Disaster Housing Plan - Florida Division of Emergency Management

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the Housing Planning Section, and the Joint Housing Solutions Center. (JHSC). All parties referenced within have not formally approved the Joint Housing.
Disaster Housing Plan

IMPORTANT NOTICE This document is a draft concept paper describing the Joint Housing Operations Command (JHOC) and its primary functional or supporting components: the Housing Operations Center, the Divisional Housing Teams, the Housing Planning Section, and the Joint Housing Solutions Center (JHSC). All parties referenced within have not formally approved the Joint Housing Operations Command’s overall design and functions. The organizational structure proposed is for dealing with disaster with large scale housing impact and post disaster housing needs. The State’s Disaster Housing Team will be tasked with liaison duty to the various organizations involved. A number of these organizations will work closely with the State to provide mission requests and support to the State’s Housing Recovery Plan. Some organizations, however, will work as a separate entity. In this case every effort will be made to provide a consolidated mission plan to prevent duplication of efforts.

This document is a work in progress.

Florida Disaster Housing Plan Table of Contents I. INTRODUCTION ...........................................................................................1 Purpose, Goals, and Objectives ................................................................1 Purpose..........................................................................................1 Goals .............................................................................................1 Objectives ......................................................................................1 Organizational Concept ...........................................................................2 Planning Assumptions .............................................................................3 Triggers and Criteria ...............................................................................4 II. CONCEPTS ..................................................................................................6 A. Communication & Information.............................................................6 B. Strategy & Planning ...........................................................................7 Timelines........................................................................................8 C. Resources & Options ........................................................................10 State Housing Finance Corporation .................................................. 10 Florida Housing Finance Corporation ................................................ 11 Legislative Initiatives ..................................................................... 11 Command, Control, and Organization............................................... 13 D. Organizational Chart ........................................................................18 E. Activation & Staff Mobilization Schedule..............................................19 State Emergency Operations Center................................................. 24 Joint Field Office ............................................................................ 24 Six Forward State Emergency Response Teams ................................. 24 Six Regional Coordination Centers ................................................... 24 Six Area Field Offices ..................................................................... 24 III. HOUSING ................................................................................................ 25 Direct Housing Mission .......................................................................... 26 Non-Traditional Disaster Housing Placement ............................................29 Pre-Scripted Missions ............................................................................ 29 Survivor Registration and Case Management ........................................... 29 Host Cities for Disaster Housing ............................................................. 30 Resources............................................................................................ 31 Disaster Housing Units ................................................................... 31 Floating Options ............................................................................ 32 Other Types of Resources ...............................................................32 Emergency Management Assistance Compact—Mutual Aid resources .......... 33 Community organizations and volunteers ......................................... 33 Expedited Permitting Process .......................................................... 34 Relaxing Local Building Codes ......................................................... 35 Public Information and Messaging.................................................... 36 Information Collection Plan (Horizontal and Vertical)..........................36 Recovery ............................................................................................. 36 Elected Officials............................................................................. 36 Instituting New Technologies in the Recovery Environment .................36 Housing Operations Center .................................................................... 37 A. Snapshot .................................................................................37 B. State of Florida Key Personnel: Responsibilities & Qualifications ..... 39 C. Communication Flows & Procedures ............................................42 i

D. E. F. G. IV.

HOC Floor Plans .......................................................................44 Visual-Based Management Tools ................................................. 45 HOC Informational Tracking Boards.............................................55 Operating Principles (What Defines Success)................................ 66

DIVISIONAL HOUSING COORDINATION TEAMS........................................ 68 A. Snapshot ........................................................................................ 68 B. Key Personnel - Responsibilities & Qualifications.................................. 72 C. Checklist: Daily Tasking & Protocol .................................................... 73 D-5 to D+5 ................................................................................... 73 D to D+90 .................................................................................... 75 D. Templates for Data Collection ........................................................... 75 E. Key Questions for Group Site Survey ............................................... 83 F. Operating Principles (What Defines Success) ....................................... 88

V.

HOUSING PLANNING SECTION...............................................................89 A. Snapshot ........................................................................................ 89 B. Key Personnel - Responsibilities & Qualifications.................................. 91 C. Strategic Housing Plans.................................................................... 93 Procedures & Templates ................................................................. 95 Responsibilities ............................................................................. 95 Strategic Housing Plan D+15 (Sheltering)......................................... 95 D. Temporary Housing .......................................................................97 Strategic Housing Plan D+30 (Temporary Housing) ...........................97 Strategic Housing Plan D+60 (Temporary Housing) ...........................98 Strategic Housing Plan D+90 (Long Term Housing).......................... 100 Assessing Disaster Housing Needs ................................................. 101

VI. JOINT HOUSING SOLUTIONS CENTER........................................................ 103 A. Snapshot ...................................................................................... 103 B. Steering Committee Members: Responsibilities & Qualifications ........... 104 Members .................................................................................... 104 Roles ......................................................................................... 104 C. Activation and Initial Actions ........................................................... 106 D. Resource Identification Template: Housing Resources - Page 1 of 2 .... 111 E. Concept (Why is the JHSC Necessary?) ............................................ 113 F. Potential JHSC Participants.............................................................. 114 Focus Area: Temporary & Long-Term Housing................................. 114 Focus Area: Financing for Housing Repairs & Recovery ..................... 114 Focus Area: Community Support Services....................................... 115 Focus Area: Infrastructure Recovery .............................................. 116 G. Operating Principles on Temporary Housing ...................................... 117 Bypassing temporary housing ....................................................... 117 Shorten the Duration ................................................................... 117 Minimizing the Disruptions ............................................................ 117 VII. TECHNOLOGY ........................................................................................ 118 GROOVE............................................................................................ 118 VIII. APPENDICES ........................................................................................ 119

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I. INTRODUCTION The disaster housing mission has been one of the most challenging and controversial tasks faced by the Federal Government and the impacted state and local governments: The purpose of disaster housing is to retain the original population of an affected jurisdiction (local and/or state), and to provide survivors with shelter and support services when their homes and communities have been destroyed. The provision of disaster housing in the post-catastrophic environment is essential to the long-term recovery and economic viability and stability of the community. A major difficulty has been the building of a consensus among all the stakeholders and State Coordinating Officer of the housing mission, what approach and timeframe would be utilized, and what and how resources (especially non-Federally declared ones) could be brought in to support the mission. Using lessons learned from the 2004 hurricane season – notably, the success of the Disaster Recovery Center Operations Center at the Florida Long-Term Recovery Office where key elements within Federal Emergency Management Agency and from the State jointly and successfully coordinated the Disaster Recovery Center mission - it is proposed that a similar organizational concept and structure be adapted to support the housing mission.

Purpose, Goals, and Objectives Purpose This annex addresses the transitional and permanent housing needs of survivors in the aftermath of a catastrophic event. The State of Florida, through the Joint Housing Operations Command (JHOC) and in coordination with local and Federal government partners, will seek to provide survivors with a range of recovery options, maximizing their opportunity to attain the best available housing solution. Goals The goal of the disaster housing strategy is to provide sufficient disaster housing units within Florida to ensure the health and safety of survivors and the long-term recovery of impacted communities. Response and recovery workers from the public and private sectors must have immediate shelter to support actions to meet the essential needs of disaster victims and restore community infrastructure. Objectives The objectives of disaster housing include the following: 

Provide substantial long-term housing opportunities for survivors within 90 days.



Provide survivors with disaster housing solutions that promote the stabilization of family lives and restoration of devastated communities.



Provide disaster housing options in affected areas and host communities within the State of Florida, and (if necessary) host communities outside the State of Florida. No single host community should be expanded beyond 10%.



Encourage local post-disaster regulatory policies that maximize disaster housing alternatives within the affected and host communities.

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Ensure timely communication of mission-critical information and issues among all levels of government and across public, private, and non-profit organizations.



Formulate a common strategy for immediate and long-term disaster housing needs.



Develop an organizational structure to support the disaster housing mission.



Augment and complement housing resources provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the state.



Promote disaster housing strategies not just in impact area but in host communities as well.



Identify the thresholds of a catastrophic event may influence disaster housing related policy (state and/or Federal level of government).

Organizational Concept Modeled after the Disaster Recovery Center Operations Center, a Joint Housing Operations Command (JHOC) can be utilized by supporting and executing a common housing mission among all the stakeholders. Specifically, the Joint Housing Operations Command will be organized to create and enhance existing capacities needed to support: No.

Key Objectives

1

Timely communication of mission-critical information and issues

2

Formulation of a common strategy for immediate and long-term disaster housing needs

3

Facilitation of housing resources and additional options to complement those provided by Federal Government and the State

Four organizational components, based on the Incident Command System, will be needed to achieve these three objectives: Key Functions

Organizational Components

Communication & Information

Housing Operations Center Divisional Housing Coordination Teams

Strategy & Planning

Housing Planning Section

Resources & Options

Joint Housing Solutions Center

Descriptions of each of these four components will be presented in the chapters within. It is important to note that this proposed organizational structure will not be about direct housing programs only – although it has a leading role in the disaster housing Page 2

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effort. Rather, the organizational structure is for an integrated approach that can provide disaster victims, who are displaced from their homes due to damage or destruction – temporarily or permanently – a range of options that fit their circumstances, timely and are cost -effective. Key to the approach is a broad-based partnership involving federal, state and local stakeholders, as well as the private and non-profit sectors. These stakeholders are the representatives of the impacted communities, and/or have authorities, capacities, knowledge, resources, or solutions that are crucial to the housing mission. The intent is to foster consensus and collaboration among the stakeholders with the aim of developing a common vision, goals, strategies, processes and organization for carrying out the housing mission.

Planning Assumptions 1.

The Hurricane Ono scenario assumes that 1.5 million people will evacuate the impacted three-county area (this does not include populations from lesser affected counties). Of these 1.5 million people, 250,000 people are expected to relocate outside of the state, either with Federal assistance or on their own.

2.

It is estimated that 10% of the 285,000 necessary housing units will come from the rebuilding of homes from the ground up (approximately 30,000 housing units) in the affected areas.

3.

The goal of the disaster housing mission, for the Hurricane Ono scenario, is to provide safe and sanitary housing to 300,000 families by D+45 using all available disaster housing strategies applicable within the State of Florida.

4.

Some local governments within the State of Florida have already preidentified large parcels of land and are constantly updating their records.

5.

The magnitude and severity of a catastrophic disaster will mandate that a portion of the survivors relocate to host communities for a period of time until infrastructure systems can again sustain the community.

6.

Catastrophic disasters may cause catastrophic disruption to critical infrastructure, limiting habitability and disaster housing alternatives.

7.

The success of the housing mission will depend on the timely collection, confirmation, and circulation of mission-critical information and issues from local, state, and Federal governments.

8.

Response efforts in the immediate aftermath of the catastrophic disaster may begin without the benefit of detailed/complete assessments.

9.

Survivors will be provided the opportunity to actively participate in determining the most appropriate disaster housing option to meet their family’s social, economic, health, and safety needs.

10. Relocation to host areas is intended to be a temporary alternative. Returning relocated survivors to their homes is vital to the recovery and economic redevelopment of the affected community. 11. Local governmental authorities may permit survivors to remain, rebuild, and support recovery efforts in the impacted area despite unsafe and unsanitary conditions if individuals choose this option. 12. Supporting the creation of employment opportunities is essential to returning populations. Page 3

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13. Local jurisdictions may choose to suspend unsafe structures codes. To the extent possible, inspectors will post warnings and tag buildings as unsafe. However, residents may choose to take the personal risk and continue to live in unsafe structures. Local jurisdictions may choose not to force owners out of their damaged homes and property in the post-catastrophic environment. 14. For homes that have been destroyed or leveled, the total insurance payout may be insufficient to allow residents to rebuild their homes. Additional financial assistance may be needed to support rebuilding efforts. 15. The supply of building materials may be the greatest hindrance to the reconstruction effort, as costs are excessive and supply is insufficient in a post-disaster environment. 16. Appropriate implementation of the disaster housing strategy will ensure that survivors are incorporated into response and recovery operations, which will encourage impacted individuals to take ownership of their community’s future. 17. Host communities must provide increased public services and infrastructure to support incoming evacuees. However, under current policies, it is unclear if these host communities are eligible for financial cost-sharing/reimbursement. For example, Duval County may not be eligible to receive Federal funds for additional fire, police, and health department personnel needed to service the up to 100,000 displaced victims who may evacuate to their area. 18. The registration process for unemployment may take up to six weeks, during which time displaced residents may not have any income available to them. 19. All areas with functional infrastructure will serve as host communities to the greatest extent possible in order to retain populations within the State of Florida. Without host communities, Florida’s economic recovery would be very slow, with national repercussions. 20. It is estimated that the Unified Command Team may be able to bring a maximum of 1,000–1,500 disaster housing units online per day (not all within 45 days of the event). 21. The power company estimates that they can power 500 units a day during normal operations, but they could increase it up to 1,000 to 1,500 per day. Therefore, the power company would not be a limiting factor.

Triggers and Criteria 

The Joint Field Office and six Area Field Offices will be established within seven days after an event.



The local governmental decision-making body, in partnership with state and Federal housing partners, will determine whether an area can sustain temporary disaster housing communities. This decision should be based on the following criteria: o

Hazardous materials and other environmental conditions are not lifethreatening.

o

Water and sewer infrastructure can sustain populations or can be sufficiently augmented to sustain populations.

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o

Transportation systems, including public transportation, are available to serve the temporary housing populations.

o

Community sustainability factors—including public educations systems for children, health and medical services, and employment opportunities—are present or can be developed to help rebuild lives.

o

Local government should be the driving force for determining what properties are appropriate. Local is the “lead” of government when evaluating land use decisions. Parcels are likely private-sector-owned land.



Locally established disaster-related triggers may activate modified regulatory procedures such as building code inspections and permitting.



