Regional Sheltering Plan
Through numerous meetings of the Regional Sheltering planning team, which consists of over 100 subject matter experts in a variety of disciplines from across the Region, all content development for the Regional Sheltering Plan is completed. Currently, the plan is going through the technical editing process and being formatted into the RCPT Regional Plan template. The template is a highly graphic and user-friendly format that facilitates ease of navigation, readability, and understanding for all document users while also providing a cohesive graphic identity for all plans produced with the RCPT of NY-NJ-CT-PA.
The Regional Sheltering Plan consists of three plans plus a resource annex:
- Regional Playbook—provides framework for Regional coordination
- Local/State Plan—provides state and local jurisdictions with a template for sheltering preparedness and response
- Federal Integration Plan—outlines how the federal government may integrate to support the local response
- Annex—provides additional useful sheltering information, resources, and sample forms
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The Regional Sheltering Plan:
- Provides an organizational framework to provide safe, secured, supplied and staffed emergency shelters in response to a catastrophic incident
- Presents all-hazard response and preparedness guidance for jurisdictions to develop emergency sheltering protocols intended to support the whole community
- Outlines roles and responsibilities of local, state, and federal agencies as well as nonprofit and private sector organizations
- Identifies key data points required to establish situational awareness
- Breaks down the massive operation into manageable pieces, known as Interagency Task Forces (ITFs)
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Regional Sheltering Plan ITFs
Due to the complexity of providing emergency sheltering following a catastrophic event, the plan divides the overall sheltering mission into four historically critical functional areas. To address each of these areas, the plan proposes a coordination structure of ITFs, which are groups of agency representatives focused around a common mission. For each ITF, the plan provides a mission statement, a matrix of lead and support agencies, an agenda, key data requirements, and a reporting structure.
Regional Sheltering Plan Annex
The plan Annex contains two additional documents to facilitate emergency sheltering after a catastrophic event, a Preparedness Toolkit and a Transitional Sheltering Guide. The Preparedness Toolkit outlines planning steps, structured around the four Regional Sheltering Plan ITFs, for any jurisdiction within the Region build a new or enhance an already existing an sheltering plan. The Transitional Sheltering Guide outlines considerations for the provision of longer-term sheltering that would likely be required after a catastrophic event.