In June 2020, FEMA released the Mass Care/Emergency Assistance Pandemic Planning Considerations guidance to assist state, local, tribal and territorial governments in planning mass care delivery for disasters occurring during the COVID-19 pandemic. Concurrently, discussions between FEMA and various disability stakeholders, facilitated by the National Council on Disability (NCD), highlighted the urgent need for guidance on planning for and providing personal assistance services within disaster sheltering missions. The need for this guidance was heightened due to the COVID-19 pandemic, because persons requiring PAS seeking shelter following a disaster are at increased risk of transfer to nursing homes and long-term care facilities where the infection and death rates are disproportionately high. As a result, FEMA developed the Personal Assistance Services Addendum to the Mass Care/Emergency Assistance Pandemic Planning Considerations Guide which provides guidance and promising practices to assist state, local, tribal and territorial partners, and shelter planners and operators, in anticipating and attending to the needs of people with disabilities.

You can access the addendum here.