The Federal disaster housing program currently provides financial support for up to 18 months for home repair, replacement assistance, permanent housing construction (mobile home or travel trailer), or rental assistance.



If approximately 20% of the housing stock is destroyed, uninhabitable, has major damage, or is unable to support a roof, the impact to the community, jurisdiction, or county may be categorized as catastrophic.



If at least 20% of the statewide housing stock is lost, the impact may be categorized as catastrophic to the State of Florida.

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II. CONCEPTS It is mentioned above that four organizational components will be needed to enhance three vital capacities for establishing and executing a common disaster housing mission. Below is a summary of each of these three areas:

A. Communication & Information The success of the housing mission will depend on how mission-critical information and issues can be timely collected, confirmed, and circulated in a format and frequency that are readily accessible, consistent, and useful to all key stakeholders. A Housing Operations Center (HOC) will be set up to create a central platform for communicating housing mission information. To be successful at this task, the Housing Operations Center will be responsible also for establishing and enforcing a common process, standard, and schedule for information gathering and sharing. The Housing Operations Center will create a schedule, for instance, to delineate when information will be obtained and reported from the field, when it will be transmitted to the State and the Joint Field Office planning and operation units for review or actions, and when resolutions for issues will be achieved and responded to for the inquirers. The Housing Operations Command will be set up early and in close proximity to operations. Initially, the Housing Operations Command will be activated at the State’s Emergency Operations Center with the arrival of the State Disaster Housing Chief. Later, it will be moved to the Joint Field Office as housing operations ramp up to support a county’s recovery. The physical layout of the Housing Operations Command room will be modeled after a “Tactical Operations Center” or a “War Room” typically utilized by the military or corporations. The room will display mission-relevant and time-sensitive information and issues on walls organized by counties or goals. Visual displays such as graphs, maps and other GIS products will be utilized to convey information (such as plans and milestones, issues and resolutions, trends and progress) that can be easily understood and quickly compared and analyzed. To gain “good” field intelligence on local housing needs and resources will rely heavily on the damage assessments and Divisional Housing Coordination Teams that are assigned to the impacted communities. The tri-member teams of local, state and federal government agents are designed to provide the Joint Field Office and the State immediate and intimate access to the local housing situations, while offering the local governments a conduit to improve contact and collaboration with the state and federal partners. The Disaster Housing Coordination Teams will establish and maintain networks of key local stakeholders and other state and federal presences in their assigned areas to support implementation of the housing mission. Overall, the Housing Operations Command will focus on communicating missioncritical Information such as:

Mission-Critical Information 1

Post-event housing damage assessments and needs

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2

Local short and long-term housing resources and capacities for recovery

3

Temporary and permanent housing opportunities and obstacles

4

Operational issues and resolutions applied

5

Housing options and strategies chosen or developed

6

Status of the housing mission’s progress and effectiveness

B. Strategy & Planning Once the State Coordinating Officer of disaster housing needs has been established, management can then determine the mission’s timeframe and minimum performance goals through one of two ways: 

Determine the number of days it needs to complete the mission by dividing the State Coordinating Office against a daily performance or production goal that it deems necessary and achievable.



Determine its daily performance goal by dividing the overall State Coordinating Office by the number of days within which it deems the mission must be completed.

Either calculation would assist management in determining the size, level of the organization and the resources needed to complete the mission—in addition to establishing the mission’s timeframe and performance goals.1 A good solid strategic housing plan should concisely and precisely capture what the housing mission is, providing both a road map for operations and a systematic means for stakeholders to contribute efforts, inputs and resources. Key attributes of the housing plan should include the State needs (or work), resources available, local preferences and state prerogatives, overall approaches and specific tactics, potential opportunities and obstacles, options and alternatives, best organizational structure and business practices, goals and timeframes, and milestones and other measures for tracking progress and success. To successfully start this plan, first, a Housing Planning Section be established within the Joint Housing Operations Command to provide planning support to the housing mission. Support should include development of needs assessment and countyspecific strategies, coordination with logistics, and facilitation of resources. Both federal and state governments should provide staffing to the Planning Group. Secondly, the Housing Planning Section will formulate and present four Strategic Housing Plans (SHP) within the first 90 days post-declaration. The proposed schedule for the completing the strategic housing plans is: D+15, D+30, D+60 and

1

The State of Florida Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan 2004. Online at: http://www.floridadisaster.org/documents/CEMP/floridaCEMP.htm Page 7

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D+90. However, the plans may be issued earlier and more frequently if needed. Also, there may be additional plans issued after D+90 as long-term housing recovery continues. These plans will cover the three major phases of the housing missions: from sheltering (emergency and extended shelters), to temporary housing (up to 18 months), and finally long-term housing. Each of the four plans will have a particular focus and marks a transition of emphasis from one time period to another.

Timelines Initial Phase (D+15) In the initial phase of the post-disaster response effort, the disaster housing strategy will focus on the extended sheltering and resource needs of vulnerable populations. During this phase, there will be a close interface among the disaster housing mission, the mass care mission, health and medical responses, and the post-disaster relocation mission. The most vulnerable survivors from the catastrophically-impacted areas will require prioritization for housing. Some of these survivors will be evacuated from their homes through the post-disaster relocation mission and may include physically-disabled medical evacuees residing in their homes, frail and elderly populations, and the mentally disabled. These survivors may be located in shelters and congregate care sites in the impacted and host communities. The initial plan will assess extended sheltering resources such as hotels, short-term rentals, and all other disaster housing options that can provide immediate relief to survivors who are in severe physical, medical, or mental distress. Another goal during this stage is to identify potential housing for local response and recovery workers in the impacted areas. Local jurisdictions determine who is considered to be an “essential government worker.” This can be difficult to define and may need to be modified in the post-catastrophic environment, as there may be political concern over “government” workers receiving priority treatment for disaster housing. By D+7, the goal is to establish seven Area Field Offices and a Joint Field Office in Florida. Each of these offices will incorporate a disaster housing operations unit to assess the situation. During this initial phase, disaster housing partners will begin to establish initial estimates of temporary housing needs based on disaster damage and impact assessments from the field. They will also begin to identify county-specific strategies for both the impacted and host communities. Within the initial phase, the goal is to assess as many residential structures for habitability as possible. Faith-based organizations will utilize their own resources to assist the disaster housing mission. The state and the Federal Emergency Management Agency will support private homeowners in the repair of their own houses by providing supplies even before official missions begin (by D+1 or D+2). Habitability repairs will be done on every structure that can be deemed habitable in the impacted area with Right of Entry (ROE) forms. Survivors will strive to begin home repairs as quickly as possible. State and local governments should discuss suspending unsafe structure codes. Each county will determine participants in the discussion based on the individual counties structure and organization. Participants and decision makers may include County Commissioner and Planning and Zoning. Counties should ensure communication Page 8

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with the State as needed to ensure a unified response effort. To the fullest extent possible, inspectors will post warnings and tag buildings as unsafe. Transition Phase (D+15) Though it is difficult to estimate timelines, a major goal during the next phase is to begin the transition from sheltering to temporary housing. Some survivors will require disaster housing assistance for more than 60 days and possibly for up to 18 months.2 At this point, the State will request an extension. The focus of the disaster housing strategy remains on placing survivors in all available buildings including hotels, motels, rental units, vacant units, big box units, college/university dorms, and cruise ships, based upon available infrastructure. In order to keep native/local populations close to their homes, it is essential to identify disaster housing strategies that will support the recovery and long-term reconstruction phases in the high impact areas. Disaster housing strategies should address public, private, and volunteer persons working to support the recovery effort despite the lack of basic infrastructure provisions. This strategy will require innovative solutions and close coordination between local, state, and Federal disaster housing partners. A process must be established to prioritize disaster housing for essential workers so the issue does not get out of hand. The major business engines (i.e., the economic base) of local economies must be considered in the early stages of disaster housing mission prioritization. Though we understand that this has the potential to create political conflicts, maintaining and re-establishing local economic viability will be critical to community recovery, since bringing in outside resources will be difficult. Supporting local businesses who can in turn support response and recovery operations is vital to community recovery, because the re-establishment of local business creates jobs and revenue. D+30 By D+30, the State will be entering into agreements with landlords to make repairs to apartment complexes and other multi-family buildings. Local governments will be the priority decision makers for establishing disaster housing priorities. Establishing these priorities in post-disaster redevelopment plans prior to a catastrophic event will expedite post-disaster decision-making. It is clear that many local governments will require wide-ranging technical assistance from state and Federal partners with extensive expertise in these areas. A team made up of local, state, and Federal partners should be working to implement the priorities established and agreed upon in this document. Governments should work to establish agreements or policies to use out-of-area contractors to build housing in the impact area if local businesses cannot fully support response and recovery operations. Local policy rules (i.e., permitting) that can be suspended or changed in a catastrophic event to aid in recovery should be identified. During the transition phase, disaster housing partners will update the preliminary forecast on the magnitude of temporary housing needs and evaluate the conditions of locally-available housing resources and options. A general statewide housing

2

Note: This is a Federal Emergency Management Agency time limit that is being evaluated for applicability to a catastrophic-level event. Page 9

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strategy incorporating all county-specific plans in host and impacted regions should begin to emerge. This strategy will guide the next stages of the disaster housing mission. Recovery Phase (D+60) During this phase, the comprehensive disaster housing needs in risk and host communities will be validated or updated by stakeholder data and resources. Furthermore, each impacted and host community, working in close coordination with state and Federal partners, will provide requirements for its own disaster housing plan based on its own circumstances and policies, as well as on mission relevance and feasibility. Federal disaster housing partners are the primary external providers of disaster housing resources and, therefore, will be implementing much of the disaster housing mission. During this phase, the disaster housing mission will reach a critical threshold of having exhausted all built options in risk and host communities. Newly-constructed disaster and permanent housing, and the infrastructure necessary to support it, will become the primary emphases during this phase. Long-Term Housing Phase (D+90) This phase marks a transition of focus from temporary housing to long-term housing. While the temporary housing mission is likely to remain operational at this point, the D+90 plan will emphasize the long-term housing needs assessment and will provide a preliminary strategy for long-term housing recovery. Workers will turn their attention from sheltering to long-term/permanent housing, but the disaster housing mission will continue to report on the ongoing status of the temporary housing operation. Permits issued for permanent housing should have an extended expiration date, possibly 24 months with a 6-month option. Permanent structures will require inspections.

C. Resources & Options Housing resources and options will be needed to support and enhance the housing mission in its various phases (from extended sheltering to temporary housing assistance to long-term housing recovery). It is proposed that a Joint Housing Solutions Center (JHSC) be organized within the Housing Planning Section to help implement and improve the Strategic Housing Plan by providing the needed resource and additional options. The Joint Housing Solutions Center will facilitate and coordinate resource contributions from both governments (federal, state to local) and the private and non-profit sectors. Potential participants may include the American Hotels & Lodging Association (for extended sheltering), to the local Boards of Realtors and Apartment Associations (rental resources), to US Department of Housing and Urban Development, US Department of Agriculture or other public or private funding sources (funding for long-term housing recovery). State Housing Finance Corporation The State Housing Finance Corporation modified the funding process for Community Development Block Grants coming through the existing housing infrastructure. This infrastructure should be integrated into the post-disaster housing funding/policy Page 10

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conversation. It is currently regulated by state and local governments. We need to document the Federal policies (e.g., Environmental Protection Agency policies) that will need to be waived to complete the disaster housing mission. The Florida Housing Coalition has the necessary technical expertise to support state disaster housing operations, and has provided technical assistance to state programs and entitlement communities. Florida Housing Finance Corporation The goal of the Housing Finance Corporation in the post-catastrophic environment is to take existing infrastructure, identify which rules need to be waived, and funnel funding through existing infrastructure to build residential structures. Local governments should identify their own strategies for developing housing, if they have eligible residents. These funds may also be used for emergency repairs, deposits on insurance, and roof repairs. Local governments can write strategies to address each of these needs. The State needs to evaluate how this program should be expanded or enhanced to accommodate a post-catastrophic situation. Through its partnerships with the Florida Housing Coalition, the Florida Housing Finance Corporation can provide the impacted communities with housing resources to help in recovery efforts. The Florida Housing Finance Corporation maintains partnerships with local, state, and Federal agencies, affordable housing developers, nonprofit organizations, and others who share the common goal of producing affordable housing. Through these partnerships, families in need (including special needs populations such as the elderly), farm workers, homeless people, and other low-to-moderate income Floridians are able to obtain housing they can afford. In addition to the Florida Housing Finance Corporation, various local, state, and Federal organizations and agencies provide resources on affordable housing issues. The following programs are offered through the Florida Housing Finance Corporation: 

Community Workforce Housing Innovation Program



Elderly Housing Community Loan



The Predevelopment Loan Program



Rental Housing Programs, including Multifamily Mortgage Revenue Bond, Low Income Housing Tax Credit, State Apartment Incentive Loan, Florida Affordable Housing Guarantee, Elderly Housing Community Loan, and Home Investment Partnerships programs



Disaster Recovery and Workforce Housing: In the wake of recent hurricanes and natural disasters, Florida Housing also administers a number of housing recovery programs, including the Hurricane Housing Recovery Program, the Rental Recovery Loan Program, the Farmworker Housing Recovery Program, and the Special Housing Assistance and Development Program



Floridahousingsearch.org is a free, online locator service for affordable housing. This service makes it easier to find affordable rental housing around the state. This locator is part of Florida Housing’s ongoing effort to respond to housing needs in general and during natural disasters specifically.

Legislative Initiatives The Florida Legislature enacted Chapter 2006-69, L.O.F. (House Bill No. 1363) after the 2004 hurricane season. As part of the approved legislation, the following policies were established to help the markets respond to housing needs after a hurricane: Page 11

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The Home Again Program in a continuing effort provides affordable housing assistance up to $21 million statewide for the repair, reconstruction or replacement of damaged homes. The allocation is primarily focused on the most intensively storm-impacted areas of the state, but units of local government, public housing authorities, and nonprofits in every county are eligible for funding.



