, allowing Tualatin residents to dump their storm debris. Our members reported that the event provided useful, real-life tests of preparedness.

All of the activities were made possible with the continued support of our agency, the City of Tualatin. We adjusted our potential emergency response procedures to exclude medical operations set ups (to avoid cross infections of Covid) and focused our efforts on establishing neighborhood response teams.

In February 2021, the City of Tualatin was struck by a severe ice storm. This event shut down roads, schools, and many neighborhoods due to fallen trees, powerlines, and storm debris. At the City of Tualatin’s request, CERT provided 60+ volunteers to staff up to four different drop off sites with multiple daily shifts for five days, allowing Tualatin residents to dump their storm debris. Our members reported that the event provided useful, real-life tests of preparedness.

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Washington County: MRC

Summer 2020

Delivered over 90 tons of food to 285 families weekly at 7 migrant seasonal farm worker (MSFW) camps
Provided educational materials and PPE to MSFW camps
Delivered KN-95 masks to MSFW camps during smoke event

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Washington County: MRC

January to September 2021

Volunteer Hours: 10,612
Staffed 80 Standing Clinics

Several at culturally specific sites

Staffed 112 Hyper-local, Mobile COVID-19 Vaccination Clinics

(July-September, not including houseless camp visits)

Washington County first in state to reach 80% vaccination, 9/2021
Deliver food weekly to MSFW camps
Governor Brown visit

to Mobile Clinic 9/27/21

Washington County Chair

Harrington and BOC visit

clinic at County Fairgrounds

Value of volunteer time:

$507,792

Compare to 2019 grant for 5 counties:

$275,769

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Feedback and Questions

Unmute and share!

This cutout of Dr. Fauci followed Washington County MRC at their standing clinics

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