National Mass Care Strategy

A Road Map for the National Mass Care Service Delivery System                      

Use of Mass Care Task Forces (March 2024)
This document provide best-practices and relevant guidance, procedures, checklists, and job aids for use of task forces in mass care. The audience for this document includes Federal, State, Local, Tribal, and Territorial emergency management agencies, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and private sector entities involved in the coordination of mass care services during a disaster.
ANNOUNCEMENT
FEMA Reforms Disaster Assistance to Help Survivors
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) published an interim final rule (IFR) amending its regulations governing the Individual Assistance program to increase equity by simplifying processes, removing barriers to entry, and increasing eligibility for certain types of assistance under the program. This rule applies to Emergencies and Major Disasters declared on or after March 22, 2024.
ANNOUNCEMENT
Keystone 20224
2024 National Mass care exercise (May 2024)
The 2024 National Mass Care Exercise, called Keystone 6, will be held in Shippensburg, Pennsylvania on May 21-23, 2024. The scenario will involve large scale impacts cascading across the region and need for mass care services for 100,000+ people. Pennsylvania will be standing up a commonwealth managed shelter and activating operational/planning mass care task forces for Feeding, Sheltering, Disability Integration, Reunification, Household Pets, Distribution of Emergency Supplies, and Housing. Sign up to receive updates and registration information here. Read more about mass care in Pennsylvania at www.dhs.pa.gov/masscare.
ANNOUNCEMENT

The National Mass Care Strategy provides a unified approach to the delivery of mass care services by establishing common goals, fostering inclusive collaborative planning and identifying resource needs to build the national mass care capacity engaging the whole community including under-served and vulnerable populations. The National Mass Care Strategy focuses on:

Sheltering

The operation of emergency shelters helps communities provide a safe and secure place for individuals and families to stay before, during, and/or after a disaster.

Feeding

The Feeding function provides meals, snacks, and beverages to individuals and families in communities impacted by man-made and natural disasters, ranging from single-family fire to large scale events, such as tornadoes, hurricanes, and floods.

Distribution of emergency supplies

Bulk Distribution workers provide items essential to basic survival, health, and sanitation as quickly and equitably as possible to individuals affected by a disaster. The items provided meet the specific, urgent needs of the disaster-affected community.

Reunification support

The reunification function provides human and technological resources to reconnect individuals as quickly as possible following a disaster or incident.

Mass evacuee support

The provision of life-sustaining services and resources to disaster survivors/evacuees and their Household Pets, Service Animals, and Assistance Animals (HPSA) during mass evacuation incidents.

Household pets, service animals and assistance animals

The coordination and support for the rescue, transportation, shelter, reunification, essential needs, and care of Household Pets, Service Animals, and Assistance Animals (HPSA) during preparedness and response and recovery operations.

Accessibility and Inclusive Resources

The provision of services and resources to people with disabilities and others with access and functional needs.

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Commonly Used Pet Items (CUPI)

Introducing Commonly Used Pet Items (CUPI), a planning and procurement tool for pet shelters. This list supports disaster pet shelters with essentials like food, food related items, kennels/crates/cages, handling/safety items for pet sheltering. Check it out in the Household Pets, Service Animals, and Assistance Animals page.

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Sheltering Sensory Items

A new fact sheet is listed under Accessible and Inclusive Resources. This document provides information and resources on sensory items to help reduce stress or overstimulation during times of a disaster.  Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may show sensory sensitivities, demonstrating either over-or under-reactivity to particular lights, smells, sounds, tastes, and/or touch/motion. This can be exacerbated for some children and adults

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FEMA releases new Exercise Starter Kits, including Reunification Support

The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA’s) National Exercise Division (NED) has developed ten new Exercise Starter Kits to support exercise practitioners and emergency managers at all levels of government, the private sector, and nonprofit organizations as they plan, conduct, and evaluate their exercises. The ten new kits cover the following topics: Reunification. Climate resilience. Climate adaptation. Complex incident coordination. Large-scale

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Mass Care as an Open System
Provides recommended courses of action for the delivery of improved mass care service to the nation. The five strategic goals seek to move the nation in a direction that increases the capabilities and capacities of the hole Community across the range and scale of disasters to which this country is vulnerable. This document was developed after obtaining individual input from more than 50 agencies and organizations involved in mass care operations. The National Mass Care Strategy does not contain consensus advice or recommendations from these agencies or organizations on federal policies or regulations.
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Five Interrelated Strategic Goals
Build Scalability into Service Delivery • Create the Opportunity for Improved Coordination & Participation • Engage the Whole Community • Standardize the Mass Care Practices • Strengthen & Unify Mass Care Legal & Policy Foundations
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