The Rental Recovery Loan Program (RRLP) was established to leverage available Federal resources and private capital to build and rehabilitate affordable rental housing to help communities respond to their hurricane recovery needs. The funds will provide gap financing to help create rental communities that will be affordable for at least 50 years and will include a meaningful percentage of units that are set aside for those with extremely low incomes. Twenty-five percent of the program’s funds will be targeted to developments serving elders.



The Hurricane Housing Recovery Program (HHRP) was established to accommodate the different housing needs of each impacted community. Approximately $208 million is available through the State Housing Initiatives Program for households with incomes of up to 120% of the area’s median income, with 30% of program funds reserved for low-income households. Eligible recipients include Tier I, II, and III counties, State Housing Initiatives Partnership (SHIP)-eligible municipalities, and non-profit providers (supplemental funding only) of affordable housing located in Tier I, II, and III counties.



A Farmworker Housing Recovery Program (FHRP) would leverage other resources to finance quality housing options in the areas where farm worker housing was devastated by a storm. This program would encourage development of innovative housing models that recognize the unique housing needs of Florida’s migrant farm workers.



The Special Housing Assistance and Development Program (SHADP) would offer repair funds and development financing for housing that serves some of Florida’s most vulnerable residents, including frail elders, people with disabilities, and homeless families.



Community Contribution Tax Credit: These tax credits encourage contributions and volunteer labor from Florida businesses to support such community development and housing programs as Habitat for Humanity.



Training and Technical Assistance for local governments, non-profit and faith-based organizations, and others on ways to effectively use the various tools available to respond to the housing needs that hurricanes create. The state’s Affordable Housing Catalyst Program would be used to provide information on various financial assistance and financial literacy programs that are available throughout Florida, with the goal of improving public outreach and developing the ability to reach end consumers.

The size and composition of its membership will depend largely on the scale of the disaster impact and housing needs, but there will be standing members made up of select public agencies and private sector entities. Three working committees with focus on sheltering, temporary housing and long-term housing will be set up to facilitate their participations. Currently, the Florida Long-Term Recovery Office already has a strong Rental Resource Unit that can take a key role in the Joint Housing Solutions Center. It is vital that the appropriate representatives be selected to chair or participate as members. These representatives must have either the authority or the access to Page 12

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mobilize the resources needed, such as funding, technical support, facility, or expertise. Chapter VI will discuss in greater detail the process of how the Joint Housing Solutions Center will be organized, involve its participants, and coordinate with Planning and the Housing Operations Command in selecting and utilizing additional resources to support the housing mission. Command, Control, and Organization Local Each level of government performs a vital role in the implementation of the disaster housing strategy. Local Boards of County Commissioners serve as the primary decision makers for disaster response and recovery actions within their jurisdictional boundaries. The provision for disaster housing, however, will rely primarily on coordination with and support from state and Federal government partners. Local governments have the authority to declare their communities safe for habitability and support the identification, permitting, inspection, and implementation of the disaster housing strategy. The local Emergency Operations Center is the primary center for coordination of all response and recovery activities. Some local jurisdictions may choose to establish an alternate Multi-Agency Coordination Center/Recovery Operations Center to coordinate long-term recovery operations. State The Incident Commander of the State Emergency Operations Center/State Coordinating Officer is the primary decision maker for all disaster housing missions. The State Emergency Response Team will provide staffing to support the disaster housing strategy. The state will coordinate disaster housing activities with the host communities at the Joint Field Office, the Area Field Offices, and at County Emergency Operations Centers. Federal The Federal government is the primary resource provider for disaster housing missions coordinated at the Federal level. The Federal government will also coordinate private and public sector resources in support of the disaster housing strategy. The Federal response team is also charged with the supply and installation of various disaster housing options in host communities. The Joint Field Office is the primary Federal incident management field structure. The Federal response team will provide staffing to support the disaster housing strategy at the Joint Field Office and at Area Field Offices. Personnel from state departments and agencies, other jurisdictional entities, the private sector, and nongovernmental organizations may be requested to staff various levels of the Joint Field Office, depending on the requirements of the incident. When incidents impact the entire nation or multiple states or localities, multiple Joint Field Offices may be established.

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Florida Disaster Housing Plan – July 2009 – DRAFT

Figure 1: Disaster Housing Organizational Chart

Joint Field Office: Disaster Housing Unified Command Team The role of the Joint Field Office: Housing Operations Center is to collect, coordinate, and disseminate disaster housing information, missions, and other communications that are crucial to the disaster housing mission among disaster housing partners. Mission assignments originate from the six Area Field Office Disaster Housing Units. Operational direction originates from the responsible Human Services departments. The Housing Operations Center is the point of contact for the Divisional Housing Coordination Teams located at the Area Field Office. The Joint Field Office: Housing Operations Center is under the control of the Deputy Federal Coordinating Officer for Housing and the Deputy State Coordinating Officer for Housing. The Housing Operations Center is scalable and will be staffed based upon the size of the disaster and the number of counties declared as disaster areas. The Disaster Housing Operations Center is located within the Operations Branch of the Joint Field Office. Joint Housing Liaison Unit/Group The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Joint Housing Liaison Unit/Group is a strategic planning cell that offers disaster housing recommendations and solutions. This group may be activated in advance of the disaster impact to begin the Page 14

Florida Disaster Housing Plan – July 2009 – DRAFT

assessment and analysis process in support of post-disaster housing operations. The group will need to have the technical expertise and authority to develop disaster housing policy and to commit resources. The following organizations are represented at the Joint Housing Liaison Unit because they bring technical expertise and/or disaster housing resources: Federal Team Partners: 

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (Federal Lead)



Department of Homeland Security/Federal Emergency Management Agency



U.S. Department of Agriculture—Rural Development



Veteran’s Administration



U.S. Department of Forestry



Department of Defense



Legal Council for Federal Partners



Shemberg Group

The United States Army Corps of Engineers has never had a housing mission other than to provide trailers and mobile homes, but they have provided quality control for Federal Emergency Management Agency contractors. Based upon the disaster and impact, there may be additional Federal partners supporting the disaster housing operation. (Recommendation: There is a critical need to develop a Memorandum of Agreement between the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to implement the joint disaster housing mission at the Federal level of government. Currently, there is discrepancy between authority, populations served, and funding to support the disaster housing mission in the postdisaster environment.) State Team Partners: 

Florida Housing Finance Corporation (State Lead)



Department of Community Affairs



Emergency Support Function 18: Business and Industry



Faith-Based Organizations



Legal Council for State Partners



Florida Housing Coalition



Florida Home Builders Association



League of Cities (???)



Association of Counties (???)

Area Field Office: Disaster Housing Units Area Field Office: Disaster Housing Units will be distributed throughout the State of Florida in each Florida Division of Emergency Management region except for Region 2, Tallahassee. The six Area Field Offices will be the primary points of coordination for each region. Disaster housing missions will be conducted in both impacted and host areas of the state in order to accommodate the maximum number of survivors within the State of Florida. The purpose of the Area Field Office: Disaster Housing Units is to work with each county and, if appropriate, each county incident management team to develop a Page 15

Florida Disaster Housing Plan – July 2009 – DRAFT

disaster housing strategy that meets the unique needs of each community. The disaster housing unit will coordinate information and provide technical assistance and logistical support to ensure the rapid implementation of the disaster housing mission. Work orders should not be issued at the Area Field Office level but should remain centralized at the Joint Field Office. The Area Field Office: Disaster Housing Unit is staffed by both Federal- and statelevel personnel vital to the disaster housing mission. The staffing plan for each Area Field Office will be scalable based upon the disaster housing mission in the area. County Housing Liaison: The Florida Division of Emergency Management has the goal of assigning a disaster housing liaison to each county to support the local-level disaster housing mission. The disaster housing liaison will report to the Area Field Office: Disaster Housing Unit. This group represents the county’s interests to the Area Field Office. This team manages all information related to the county of operation. The Housing Liaison Team will coordinate directly with the countydesignated disaster housing coordinator at the County Emergency Operations Center. The Liaison Team’s role is to: 

Coordinate and communicate local information—including need, status, available local resources (list of available public and private land), and local policies—to the Area Field Office.



Forward information from the Area Field Office to the County Emergency Operations Center, including current Federal and state disaster housing mission status information, policy changes and implementation, and inbound resources.



The lead should be a government agency representative with the full authority to commit resources for the agency.

By D+30, a permanent housing construction task force should be established to meet with the state, counties, locals, Housing and Urban Development, and housing authorities to formulate agreements to build apartment complexes. People will be transitioned from temporary into permanent housing. Recovery Operations Center: The missions of state and Federal responders and agency staff coming into the impacted jurisdictions must be coordinated locally. As operations transition from being primarily response operations to focusing exclusively on the recovery mission, many local emergency operations centers begin to deactivate and demobilize their first response missions. However, long-term local coordination throughout the recovery effort remains a vital mission. An Emergency Operations Center or a Recovery Operations Center (ROC) can be used as a single coordination element. Missions should be funneled through the Emergency Operations Center/Recovery Operations Center. Operations do not necessarily have to continue at the Emergency Operations Center; Emergency Support Functions can run it from their offices. However, central coordination will still be necessary. Disasters have been handled quickly in the past, and the Recovery Operations Center was not necessary. The Recovery Operations Center concept is becoming more widely accepted as the State evaluated needs in the recovery environment. In this catastrophic incident, operations will continue much longer than 72 hours. Other Disaster Housing Stakeholders Numerous disaster housing partner agencies and organizations can support the missions from a public, private, and nonprofit perspective. These organizations may work on all levels of government and may be represented at the Field Operations Page 16

Florida Disaster Housing Plan – July 2009 – DRAFT

Center, the Area Operations Center, or at the local county Emergency Operations Center. Electrical companies (including co-ops) and utilities may have representatives at state and local Emergency Operations Centers through Emergency Support Functions 3 and 12 and/or the Logistics Section Branch. Faith-based groups and unaffiliated volunteers coordinate with local and state emergency management organizations through the local Emergency Operations Centers and Emergency Support Functions 6 and 15. Groups may include Florida Volunteers Active in Disaster, Florida Interfaith Networking in Disaster (FIND), Community Emergency Response Teams, and many others. These groups may provide critical resources to the disaster housing mission throughout all phases of the disaster, from the initial emergency roofing missions to the final housing reconstruction and placement. Representatives from vital faith-based and volunteer organizations may be invited to participate in Housing Unified Command Team discussions through Emergency Support Function 15 and later through Disaster Recovery Coalitions. Faith-based organizations and volunteers may support case management functions. Many of these organizations may also provide housing resources such as land or housing units. Florida Housing Finance Corporation is a vital communications and coordination conduit to affordable housing developers who may have land developments in progress that can support the disaster housing mission. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is a key owner of housing structures and land that can be utilized in support of the disaster housing mission. Similarly, the U.S. Department of Agriculture—Rural Development is a landowner that may provide resources in support of the disaster housing mission. Local organizations such as the Home Builders Association, League of Cities, Association of Counties, Building Officials Association, and Insurance Councils may provide liaisons to information and resources key to the disaster housing mission. It is currently unclear how the Federal Emergency Management Agency public assistance mission will interact within the Joint Field Office in support of the host disaster housing mission.

Joint Housing Solutions Center—Working Committees Government

Private Sector

Not-for-Profit Sector

County/Municipality

American Hotel and Lodging Association

American Red Cross

State/OSA FEMA/OFA

Emergency and Extended Sheltering

Apartment Association Board of Realtors

Temporary Housing Assistance

Page 17

Salvation Army

Habitat for Humanity

Long-Term Housing Recovery

Florida Disaster Housing Plan – July 2009 – DRAFT

The preceding diagram illustrates the vital public, private, and nonprofit organizations that bring resources to the disaster housing mission. Many of these organizations will coordinate through the Joint Housing Solutions Center at the Disaster Field Office or may work closely with the Area Field Office and the County Emergency Operations Centers.

D. Organizational Chart Below is a basic organizational chart for the Joint Housing Operations Command. It will be comprised of 4 major operational components: (1) the Housing Operations Center located at the JFO, (2) the Divisional Housing Teams assigned to the impacted counties, which are further supported by (3) the Housing Planning Section, (4) and the Joint Housing Solutions Center.

JOINT HOUSING OPERATIONS COMMAND

Deputy SCO - Housing

Planning

Operations

Divisional Housing Coordination Teams (Team No. 1 – 7) Tri-Member Teams County State Federal

Deputy FCO – Housing

Planning Units - Strategic Plans - Situation - Resource - Documentation

Logistics

Joint Housing Solutions Center

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Finance

Florida Disaster Housing Plan – July 2009 – DRAFT

E. Activation & Staff Mobilization Schedule The table below proposes the schedule for Joint Housing Operations Command activation and staff deployment. It aims to illustrate what the different operational components within the Joint Housing Operations Command will do and how they will interact – especially during the early days of the disaster, between D-5 and D+5. The underlying assumptions are: 

The disaster assumed here is an event such as a hurricane, of which its projected path, time of occurrence (i.e., landfall), and potential impact area and scale are generally known some days ahead of its actual occurrence.



The Housing Operations Command location is not in the path of or otherwise directly threatened by the disaster. The Emergency Operations Center and Joint Field Office operations are expected to continue.



The time period assumed here will comprise of: (a) warning period of at least 48 hours prior to the landfall, and (b) there will be a Public Disaster Assistance period of at least 48 hours prior to the President issuing a disaster declaration. No Emergency or same day Disaster Declaration is issued.



The event is assumed to be a disaster with significant impact on housing over a multiple counties.



The Housing Operations Command will coordinate with the Joint Field Office in terms of meeting and activation schedule in accordance with the NRP and the JFO Field Operations Guide, June 2006. The Joint Field Office is to be operational by D+3.



Do note that Federal Emergency Management Agency’s surge staffing requirement may limit the number of Federal Emergency Management Agency staff that can be initially mobilized prior to an official Disaster Declaration.

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Florida Disaster Housing Plan – July 2009 – DRAFT

D Days D–5

HOC

FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY & State communicate to prepare activation of the HOC at the State EOC; State and Federal Disaster Housing Coordinators are appointed and activated; A HOC Administrator is appointed and activated to stand up the HOC

Divisional Housing Coordination Team

Housing Planning Section

Joint Housing Solutions Center

State communicates with potential impacted counties to activate County DIVISIONAL HOUSING COORDINATION TEAMS members to the County EOC; State activates and deploys state personnel for the DIVISIONAL HOUSING COORDINATION TEAMS to the county EOC FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY alerts federal DIVISIONAL HOUSING COORDINATION TEAMS members to prepare for deployment to the HOC

D–4

HOC Administrator begins standing up the HOC; mobilized HOC Operators, the planning section (including appointment of the planning section chief), and the DIVISIONAL HOUSING COORDINATION TEAMS Lead if needed Establish communication/ INCIDENT ACTION PLANS distribution plan

FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY DIVISIONAL HOUSING COORDINATION TEAMS members mobilized to the HOC; Assigned FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY members initiate official contact with his/her county & state counterparts

The Housing Planning Section is activated to support the HOC in preparing analysis, reports, and action/communicati on plans

Conduct first of the daily conference calls with DIVISIONAL HOUSING COORDINATION TEAMS members; provide DIVISIONAL HOUSING COORDINATION TEAMS instruction on completing and submitting the county INCIDENT ACTION PLANS D–3 (Land fall)

Continue daily conference call with the DIVISIONAL HOUSING COORDINATION TEAMS members if possible (or otherwise maintain communication via other means)

DIVISIONAL HOUSING COORDINATION TEAMS members review and confirm post landfall assessment strategy, tactics, and procedures in coordination with the HOC

Instruct and train HOC operators if needed Report operational status on

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Participate in daily conference calls; Review local existing disaster housing plans and other disaster housing information

Steering Committee contacted by Planning Section Chief to prepare for activation when disaster declaration is issued

Florida Disaster Housing Plan – July 2009 – DRAFT

D Days

HOC

Divisional Housing Coordination Team

Housing Planning Section

Joint Housing Solutions Center

HOC, DIVISIONAL HOUSING COORDINATION TEAMS and Planning Section

D–2

Receive county INCIDENT ACTION PLANSs

FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY member join the State and County counterparts to participate in local disaster housing assessment (focus on housing needs and resources)

Circulate consolidated INCIDENT ACTION PLANS to all relevant parties

Prepare and submit INCIDENT ACTION PLANS reports on findings

Initiate analysis of housing needs and resources; help summarize county findings

D–1

Continue regular HOC activities of collecting, confirming and circulating disaster housing information as stated above

Continue housing impact assessment and submittal of county INCIDENT ACTION PLANSs

Continue analysis of housing needs and resources based on field reports;

D

Based on county reports, PDA, and other field intelligence, State and FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY review potential State housing needs; coordinate to determine focus in types of assistance and localities

DIVISIONAL HOUSING COORDINATION TEAMS reassignment if warranted

Summarize overall needs and identify specific conditions for each locality; add geospatial capacity to assist with decision making

Make new staffing plan (including mobilization, demobilization and reassignment of DIVISIONAL HOUSING COORDINATION TEAMS, HOC Operators) based on local needs

Hold meetings with local stakeholders

D+1

Resume daily conference call to go over DIVISIONAL HOUSING COORDINATION TEAMS assessment strategies

Continue regular activities Prepare plan for relocating to the JFO once it is set up

Continue assessment of needs and resources Initiate and coordinate network of local resources

Participate in daily conferences Assist with creating a consolidated INCIDENT ACTION PLANS

Submit preliminary State housing report to the HOC for distribution Planning to present at the JHSC Steering Committee meeting and extent of disaster housing needs and resources

Continue regular activities as stated in

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Provide further instruction to the DIVISIONAL HOUSING

Steering Committee activated; convenes first teleconference: Receive and review preliminary State Coordinating Officer report from planning Establish criteria and list for inviting and assigning resources to the Working Committees Confirm roles and responsibilities of each steering and working group members Steering Committee members reach out and invite

Florida Disaster Housing Plan – July 2009 – DRAFT

D Days

HOC

D+2

Continue regular activities

D+3

Complete relocation to the JFO

Divisional Housing Coordination Team

Housing Planning Section

Joint Housing Solutions Center

COORDINATION TEAMS or other entities via the HOC for information gathering

invitees to upcoming Working Committee Meetings

Continue activities to prepare the Strategic Housing plan D+15 Steering Committee mobilized to the JFO

Continue regular activities

Convene working committee meeting to plan mobilization of resources

D+4 D+5

Operational Areas Response Assessment Assessment of the post-catastrophic environment, topographical conditions, demographics, and special needs populations (e.g., non-English-speaking populations, the elderly, and the handicapped community) will help define the magnitude and severity of the catastrophic disaster impacts. Federal and state response and recovery organizations are working on many levels to define the geographical theater of operations and to begin to quantify the resource support needs. Additionally, the disaster housing mission will require detailed information regarding the following: 

Environmental conditions and permitting requirements.



Floodplain management and regulatory programs.



Local building and land use codes.



Historic site preservation regulations of each of the impacted communities.

In the post-catastrophic environment, it will be essential to identify suitable and safe sites available for trailers, mobile homes, tents, watercraft, and alternative housing unit resources. These sites may be located in the impact area or in suitable host areas. The goal

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Florida Disaster Housing Plan – July 2009 – DRAFT

is to locate as many direct housing units within the State of Florida as can be sustained by the local infrastructure and resources. While local communities may have pre-identified disaster housing sites, it is not clear if any of these sites will be available in the postcatastrophic environment due to a lack of long-term sustainability. Information will be collected at the local, state, and Federal levels. However, information coordination in the post-catastrophic environment will be hindered by the destruction of communications systems and infrastructure. Decision makers will be forced to make decisions with incomplete information. The following are immediate sources of information to help assess the post-catastrophic environment and begin identifying housing demand figures: Rapid Impact Assessment: These assessments will be conducted at the local and state levels of government. The purpose is to identify the most heavily impacted areas and to determine infrastructure status. All Rapid Impact Assessment data should ultimately be collected at the county and State Emergency Operations Centers. Rapid impact assessment data will provide an initial estimation of impacted communities that may be able to sustain disaster housing populations due to infrastructure capability. Furthermore, the assessment data will identify flood levels and isolated populations who may need disaster housing. Damage Assessment: Local, state, and Federal damage assessment teams traditionally conduct damage assessments in accordance with Federal Emergency Management Agency requirements. However, the post-catastrophic environment may prohibit the comprehensive implementation of the damage assessment process. It is currently unclear what data is required to satisfy Stafford Act requirements during a catastrophic event. Consider the definition of “major” damage. In South Florida, most structures have concrete walls. If the roof is breached, but the walls are standing, the roof can be replaced and the structure will still be functional. If only part of the roof is breached, the rest of the structure may still be habitable. If a building appears to still be standing, a survivor will choose to stay in the dwelling whether or not it is structurally safe. The initial mission in the post-disaster environment is to prevent sending survivors to already overcrowded and overburdened community shelters within the impacted areas. It is therefore a priority to conduct temporary repairs to damaged homes. Perhaps local governments should consider developing a checklist to decide whether the building is a candidate for habitability repairs in the post-catastrophic environment. This action may be considered an emergency protective measure because survivors may be able to remain in their home for a short period of time while more stable housing options are developed. Conducting minimal actions, such as placing visqueen on rooftops, may sustain the household for a period of time. Visqueen requires a minimal expenditure of efforts and resources but will provide people with a shelter when there is nowhere else for them to go. United States Army Corps of Engineers has a team of structural engineers who inspect buildings to determine whether they are structurally sound. They also have trained a group of United States Army Corps of Engineers as County Liaison Teams to coordinate directly with county representatives. These teams have been deployed on the west coast of the United States for earthquake damage. However, they do not currently determine whether buildings are habitable since this is a local code enforcement issue. If the United States Army Corps of Engineers’ assessments could be coordinated with local building officials in the application of habitability requirements, the United States Army Corps of Engineers’ resources could serve

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Florida Disaster Housing Plan – July 2009 – DRAFT

as a force multiplier. The information that is collected may be disseminated through a database at the Joint Field Office. The Emergency Support Function 3 counterpart at the Joint Field Office can then view the information. Federal Emergency Management Agency Applicant Registration Information: Once survivors begin to access Federal individual assistance programs, an extensive array of information will become available for each of the survivors. This information will greatly enhance the development of the disaster housing strategy. State Emergency Operations Center Joint Field Office Six Forward State Emergency Response Teams Six Regional Coordination Centers Six Area Field Offices NEED GRAPHIC TO INSERT HERE.

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Florida Disaster Housing Plan – July 2009 – DRAFT

III. HOUSING The Federal Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (P.L. 93-288, as amended) provides numerous strategies to support the disaster housing mission in the post-catastrophic environment. The disaster housing mission may implement any or all of the following strategies (listed in the order of priority): 

Assistance to bring existing homes to a safe, sanitary, and functional condition, including temporary roofing.



Financial assistance and rental assistance to place or keep survivors in existing rental units or other vacant structures.



Direct placement of housing units on private property of the owners, who can provide power, water, and sewer from their existing systems.



Development of group sites on existing commercial sites with infrastructure support.



Disaster Housing Deployment Strategy



Shelter: A communal or congregate living structure. This option offers no ability to secure belongings. A typical shelter configuration could include cots in a gym, but would not include individual houses. Soft-sided shelter options may also be a viable alternate for sheltering survivors. The mass care organization may provide tents and camping kits to support the disaster housing mission. This will be one of the first outdoor options. People will prefer to move out of shelters into their own private tents.



Interim Disaster Housing: A disaster housing unit that allows families to secure their belongings and provides some level of privacy. Examples include hotels, motels, cruise ships, modified shipping containers, travel trailers, and tents. The intent of this disaster housing solution is to temporarily house individuals until a transitional/permanent housing solution can be found.



Transitional/Permanent Housing: A disaster housing unit that allows families to secure their belongings and provides privacy. The disaster housing unit is constructed to Housing and Urban Development standards and is designed to be used as permanent housing. Examples include mobile homes, Housing and Urban Development Housing, and rental properties.

In parallel with all other strategies, priority strategies will also focus on providing financial assistance, placement into existing structures, and repair missions. When these avenues have been exhausted, the area of focus will be on developing group sites in impacted and host communities throughout Florida. By D+30, we will be entering into agreements with landlords to make repairs to apartment complexes and other multi-family buildings. The goal is to transition survivors from temporary housing into permanent housing. If there is a need to create new housing options, instead of building a mobile home park, counties would consider allowing the Federal Emergency Management Agency to build apartment complexes or single-family homes, with Housing and Urban Development’s assistance. The Post-Katrina Act allows this option. Counties would identify the parcels of land on which the buildings would be constructed. Non-profit and affordable housing personnel could also be brought in to help. Occupancy targets will largely include renters, because landlords often decide not to rebuild, and if they do, they increase the rent. For the first 18 months, the Federal Emergency Management Agency will control these buildings, and residents will be chosen based on registration and eligibility. After 18 months,

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Florida Disaster Housing Plan – July 2009 – DRAFT

the building will turn back over to the original owner of the land, on a contract-by-contract basis. From an emergency management viewpoint, a permanent structure is preferred over a trailer park. These structures will be built to the same standards as all permanent structures, even during an expedited permitting process. To expedite construction, the Federal Emergency Management Agency should have plans designed and approved by architects and engineers that already meet construction codes, which may vary by jurisdiction. The Federal Emergency Management Agency would also be willing to collaborate with owners of destroyed apartment complexes to rebuild them. Populations in high-rise apartment buildings who are used to living “vertically” will be forced to live “horizontally” if their homes are damaged. They could be housed in tent cities, but they will not be able to live near their original home if there is no vacant land nearby. Every parcel of land deemed appropriate by local jurisdictions will be used for disaster housing. Floating options and converted PODS are additional options. The 125 square feet PODS are equipped like travel trailers, but only cost between $10,000 and $12,000, with mobilization and demobilization costs of about $500. Table 1: This Table needs a brief caption. This has been formatted as a caption for a table, so all you need to do is insert the appropriate information.

Habitability repair strategy (homes with minor and major damage) Family and friends strategy

46%

460,000 families

35%

350,000 families

Rolling options (including PODS)

10%

Self-sufficient (loss of insurance, personal resources)

10%

105,000 families, or 1,500 travel trailers per day for 70 days 40,000 families

Faith-based shelters

5%

50,000 families

Other strategies: volunteers and workers, Healthcare Facility residents, business housing strategies, etc. Department of Defense strategies: prepackaged Armed Forces

?

?

?

?

Direct Housing Mission Note: The following strategies are not listed in the order of priority.

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Florida Disaster Housing Plan – July 2009 – DRAFT

Housing units on single-family home property sites with existing infrastructure The preferred method of providing direct housing assistance is to install a housing unit (e.g., travel trailer, mobile home, converted box car, tent, and manufactured collapsible home) on a single-family home private lot or driveway and temporarily connect it to existing utilities. In the post-catastrophic environment, victims may choose to remain in the heavily impacted area and reside in tents or other structures with limited infrastructure support. Local communities will be responsible for determining habitability and safety standards for allowing residents to remain in the community. Considerations should be made for renters. Owners will prefer to have a unit on their property to protect it. If right of entry (i.e., permission) from the owner is obtained, then one and/or multiple units may be able to be placed on their property. Group sites on public and private lands with pre-existing infrastructure. Commercial group sites include pre-existing travel trailer and mobile home parks that have existing utility hook-ups, infrastructure, and available community services. For individual applicants, the Federal Emergency Management Agency may lease the pad and install the housing unit. In the post-catastrophic environment, pre-existing commercial sites may have been damaged or destroyed. These sites may include pre-existing mobile home parks, recreational parks, future home sites, or big box facilities. All of these options may have pre-existing water, power, and sewer connections to support the disaster housing populations. The ability to augment existing utility systems is limited. The following are planning variables for group sites with existing infrastructure: Experts estimate that existing infrastructure systems, including water, power, and sewer, have the potential to support up to a 10% increase in additional capacity before large-scale utility improvements are required. This figure will vary for each community; however, it is being suggested as a planning assumption for catastrophic events. Disaster housing group sites on a single large piece of property should not exceed 4–5 acres each. Group sites should preferably be in close proximity to communities and community support system such as stores, schools, and bus routes. Permitting, approval, and land use rights negotiations should be a cooperative effort among all levels of government working toward the same goal. The local government will ultimately approve all sites before they are established. Group sites must be compliant with Federal, environmental, floodplain management, and historic site preservation laws, regulations, and requirements. Group sites on public and private lands without pre-existing infrastructure. If an event is of sufficient magnitude and severity, it may be necessary to develop groups sites where pre-existing infrastructure systems are not available. The local government’s permitting and zoning departments should consider evaluating all potential properties that could be used for disaster housing. Negotiation of land use rights should be a cooperative effort among all levels of government. A model for evaluating undeveloped land (e.g., dirt needs to be turned, no water, no utilities) is being developed by Wachovia and HFA. However, land may still need to be evaluated based on local preferences.

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Florida Disaster Housing Plan – July 2009 – DRAFT

The county and city should evaluate any large government-owned parcels (e.g., fairgrounds) and parcels of land that are not developed for residential use. Always think outside of the box for identification of useable space (e.g., consider an unused runway). If it is vacant, it could be used, as long as it is close to stores, schools, and other vital services. Group sites must be compliant with Federal, environmental, floodplain management, and historic site preservation laws, regulations, and requirements. Survivors at group sites must have access to healthcare, public safety services, jobs, and educational services. Local governments should strongly request that all infrastructure installations meet “Class A” permanent infrastructure requirements if these sites may someday support permanent development after the disaster housing need has expired. Developments should be built with this transition in mind. It should be considered that density requirements in local communities for permanent developments are very different than density requirements for disaster housing purposes. Infrastructure installations should reflect immediate and long-term development issues. Is infrastructure essential for disaster housing placement? Can people live for some period of time without infrastructure (water, sewer, power)? Do the demographics of the population influence this question? Could portable toilets and sinks be brought into the area? This may significantly change the dynamics and demographics of the original prestorm population. The disaster is NOT the time to redirect specific populations to other areas. Systems, processes, and procedures must be put in place to mitigate this unacceptable discriminatory outcome. Affordable housing options must remain/be re-established within all communities to accommodate the diversity of populations being served within the impacted population. Maintenance of travel trailers and mobile home units will initially be accomplished by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers-designated contractors. The Corps will perform maintenance for the first 30 days. After 30 days, a contractor hired by the Federal Emergency Management Agency will perform maintenance. A toll-free maintenance number is provided to the applicant at the time they are leased into the unit. Emergency maintenance requests are responded to within six hours. Non-emergency maintenance requests are responded to within 48 hours. Recertification begins one month after a unit is occupied and continues on a monthly basis until the applicant locates other housing or completes repairs. The recertification process is used to determine whether an applicant is making progress in finding a long-term housing solution. It is also used to inform the applicant of housing resources that the Federal Emergency Management Agency has located. The goal is to have the applicant in a permanent housing solution within 18 months. This recertification program will require additional staff and resources to complete. If there is a need to create new buildings instead of building a mobile home park, counties would consider allowing the Federal Emergency Management Agency to build apartment complexes or single-family homes, with Housing and Urban Development’s assistance. The Post-Katrina Act allows this option. Counties would identify the parcels of land on which the buildings would be constructed. Non-profit and affordable housing personnel could also be brought in to help. Occupancy targets will largely include renters, because landlords often decide not to rebuild, and if they do, they usually increase the rent.

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Florida Disaster Housing Plan – July 2009 – DRAFT

For the first 18 months, the Federal Emergency Management Agency will control these buildings, and residents will be chosen based on registration and eligibility. After 18 months, the building will turn back over to the original owner of the land on a contract-by-contract basis. From an emergency management viewpoint, a permanent structure is preferred over a trailer park. These structures will be built to the same standards as all permanent structures, even during an expedited permitting process. To expedite construction, the Federal Emergency Management Agency should have plans designed and approved by architects and engineers that already meet construction codes, which may vary by jurisdiction. The Federal Emergency Management Agency would also be willing to collaborate with owners of destroyed apartment complexes to rebuild them.

Non-Traditional Disaster Housing Placement In the event that no other appropriate land can be identified, the Unified Command Team may consider non-traditional alternatives for the placement of disaster housing units. One such example may be the use of highways. The Florida Turnpike is a north/south highway that parallels Interstate 95 in the southeast portion of the state. Due to the fact that these two highways provide redundant transportation options, one of the highways may be blocked and the land utilized for disaster housing units, and all traffic would be transferred to I-95. It is estimated that 200 disaster housing units may be installed per mile with a 10foot buffer between each unit. An access route must remain available for traffic flow. Accessibility standards must be met, tie downs will be required, and power and utilities must be installed to make this a viable disaster housing option. This strategy would provide space for 20,000 trailers (200 trailers per mile x 100 miles = 20,000 trailers). Every parcel of land deemed appropriate by local jurisdictions will be used for disaster housing.

Pre-Scripted Missions Transportation missions for National Guard, other military organizations or entities, Federal resources, and private sector resources (e.g., planes, boats) should be pre-scripted.

Survivor Registration and Case Management Detail the registration and case management system from shelter management through post-event relocation to disaster housing. Will survivors be required to register at each stage? Is it possible to cross-reference information among local, state, and Federal case management systems? Evaluate and implement procedures to release individual victim registration information to appropriate response and recovery organizations that have the ability and responsibility to provide assistance. Staff may not be familiar with existing operational procedures. Training should be conducted for executive staff on privacy act regulations to minimize confusion. In the post catastrophic environment, at least 50% of mitigation money should be released by D+5 so that it can actually be used to design and implement real-time mitigation activities. By this time, counties have given rough estimates of damages to the state. Similarly, the mitigation mission in the post-catastrophic environment may be very different the lesser the disaster. The mitigation goal, for example, may be on mitigating the effects of depopulation.

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Assessment teams in the counties would help to improve the way they provide grants and training. From a Federal Emergency Management Agency standpoint, Incident Management Assistant Teams have an operational role, so someone else would need to debrief in real time without fault assessments. This would be a Federal Emergency Management Agency/state/local effort and could be funded by Presidential Disaster Relief money and conducted by higher education, as research is higher education’s normal role. Academics will have no agenda other than to collect information. Policy Change: Readdress

Host Cities for Disaster Housing Eighty-one cities in the north, west, and central portions of Florida could potentially be designated as host cities. Many of these communities are very small and will be limited by the amount of infrastructure expansion they can support. Survivors will be placed in existing structures as well as group sites. The initial aim is to place survivors in all available rental units, hotels, motels, vacant homes, university campuses, and other structures. The Federal Emergency Management Agency will provide financial assistance to cover rental costs. The disaster housing mission will focus all available resources and policy initiatives to provide survivors with the necessary resources to remain as close to their homes as possible. (How many folks do we think we will be able to place in existing structures: hotels, motels, apartments, vacant public housing, etc.?) The development of disaster housing group sites hinges upon the ability to expand local infrastructure capability (e.g., power, water, sewer, emergency services) to meet the needs of the additional population. Group site placement cannot interfere with the host community’s ability to function normally after a short period of use. Keeping disaster housing communities small provides greater flexibility in designing infrastructure support solutions. The Public Service Commission may be able to provide data for planned infrastructure expansion in the 10-year plan of each of the utilities. Host communities cannot support a population increase of greater than 10%. Based upon current population estimates, approximately 225,000 potential units can be distributed in the host areas of Florida. Spread smaller sites out over various areas and expand existing infrastructure in small increments throughout the state (consensus from electric, water, and sewer). No single development should be bigger than 500 units. The following limiting factors will inhibit the rate at which new housing units can be brought online: 

Worldwide manufacturing capacity for transformers could power 5,000 new households per day maximum.



Each transformer can power 12 units under normal conditions. If there is minimizing of air conditioning and gas/heat, this number could be doubled.

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Florida Disaster Housing Plan – July 2009 – DRAFT



If all available resources were used for this mission only, it would be possible to hook them up in the given time period.



There is currently no Federal declaration process which can be implemented for a large internal mass migration event. Reimbursement funding may be available to host communities for Category B: Protective Measures, if the communities developed shelters or provided other social services. These expenses must be documented. However, additional resources are necessary from the public sector to support evacuees in their community for an extended period of time. Mechanisms should be established to request these resources.



Non-profit and faith-based groups also provide many of these services to support evacuees in the host community for extended periods of time. The Houses of Worship Community Asset Logistics Management (HOWCALM) database once existed, but is no longer maintained. Faith-based organizations could populate this database if they receive the funding.



The focus is on lower income households, but in this kind of disaster, mid- to highincome families will also need assistance.



Consider Mutual Aid and funding for building departments. Resources would only be provided when requested through EM Constellation. However, lots of pre-scripted requests could be developed and then deployed when needed.



Additional information needed on host city operations, locations, siting, payment…)

Resources Disaster Housing Units The implementation of the disaster housing strategy should incorporate all possible housing resource options. Options may be located on land or over water. The units may include existing structures such as big box units, existing rental or public housing units, hotel and motel facilities, universities and colleges, or large public spaces. The units may also be temporary in nature (e.g., mobile homes, travel trailers, converted cargo box units, large and small tents, base camps, and cruise ships or other water vehicles). In the postcatastrophic environment, it will be essential to evaluate and maximize all available shelter space to provide safe and sanitary housing to survivors and long-term recovery and reconstruction personnel. The following types of disaster housing units should be considered: 

Mobile homes are factory-built homes usually placed in one location, often a rented lot, and may at times be left there permanently. However, they do retain the ability to be moved, as this is a requirement in many areas.



Rolling Options/Recreational Vehicles—also known as travel trailers, motor homes, or RVs—are usually parked in trailer parks, trailer courts, or RV parks for short periods of time. The goal is to implement this option between D+15 and D+30 and to provide approximately 40,000 travel trailers on lots within the State of Florida. Beginning at D+7, the disaster housing mission will transport 400 travel trailers per day from out-of-state and 700 per day from within the state to strategic staging facilities, at the rate of 33,000 trailers per month. These will initially be taken to Emergency Group (EG) sites. In the absence of operational sanitary sewer systems, portable toilets will be required. A “Roll and Drop” strategy will be employed initially. This means that trailers will be placed at their destinations with no inspections, utility hookups, or eligibility assessments. No later than D+15, travel trailers will begin to

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be placed on private and commercial sites at the rate of 500 per day. Approximately 60,000 to 70,000 travel trailers will be brought in within the first 90 days as operations ramp up. 

Converted PODS are additional options. The 125 square feet PODS are equipped like travel trailers, but only cost between $10,000 and $12,000, with mobilization and demobilization costs of about $500.



A manufactured home specifically refers to a home built entirely in a protected environment under a Federal code set by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Manufactured homes are not mobile homes. The two major forms of manufactured homes are single-wides and double-wides. Single-wides are 16 feet or less in width and can be towed to their site as a single unit. Double-wides are 20 feet wide or more and are towed to their site in two separate units, which are then joined together. Triple-wides and even homes with four, five, or more units are also manufactured, although not as commonly.



Base Camps: Traditionally the response and recovery workers from the public, private, and non-profit organizations who enter the impact area take up residence at all available hotels and motels within hundreds of miles from the disaster impact communities. While the incoming support resources are vital to the response and recovery effort, it is uncertain whether responders should take precedence over the survivors for bed capacity at local establishments. In the case where no other accommodations are available, the state and local partners have developed base camp operations to provide shelter, beds, food, showers, sanitary sewer, and other basic services to the public response and recovery workers. Many of the infrastructure restoration personnel (i.e., power restoration crews), however, are with private companies. These companies understand their responsibility to provide life provisions to their workers in the impacted area. Establishing base camps may be a more sound strategy in support of the victims.

Floating Options Other Types of Resources The following types of resources will also be required to support the Disaster Housing mission: 

Commodities



Equipment



Personnel o

Unaffiliated Volunteers: the activities that unlicensed volunteers can perform in support of the disaster housing mission remain unclear and need to be defined. Local building policies are determined and enforced by local building officials and vary widely by jurisdiction. Some building officials are unwilling to allow volunteers who are licensed in other states to work within their jurisdiction. Florida would greatly benefit by implementing a standardized reasonable policy, recognized throughout the state, to credential licensed volunteers from other areas. Certain licensed trades are more transferable from state to state, including roofing, electrical work, and plumbing. Heating, Ventilating, and Air Conditioning may require local knowledge.

o

Affiliated Volunteers: Current state law says that as long as licensed volunteers are not compensated for their work, they may work within their trade. Pushback comes when volunteers are doing contracting work. The state should put out a

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recommendation on how to ensure appropriate credentialing. A credentialing umbrella may be appropriate for an entire supervised team such as the Christian Contractors. There is an army of volunteers to support this mission. o

Unsolicited/Spontaneous Volunteers: The larger issue is with the incorporation of spontaneous, unsolicited volunteers who are not associated with a particular organization. If uncredentialed volunteers come in, there could be liability issues. Do these outweigh the benefits that they could provide? Volunteers will not be able to do work until the commodities arrive. This provides a control point. Neighborhood crime watch, for instance, can identify responsible and/or licensed people in the community. Teams are beginning to be built in Florida to volunteer during disasters in other states, but they can also operate in Florida communities.

Emergency Management Assistance Compact—Mutual Aid resources Community organizations and volunteers Use of survivors for response activities (position descriptions) Electrical options: Temporary poles are expensive and will eventually have to be torn down. If the house isn’t going to be torn down, existing walls should be used. Most houses are block walled. Cans with breakers and receptacles are $100. There are many different standards for plugs, however. The Orange Fence Program was mentioned at the Governor’s Hurricane Conference. It is intended to protect people from hazards around damaged homes. The United States Army Corps of Engineers installs chain link security fences on mobile home sites to provide security. Demobilization Phased/non-phased De-mobilization and re-assignment Logistics Logistical Support Needs A series of formulas and matrices have been developed to identify the logistical needs for sustaining the relocation mission in a catastrophic event. Metrics must be established to determine host county eligibility for financial assistance. Examples include the following: Water usage. Consumption of food. Post Office mail forwarding system. New utility activations. Set of historical data—look at major indicators for impacted areas, and determine which measures rose sharply post-disaster. This is a multi-variable number—there are many factors in measuring this.

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Expedited Permitting Process A single expedited permitting process to support the rapid installation of disaster housing units at infill or new sites is highly desirable in the post-catastrophic environment. “One permit only, one inspection only” for all local and state departments within 24 hours will ensure that disaster housing installation moves at a rapid pace. Primary inspections should focus on essential life safety concerns, including electrical power installation, water and sewer inspections, and structure tie-downs. The local decision-making body must establish and execute a revised permitting process ordinance to ensure that revised disaster processes can be accessed in the aftermath of a large-scale disaster in the community. Florida Statute 252 gives the Governor the authority to abate the permitting requirements of local governments in order to save lives and protect property in the post-disaster environment. In the post-catastrophic environment, it may prove impossible for local governments to implement permitting procedures due to a lack of locally-available resources and expertise. Local permitting, therefore, may not be essential in the “immediate” post-catastrophic environment. In the post-catastrophic environment, can disaster housing units/interim housing units be placed in the flood hazard zone? Under what conditions may this be a permissible action? Recommendations for the Recovery, Deferred, Interim, Life Safety, and Catastrophic Permitting Process for Disaster Housing The goal of this permitting process is to complete all inspections within a five-day timeframe. Since there is a chance that the disaster housing unit will remain on the site for an extended period of time post-disaster, some level of local permitting is essential. A recovery permit has a limited “life span.” The permit is issued for the disaster period for life safety issues only. Local governments may determine the “life span” of permits that were temporarily issued in the post-catastrophic environment (e.g., 18 months, 24 months, other?). Is there a difference between private sites and permanent sites? For infill sites: Conduct a life safety inspection to include the following elements: 

Resident name, address, phone, and Federal Emergency Management Agency registration number.



Electric and, if necessary, gas.



Setback requirements from one trailer to another and exposure distances.



Sanitary services.



Water services.



Other, to be determined.

For new sites, the following items must be evaluated and implemented among disaster housing support agencies. Some sites may be pre-identified; others are not pre-identified. 

Life safety inspection (same as above).



Infrastructure design.



Water lines.



Master electrical distribution.

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Feeding each trailer.



Fire protection.



Sewer lines.



A Development Review Committee review is also required.

Shelter Type

Minor

Major

Catastrophic

Shelter

No permit

No permit

No permit

Interim

Permit

Permit

No permit

Transitional/Permanent

Permit

Permit

Permit

Table 2: Local, State, and Federal Permitting Standards Offered for Consensus

Relaxing Local Building Codes In most residential areas throughout the state, local building codes do not currently allow travel trailers to be placed on private property. This would require a local regulatory policy change. Local jurisdictions may choose to develop mechanisms that would allow the relaxation or waiving of local policies to be triggered by the declaration of a catastrophic event or major disaster. It is customary among local jurisdictions to coordinate with the local building department in the development of emergency management plans. This would be a good opportunity to work cooperatively on these issues that will guide the post-disaster redevelopment and disaster housing policies. Enforcing Fair Market Rent Hyperinflation will occur for up to six months. Government could have a policy to enforce fair market rent, such as rent caps tied to Housing and Urban Development figures. Housing and Urban Development has fair market rent set for every community, though landlords often feel that it is under the market value. Logistics: Each operator at the Housing Operations Center (HOC) will have a landline phone and a computer with Internet access. The Housing Operations Center will also have access to the Work In Progress Database, the Federal Emergency Management Agency Response and Recovery Applicant Tracking System (FRRATS), and Direct Assistance, Replacement Assistance Consideration (DARAC). Tracking boards (either white boards or acetate-covered butcher paper) will be posted on the walls. Communications: The Deputy Federal Coordinating Officer and Deputy State Coordinating Officer will hold a daily 5 p.m. conference call with the Divisional Housing Coordination Teams. Files and documents, such as county Incident Action Plans, will be shared electronically via Groove (see Chapter on Groove). The Housing Operations Center will be supported by the Housing Planning Section, which will prepare a consolidated daily Incident Action Plan that is in part based on the county-

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specific Incident Action Plans received via the Housing Operations Center. The Housing Operations Center will also provide information to the Planning Team to prepare necessary reports. The Housing Operations Center will maintain tracking boards at its physical space. These boards are a compilation of the information that managers need to manage the housing mission. The tracking boards comprise a readily available information tool for managers. This information is also maintained electronically. Public Information and Messaging Methods and Context The following messages must be communicated in the immediate post-disaster environment: 

Disaster housing options in the impact area and host communities.



Utility crews have to notify homeowners that their lines need to be repaired, as well as notify the county to get a permit. This will be difficult if the homeowner has evacuated the impacted area. Close coordination with host communities may be helpful.



The United States Army Corps of Engineers has standard Right of Entry (ROE) forms. Sometimes advertising goes out for people to sign these, and if they do not respond within a given time period, it becomes automatic. A coordinated public information strategy to deal with Right of Entry (ROE) issues would be helpful. Possible strategies include a Web site to fill out Right of Entry forms and allowing county agencies to collect Right of Entry forms.

Information Collection Plan (Horizontal and Vertical) Four strategic housing plans will be issued within the first 90 days post-declaration: the first on D+15, the second on D+30, the third on D+60, and the fourth on D+90. These plans will bridge the three major phases of the housing missions, from sheltering (emergency and extended shelters) to temporary housing (up to 18 months) to long-term housing. Each of the four plans will have a particular focus and will mark a transition of emphasis from one time period to another.

Recovery Elected Officials Local elected officials must promote policies that will provide housing opportunities within their impacted communities. Without manpower, recovery efforts will be significantly stalled. Elected officials should also be actively engaged in promoting the continuation of public information mechanisms and in communication with displaced survivors. Ongoing information exchange with the survivors on the status of their home communities will encourage the return of displaced populations. Instituting New Technologies in the Recovery Environment The Federal Emergency Management Agency has met with manufacturers of new construction, repair, and temporary repair materials. If the United States Army Corps of Engineers is expected to use these materials, they will require a contract modification. The Blue Roof mission, as experienced during past disasters, may likely be evolving due to

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newly available materials and technologies. Peel and seal shingles may be placed directly over existing shingles as a temporary fix, but a second round of repairs is needed for a permanent repair. There could be a mission assignment to strip shingles and put the peel and stick on. The Federal Emergency Management Agency has still not embraced this as a method for temporary roofing. They still use Blue Roof mission. Recommend a policy change to consider using new technologies currently being tested, including peel and seal. Peel and seal is more expensive up front, but pays off in the end.

Housing Operations Center

Deputy SCO - Housing

Deputy FCO - Housing

Name HCC Administrator

Name Operator

Name Operator

Name Operator

Housing Coordination Center (HCC)

A. Snapshot Missions: The Housing Operations Center’s role is to collect and facilitate communication of information that is crucial to the housing mission and coordinates this information in a readily accessible form that all stakeholders can quickly understand and utilize. This includes receiving and ensuring proper and timely response to mission-related issues that might arise from the fields. The Housing Operations Center will establish and enforce a common process, standard, and schedule for information gathering and sharing. However, it does not direct operation. Directions over operations reside with their responsible Human Services Departments or agencies. The Housing Operations Center is the point of contact for the Divisional Housing Coordination Teams. Composition: The Housing Operations Center will be located at the Joint Field Office and will be presided over by the Deputy Federal Coordinating Officer for Housing and the Deputy State Coordinating Officer for Housing. The Deputy Federal Coordinating Officer and the Deputy State Coordinating Officer will be assisted by a Housing Operations Center Administrator, and depending on the size of the disaster, a scalable support staff called Operators (See HOC Descriptions and Key Personnel Responsibilities & Qualifications for

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detail). The Housing Operations Center is scalable and will be staffed based upon the size of the disaster and the number of counties declared. Typically the Housing Operations Center will have one operator for probably one to three counties – depending on the situation. Deputy Federal Coordinating Officer - Housing Deputy State Coordinating Officer - Housing Housing Operations Center Administrator Operator(s) – one per declared county or division Roles & Responsibilities: For specific detail on staff’s roles and responsibilities, see Personnel Responsibilities & Qualifications. Command: The Deputy Federal Coordinating Officer and Deputy State Coordinating Officer control the Housing Operation Center. The Housing Operations Center Administrator assists with the management of the Housing Operations Center. Communication: The Deputy Federal Coordinating Officer and Deputy State Coordinating Officer will have a daily 5 PM conference call with the Divisional Housing Coordination Teams. Files and documents such as the County INCIDENT ACTION PLANSs will be shared electronically via Groove (See Chapter on Groove). The Housing Operations Center will be supported by the Housing Planning Section, which will prepare a consolidated daily Incident Action Plan (INCIDENT ACTION PLANS) that are in part based on the county specific INCIDENT ACTION PLANSs received via the Housing Operations Center. The Housing Operations Center will also provide information to the Planning Team to prepare necessary reports. The Housing Operations Center will maintain tracking boards at its headquarters. These boards are a compilation of the information that managers need to manage the housing mission. The tracking boards comprise a readily available information tool for managers. This information is also maintained electronically. Logistics: The Housing Operations Center will have one computer per operator. These computers will have internet access. The Housing Operations Center will also have access to the WIP, FRRATS and DARAC. Tracking boards will be posted on the walls and may be white boards or acetate covered butcher paper. The operators will each have a hard line phone. The Federal Emergency Management Agency and Deputy State Coordinating Officer - Housing work out of the Housing Operations Center.

Activation & Staff Mobilization: See HOC Activation and Staff Mobilization Schedule.

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B. State of Florida Key Personnel: Responsibilities & Qualifications

Key Personnel

General Responsibilities

Qualifications

HOUSING OPERATIONS CENTER

Deputy State Coordinating Officer – Housing

Coordinate the communication functions and responsibilities of the HOC to support the housing mission in partnership with its Federal Emergency Management Agency counterpart Interface between the Housing Operations Center and other relevant state agencies Coordinate daily conferences; review incoming and outgoing reports Oversee the training and functions of the Divisional Housing Coordination Teams Facilitate participation of the impacted counties Foster the corporate culture needed to encourage sharing of information – including bad news Strengthen the relationship between Federal Emergency Management Agency and State via the Housing Operations Center functions and its Federal Emergency Management Agency Housing Operations Center counterpart Helps resolve issues reported by the Divisional Housing Coordination Team by timely directing them to the appropriate entity for response Manages the State Housing Coordinators Reviews the Incident Action Plans Conducts the 5 PM conference call Reports on the housing program progress to

the state

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State Deputy Disaster Housing Coordinator level equivalent or higher; has strong working knowledge of the State Emergency Management and Disaster Housing operations; with access to all relevant State agencies and resources; solid working experience with municipal and county governments

Florida Disaster Housing Plan – July 2009 – DRAFT

Key Personnel

General Responsibilities

Qualifications

Housing Operations Center Administrator

Assist the Housing Operations Center Coordinators in administrating day-to-day HOC operations

The Housing Operations Center Administrator is the Housing Operations Center ’s Chief Operating Officer; Given the importance of the Administrator’s role, s/he must possess strong administrative and organizational skills, ability to assign and oversee multiple tasking, plus good staff supervisory backgrounds; proven leadership ability is also a must

Help oversee the management of Housing Operations Center functions such as data gathering, reporting, posting and distributing of information (including maintenance of tracking boards) Ensure proper and timely reception and responses to requests for issue resolutions Maintain good communication channels with all relevant Joint Field Office departments Establish reporting templates in coordination with the Divisional Housing Coordination Teams, the Housing Planning Section and the Joint Housing Solutions Center Ensure all key Housing Operations Center milestones are met Supervise the Operators and other Housing Operations Center support staff; monitor and maintain adequate staffing and output Collect and provide the County Incident Action Plans to planning for consolidation Operator(s)

Receive information from their assigned counties or areas Ensure that the tracking boards are correct and updated for their assigned county Collect the Incident Action Plans Housing Operations Center and forward it to the Housing Operations Center Administrator Track their county issues and ensure they are being addressed in a timely manner Liaison and Joint Field Office support to their respective DIVISIONAL HOUSING COORDINATION TEAMSs Help maintain communication/reporting schedules with their respective DIVISIONAL HOUSING COORDINATION TEAMS Facilitate exchange of information between the Housing Operations Center and the Divisional Housing Team

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More than one Operator may be needed depending on the disaster impact and number of counties affected; each Operator must have good organizational and communication skills; be computer literate with good working knowledge of databases and Microsoft Excel; must be familiar with the communication software Groove

Florida Disaster Housing Plan – July 2009 – DRAFT

Key Personnel

General Responsibilities

Qualifications

Data Manager

Design, build and maintain databases needed to collect housing critical data

Skills in maintaining, designing, and building databases for information collection

Ensure correct data interface with existing Federal Emergency Management Agency and State data systems and formats

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Florida Disaster Housing Plan – July 2009 – DRAFT

C. Communication Flows & Procedures The Housing Operations Center is the repository of all of the information collected by the Divisional Housing Coordinators. It is also the organization responsible for managing county issues and getting resolution to the issues. The following is the process for managing the information. Housing Operations Center Operator receives the information from the Divisional Housing Coordinator via Groove or phone. The Operator enters the information into the log. The operator then updates the tracking boards and the digital files. The Housing Operations Center Administrator checks the boards daily to ensure that they are up to date. The date and time the board is updated is entered at the top of the tracking board. The Housing Operations Center Administrator includes any important information in the daily Incident Action Plan. Procedure for Managing County Specific Issues Housing Operations Center Operator receives the information from the Divisional Housing Coordinator via Groove or phone. The Operator updates the issue-tracking log. This log is given to the Deputy Human Services Branch Chief for the 5 PM Conference Call. The Housing Operations Center Administrator decides which departments should handle the issue and assigns a suspense date and time when a response is due. The Housing Operations Center Administrator gives the issue to the responsible departments. The Departments will resolve the issue and report on the resolution at the 8 AM Human Services Branch meeting. The Deputy FEDERAL COORDINATING OFFICER - Housing is provided a copy and reviews the status of the issues at the 5 PM conference call. He then gives the Housing Operations Center Administrator any updates. The Housing Operations Center Administrator updates the log and gives it to the Human Services Branch Director. The Branch Director reviews the log with the department leads at the 8 AM Human Service Branch meeting any updates are given to the Housing Operations Center Administrator. The Housing Operations Center Administrator updates the tracking boards and log. Procedure for INCIDENT ACTION PLANS The Divisional Housing Coordination Team collects the county INCIDENT ACTION PLANS. The INCIDENT ACTION PLANS contains county issues, update on the progress of the mission, information requirements and field observations. It is due by 8 AM A Housing Operations Center Operator receives the INCIDENT ACTION PLANS. The Operator logs in the INCIDENT ACTION PLANS and gives it to the HOC Administrator.

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Florida Disaster Housing Plan – July 2009 – DRAFT

The Housing Operations Center Administrator reads the INCIDENT ACTION PLANS and updates the tracking boards and digital tracking spreadsheets with any pertinent information. The Housing Operations Center Administrator gives the INCIDENT ACTION PLANS to the Planning Team. The team makes a consolidated INCIDENT ACTION PLANS based upon the county INCIDENT ACTION PLANS’s. The consolidated INCIDENT ACTION PLANS is given to the Deputy STATE COORDINATING OFFICER - Housing and the Deputy FEDERAL COORDINATING OFFICER - Housing. They approve the INCIDENT ACTION PLANS for distribution. The Deputy STATE COORDINATING OFFICER - Housing forwards the INCIDENT ACTION PLANS up the State’s chain of Command. The Deputy FEDERAL COORDINATING OFFICER forwards the INCIDENT ACTION PLANS to the department leads. The Housing Operations Center Administrator forwards the consolidated INCIDENT ACTION PLANS to the Divisional Housing Coordination Teams and the Planning Team. Division Assignment Lists may be distributed to each DIVISIONAL HOUSING COORDINATION TEAMS for county specific assignments or data that needs to be collected. Procedure for How Issues Are Received, Resolved & Responded To The following describes the procedure that is used to report issues from the counties and how these issues are resolved and responded to. The Divisional Housing Coordination Team works with the county to identify issues. If the county cannot resolve the issue the Divisional Team sends it to the HOC. The issue is sent as part of the Daily Incident Action Plan. A Housing Operation Center Operator inside the Housing Operation Center that is responsible for that county receives the Incident action Plan and enters into a log the request for information or request for action. The Operator gives the issue to the Housing Operations Center Administrator. The Administrator decides which department inside the Human Services Branch should address the issue. The issue may need the attention of more than one department. If so it is given to each relevant department. The HOC Administrator enters into the log which departments received the issue and when. The issue or request for information is transmitted via Groove.

When the issue is resolved or an answer is available, the department gives the Housing Operations Administrator the answer. The answer or resolution is transmitted via Groove. At 6 PM every day, the Deputy Housing Coordinator compiles the log of issues and gives it to the Human Services Branch Chief. At the 8 AM meeting the next day, the Human Services Branch Chief will review the log with the Department Heads. The goal is to get answers back to the field within 24 hours. Any open issues will be discussed at the meeting and resolution to the issues will be discussed. The issue will remain open until an answer is given to the field.

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Florida Disaster Housing Plan – July 2009 – DRAFT

Once an answer is given to the Housing Operations Center Administrator, the answer is entered into the log and then time and date of the answer is entered. The answer is transmitted to the Divisional Housing Coordination Team via Groove. The team will enter the resolution into their Incident Action Plan as an action completed or with follow up questions. The Divisional Housing Coordination Team will inform the county of the decision. D. HOC Floor Plans Below are some samples of floor plans for a Housing Operations Center:

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Florida Disaster Housing Plan – July 2009 – DRAFT

E. Visual-Based Management Tools An important part of the Housing Operations Center’s responsibility in facilitating communication is to set up a central area equipped with informational tracking boards. These boards will track data such as emergency shelter status, commercial parks and potential group site, applicant trends, and rental units with the FMR. With support from the Housing Planning Section, some of these boards will be enhanced to visually depict and highlight the housing operational process, important benchmarks and potential issues. The intent is to develop graphic management tools to better support management in its understanding, control and coordination of the housing mission and challenges. What immediately follows are some samples of these graphic management tools and descriptions as to how they can better assist management in problem-solving and decision making. They are by no means the “final” products set in stone, and many will need additional technical support and operational testing to improve their designs and capabilities. Instead, they are displayed and described here to foster interest and further input. Sample A: Determining FMR Strategy The sample graphic display below may be presented as reports or displayed as tracking boards to assist management with deciding the policy impact of increasing the Fair Market Rent (FMR) at select counties and the remaining need for direct housing assistance:

County A shows total applicant households at 3,000 with over 4,000 available rental units, of which, 3,000 can be tapped with a 120% FMR increase. No direct housing is therefore needed. County B, on the other hand, has 4,000 applicant households and like County A, with over 4,000 available rental units. However, only 2,000 units are available at 120% FMR or less. To house the remaining 2,000 applicant households, it would require a raising the FMR to 150% or higher. Whether to maximize the local rental resource strategy through raising the FMR allowance, or to resort to direct housing assistance will depend on a cost and time analysis of either approach, with consideration to local and applicant needs and preferences. County C, however, points strongly to a need for direct housing assistance. With 5,000 applicant households, County C has only 2,000 rental units available at 120% FMR or less. Furthermore, even if the FMR was raised, there will still be a shortage of no less than 1,000 units.

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Florida Disaster Housing Plan – July 2009 – DRAFT

*Assumption 1: All applicants are seeking some form of temporary housing. No differentiation is made pre-disaster status of renters or homeowners. *Assumption 2: All Applicant Households within each County wants to seek temporary housing within the County. Sample B: Coordinating Direct Housing Process Another example of a graphic report are the ones below which can be used to assist management with its direct housing operations (in this example, providing travel trailers on private sites). Four major milestones are picked - site requests, work orders, ready for occupancy, and leased-ins - because they marked an actual “changing of hands” from one unit to another, i.e., from the PPI unit to the Site Inspectors (site requests), then to the haul & install contractors (work orders), back to the inspectors (for RFO), and lastly to the applicants (leased-ins).

These graphic reports illustrate performance output in quantity and turnaround times between the milestones, and present all essential components in an integrated flow. Based on management designated benchmarks (i.e., average turnaround days and output percentage gap between milestones), these reports can highlight (i.e., by turning red) potential problem areas for quick identification and further investigation. Management can also set the benchmarks higher to allow it to anticipate and address potential issues earlier. Furthermore, when the individual county reports are placed together, they would allow quick visual comparisons across the counties.

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Florida Disaster Housing Plan – July 2009 – DRAFT

The County A graph illustrates no significant issues. Notice that the quantities between any two adjacent milestones are within close percentage of one another, and the average turnaround days (ATD) are within acceptable management range. The County B graph highlights one potential problem area in ATD between Site Requests and Work Orders, which is taking 3 days instead of the 1 day benchmark set by management. Likewise, the County C graph points to both output gap between Site Requests and Work Orders and ATD between Worker Orders and RFO. By highlighting potential problem areas, management can then drill down to see where chokepoints may be and timely implement appropriate solutions. Look at, for instance, County C, where there is an ATD issue between Work Orders and RFO. Management may now drill down and look at lower level reports on turnaround time between work orders issued to contractors and pulling of units from staging by contractors. One of the challenges management has faced in the past is contractors holding onto work orders for extensive period of time. Two other chokepoints could be the turnaround time between units pulled from staging and units being placed on the applicant sites, and once the units are placed on site, finishing the installations. A source for delay has been contractors not having sufficient installation crews. Lastly, the long ATD may be caused by local holdups in inspecting the installation, issuing permits or utility failures. In 2004, one of the problems has been the lack of local inspectors to meet the workload generated. Below is a diagram of how these lower level reports can be drilled down into. In the sample below, management using its benchmarks can quickly identify the two sub-level work components (highlighted in red) that are causing the extended ATD between work orders and RFO. In this case, the lack of county inspectors and contractors holding onto to work orders are the culprits. As it turns out, once the contractors picked up the units from staging, they are on average able to complete the installation under the required timeframe.

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Florida Disaster Housing Plan – July 2009 – DRAFT

Sample C: Establishing Mission State Coordinating Officerpe As stated in the Introduction, one of the challenges is to timely determine the State Coordinating Officerpe of the housing needs – the prerequisite for establishing a sound housing strategy, schedule and organization. However, it is often difficult for all the stakehholders to agree. This is especially so during the early days of the disaster, when tensions can run high on all sides – and if not careful, the frustrations can easily linger and grow to undermine future collaborations. To keep all parties working well together and moving the mission forward, a good comprise is perhaps to establish an initial forecast of housing needs based on both the maximum and minimum projections from all stakeholders. The intent is to allow all the stakeholders to quickly “agree to disagree” on a RANGE for the housing needs, so that they can build up the organization and supply the resources needed. The range of housing needs can be regularly revised based on the daily input of new Information on housing needs and resources. And accordingly, the stakeholders can then increase or decrease the size and scale of the organization and resources committed. The chart below is first of a series of graphic management tool that can be used to forecast both the disaster housing demands and the required operational output. In this first chart, both the maximum and minimum projected housing demands are plotted as the top and bottom lines of an area plot graph spread over a timeline of 30-day increments. The area between the lines represents the range within which the actual applicant demands may fall. This area plot graph allow all parties to view how close or apart their respective projections are. In this case, the maximum projection is a little over 30,000 applicants and the minimum projection is around 20,000 applicants. Note that the actual eligible applicant households can be plotted as well over the same chart. In this case, there is at this point about 3,000 eligible applicants and they are within the range of the projected housing demands.

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The next chart below is what a revised Housing Demands Forecast chart may look like. Notice that the delta between the maximum and minimum projections has been narrowed, and the actual number of eligible applicants are falling well within the revised range – leveling at about 25,000. Also, the Actual Leased-In status has been plotted as well. In this scenario, the operational output is progessing well above (and likely ahead of schedule) of actual eligible applicants.

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Florida Disaster Housing Plan – July 2009 – DRAFT

Applicant Leased-In

Applicant Leased-In

Sample D: Developing Mission Timeframe & Performance Goals

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This series of charts illustrates the steps by which management can quickly develop the disaster housing mission’s timeframe, performance goals, and issue indicators (or troubleshooters). Chart 5, in particular, is a graphic tool for ongoing management of the housing mission, allowing the tracking of actual operational performance against the mission’s goals. But before these charts can be utilized, the mission’s State Coordinating Officerpe must first be established (See Sample C: Establishing the State Coordinating Officerpe). Step 1: Determine Timeframe and Minimum Goals Once the State Coordinating Officerpe for the disaster housing needs has been established, management can then determine the mission’s timeframe and minimum performance goals by any one of two ways: (1) It can determine the number of days it needs to complete the mission by dividing the State Coordinating Officerpe against a daily performance or production goal that it deems as necessary and achievable; Or (2), it can determine its daily performance goal by dividing the number of days it deems the mission must be completed within. In either way, it assists management in determining the size and level of the organization and resources needed to complete the mission – in addition to establishing the mission’s timeframe and performance goals. For example (See above Chart: Step 1), using the projected State Coordinating Officerpe of 25,000 eligible applicants from the scenario described in Sample C, management has selected 100 days for completing the mission, which would require an average performance rate of 250 applicants leased in per day. Please note that the 100-Day mission is further organized into ten 10-Day Blocks so that a better time basis can be provided for measuring performance trends, identifying persistent factors that affect output, and prescribing operational improvements. This is not to replace review of daily output, but to complement it. By reviewing daily fluctations only, management may risk losing sight of underlying factors that have persistent effect on performance (i..e, insufficent number of installation contractors), and wasting time and resources on pursing random factors that have only temporary impact (i.e, one day of bad weather). Step 2: Determine Mobilization & Demobilization Timeframes Once the basic mission timeframe and minimum performance goals are established, the management would need to determine the numbers of days needed for mobilization and demobilization, the impact this would have on daily peformance, and consequently adjust the overall performance goals. In Chart: Step 2 below, management has determined a 10-day mobilization and 20-day demobilization timeframes. This means that performance goals for those 30 days would be reduced and their production requirement would need to be included into the other 70 core operational days (See Chart: Step 3). Please note that in an ideal situation, the mobilization line should be a steeper climb than the more gently-sloped demobilization line. This is because mobilization would and should generally be ramped up more quickly over a shorter timeline; and demobilization be conducted more gradually over a longer time period. The former is due to the need to organize and respond urgently in the immediate aftermath of the event; and the latter is due to the need to ensure proper close out, such as transition of responsibilities and functions to another entity (i..e, federal to state), and maintenance of staff’s morale. However, the reverse (a gently sloped mobilization line over a longer stretch of time versus a steeply dropped demobilization line over a shorter timeframe) can and do often happen, which may indicate a lack of pre-event preparation and post event planning.

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Applicant Leased-In

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Step 3: Adjust Performance Goals Based on Mob/Demob Needs Adjusting the minimum performance goals is simple: Assume the performance rates of the Mob/Demob 10-Day Blocks would be halved, add the remaining half into the Core Operational total, then divide the result by the number of Core Operational Blocks to get the adjusted performance goal for each of the operation 10-Day blocks (See Chart: Step 3 below). Below is the sample formula: Premises: Moblization

=

2500

Demoblization =

5000

Core Operation =

17500

# of Core Operation Blocks =

7

Formula:

((Mobilization+Demoblization)+Core Operation Total)÷Core Operation Blocks 2

((2500+5000)+17500)÷7 2 = 3035 per Core Operation Block

Step 4: Establish Performance Goals for the Full Mission Cycle Once the adjustments are completed, the management would have a clearer picture of its established performance goals for the entire mission cycle, as can be seen in the below Chart: Step 4. In this scenario, management can now see that it has a reduced performance goal of 1250 eligible applicants leased-in during the Mobilization 10-Day Block, and a reduced performance goal of 2500 from 5000 during the two Demoblization 10-Day Blocks. As for the seven Core Operation 10-Day Blocks, the minimum performance goal would now be increased from 2500 to 3035 eligible applicants leased in per each 10-Day block. In the interest of rounding off numbers, Chart: Step 4 uses the 3000 figure for each of the 10Day blocks. Please note that this chart can now provide a canvass or a benchmark against which management can measure its operational performance on a daily basis, or on a 10-Day block period, or over the entire cycle of the housing mission. In fact, this chart can even be sub-divided into county charts, allowing comparison between counties so that best practices can be shared and common problem can be uniformly identified and addressed. In Chart: Step 5 on the next page, we can see how management can set up issue indicators to help highlight potential problem areas for improvement.

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Step 5: Add Performance Line & Issue Indicators to Support Management The Chart: Step 5 below is based on Chart: Step 4 above, and it has been equipped with an Actual Performance Line for Applicants Leased-Ins and an Issue Indicator for tracking persistent performance decline to further assist management of the housing mission.

STEP 5: Add Performance Line & Issue Indicators for Management Applicants Leased

400

300

Performance Decline of 5 Consecutive Days or >

200 3000

3000

3000

3000

3000

3000

3000

100 1250

10

2500

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

10-Day Blocks

As can be seen from the chart, the Applicants Leased Daily Performance Line (in Red) shows that daily performance has been mostly on par with or has exceeded the established goals thus far. The only exception is during the 10-Day Block beginning around the 40th day of the mission. This period of declined performance (especially coming after goal-beating performances during the pervious three 10-Day blocks) is highlighted by the Issue Indicator (Blue Box). The Indicator is designed to appear whenver a performance decline occurred for 5 consecutive days or greater. The intent is to assist management in noticing performance issues so that appropriate remedy can be devised and delivered. The benchmark for this indicator, like the others described in the preceding chapters, can be set based on management’s discretions and situational needs. In this scenario, it appears that management has not only been able to quickly resolve the problem and restore performance within the 10-Day block, it has also significantly improved performance going forward - as the daily performance trend is shown to rise above all earlier output.

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F. HOC Informational Tracking Boards

Points of Contact County

County

County

Date/Time County

County

Emergency Manager Housing Point of Contact Local Division Housing Coordinator State Division Housing Coordinator Federal Division Housing Coordinator County Administrator Electric Utilities Point of Contact Codes and permits point of contact Sewer and water point of contact

Commercial Parks County

County

County

Number of Parks Number of pads that are leased that have a unit Number of pads that are leased but do not have a unit Number of units leased Number of units unoccupied Date lease expires Number of pads that could be available with work

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Date/Time County

County

Florida Disaster Housing Plan – July 2009 – DRAFT

PPI County

County

County

Date/Time County

County

Number of P4 Number ofP3 Number of applicants with infeasible sites Number of applicants in the PPI Queue Cases worked per day

Goal by county for cases worked

Group Sites County Number of Group sites built number of units at each site, number of units leased

1/30/15

Number of Group Sites under design and scheduled completion

1 (Scotties) 15 Aug 06

County

County

Date/Time County

1 (HUD Site) 20 Aug 06

Number of TTG and MHG applicants not leased in Number of ADA units by Group Site and number unoccupied

10/1 - Scotties

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County

Florida Disaster Housing Plan – July 2009 – DRAFT

Private Sites County

County

Date/Time

County

County

County

Number of TTP’s leased Number of MHP’s leased Number of work orders issued Number of units RFO but not leased Number of units on site but not RFO Number of applicants pending site inspection Goal by county for leases

Rental Resources County

County

County

Date/Time County

Number of Rental resources available at FMR Number of Rental Resources available at 125% FMR Number of Rental Resources available at 150% FMR

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County

Florida Disaster Housing Plan – July 2009 – DRAFT

Shelters County

County

County

Date/Time County

County

Number of shelters open Number of applicants per shelter

14 Fairgrounds

Estimated closure dates

14 Aug Fairgrounds

Number of applicants in shelters registered with FEMA

10

Number of housing eligible applicants in shelters

5

Program Progress Date ___ Time____

Required Units per Day

Actual Units per Day

Units On Site

Units Occupied

County County County County

* Also displayed will be the Maps of each impacted county that shows the locations of Group Sites, Commercial parks that have FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY units, and Private Sites.

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Table: Data Sources & Schedules

Joint Housing Operations Center Timeframe for report/product

Frequency of Report/Product

Duration of Reporting

Number of emergency shelters

D+1

Weekly

D-D+30

Capacity of emergency shelters

D+

Weekly

D-D+30

Number of people in emergency shelter

D+

Daily

D-D+30

Damage Assessment Survey

D+

Daily

D-D+30

Road closures

D+

Daily

Location of Aid Stations

D+

Weekly

Data Source 1

2

American Red Cross

Community Relations Special Needs Population

D+

Availability of temp/long-term housing

D+

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Florida Disaster Housing Plan – July 2009 – DRAFT

Joint Housing Operations Center Timeframe for report/product

Data Source 3

Community Shelters Capacity of emergency shelters Number of people in emergency shelter

4

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) – MAPS Map: Boundaries of affected areas

D+

Map: Terrain/Topography of affected areas

D+

Map: Areas of storm surge

D+

Map: Population density-population affected by event

D+

Map: Areas with disrupted utilities

D+

Map: Flood insurance levels across affected areas

D+

Map: Number/types of housing in affected areas

D+

Map: Location of commercial parks

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Frequency of Report/Product

Duration of Reporting

Florida Disaster Housing Plan – July 2009 – DRAFT

Joint Housing Operations Center Timeframe for report/product

Data Source 5

6

Frequency of Report/Product

Housing and Urban Development Location of public housing

D+

Status/Availability of HUD Housing

D+

Local Government Emergency Contacts

D+1

Damage Assessment

D+11

Contact list for utilities, permits and code requirements

D+2

Zoning/land use restrictions that may affect direct housing mission

D+

Utility grid maps

D+

One-time

Status of transportation (primary and secondary roads/bridges/public transit)

D+

Daily

Location/Status of Emergency Operations Centers

D+

One-time

Location of “pop-up” or community shelters

D+

Weekly

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One-time

Duration of Reporting

Florida Disaster Housing Plan – July 2009 – DRAFT

Joint Housing Operations Center Data Source

Timeframe for report/product

Status of evacuation

D+

Frequency of Report/Product

Boundaries of evacuated areas Status of local government operations (EMS, police, fire) Areas of environmental concern

7

8

Media Weather reports

Daily

Potential for flooding

Daily

Other Federal Agencies (OFA) Potential temporary/long term housing (Veteran’s Administration/USDA) in or near affected areas.

9

Other State Agencies (OSA)

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Duration of Reporting

Florida Disaster Housing Plan – July 2009 – DRAFT

Joint Housing Operations Center Timeframe for report/product

Data Source

Frequency of Report/Product

Any potential hazardous materials/toxic releases

10

Pre-Placement Interview (PPI) Number of applicants coded P-4

11

Daily

Rental Resources a. Central Florida Hotel and Lodging Association b. Florida Association of RV Parks and Campgrounds c. Florida Apartment Association d. National Association of Realtors Location of temporary housing sites, hotel

Daily

rooms, apartments

12

State Government

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Duration of Reporting

Florida Disaster Housing Plan – July 2009 – DRAFT

Joint Housing Operations Center Timeframe for report/product

Data Source

Frequency of Report/Product

Counties affected by the disaster event Status of major highways/transportation routes Level of insurance coverage across affected area Damage assessment

13

14

Technical Assistance Contractors Location of potential temporary housing sites

Daily

Accessibility of primary/secondary roads

Daily

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Status of dams/levees Potential for dam/levee failure

15

Utility Companies

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Duration of Reporting

Florida Disaster Housing Plan – July 2009 – DRAFT

Joint Housing Operations Center Timeframe for report/product

Data Source

16

Frequency of Report/Product

Status of service

Daily

Areas of service disruption

Daily

Estimated timeframe for restoration of services

Daily

Voluntary Agencies Special populations in need of services Location of aid stations

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Duration of Reporting

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G. Operating Principles (What Defines Success) In order for the Housing Operations Center to be successful, it must be able to timely and accurately collect and convey mission-relevant information. As stated above, this information may include a broad range of items, such as assessment results of post event housing damage and needs, local housing resources and capacities for recovery, opportunities and obstacles, operational issues surfaced and resolutions applied, standard and alternative housing options available, and status of the housing mission’s progress and effectiveness. Following are operating principles that are fundamental to the success of the HOC: The Housing Operations Center is only as Good as the Information It Gets Good information must be (1) mission-relevant (2), valid in terms of timeliness and accuracy, and (3) in a format that can be accessible and understood by users. The HOC is designed so that “good” information can be obtained, confirmed, updated and easily shared. One key component in the HOC is the Divisional Housing Coordination Teams. Their trimember team composition (federal, state, local) and location in the impacted communities are designed to ensure immediate and intimate access to field Information via reliable local sources. The Housing Operations Center is also only as Good as It Can Pass the Information On Getting good information but then failing to make it accessible or to convey it timely and accurately to all relevant parties is worse than getting no information at all. Measures must be taken to ensure mission-critical information is readily available, accessible, accurate and timely alerted to all essential stakeholders. Part of the HOC’s design is to set up and support such measures: from creating a staff-supported physical location where missioncritical information can be collected, announced, displayed, and shared; to establishing a common system (i.e., a general process, regular schedule, standardized forms and formats) for reporting. Additional channels, such as an internet based system, are also being explored. Credibility and Timely Resolution of Issues Good field intelligence relies on our teams’ credibility with the impacted counties where they operate. This credibility is built upon mutual trust, dependency, and reliability. While measures must be taken to ensure the person assigned to the field has the appropriate interpersonal skills and adequate job knowledge (i.e., the mission on hand, the assistance programs involved, and the local community impacted), all these became futile if the HOC, which coordinates the teams and connects them to the Joint Field Office, fails to timely and appropriately address the requests or issues that arise from the fields. Once that credibility is lost, the cooperation between the JFO and the local communities will vanish. The HOC Coordinators will facilitate and ensure these requests are timely received and responded to. Bad News is Always Better Than No News While good news is understandably always welcome, the “bad” news – mistakes, inefficiencies, confrontations, misunderstandings, missed opportunities, obstacles and pitfalls – are needed and should be welcome as well. A culture must be created wherein all stakeholders are encouraged to come forth with information both good and bad. The challenge for the HOC Coordinators and all team members and stakeholders is to train, retrain and persistently remind all participants that the aim is not to place blame, or even simply to encourage criticism (which in its constructive form is necessary to the mission’s

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success), but to foster mutual confidence and collaboration among the stakeholders, so that we can continue to improve the State Coordinating Office and speed through which the housing assistance can be delivered.

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Florida Disaster Housing Plan – July 2009 – DRAFT

IV. DIVISIONAL HOUSING COORDINATION TEAMS

A. Snapshot In the impacted counties, a Divisional Housing Coordination Team will be trained and stationed by State and the impacted county personnel. As of this time, the State has identified and trained seven state personnel who can be readily mobilized to assume their roles on the Divisional Housing Coordination Teams, and it has also requested and assisted each county to selecting its own disaster housing lead. Purpose: The Divisional Housing Coordination Team, functioning as one unit, is the link between the county and the JFO. They are the “eyes and ears” on the ground. The team will establish a broad network of local governmental officials and housing stakeholders that will enable them to collect information, identify resources, provide information regarding permits and codes, and help identify housing needs. The data collected will aid in creating a County specific Strategic Housing Plan as well as an overall Statewide Strategic Housing Plan. Composition: The Divisional Housing Team has two members. 

The State Housing Coordinator



The County Housing Coordinator

Additional team members (such as FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY) may be requested by the main team to provide additional field support. Page 68

Florida Disaster Housing Plan – July 2009 – DRAFT

Roles and Responsibilities: The Divisional Housing Team does not have any operational authority. Their responsibility is to collect information and surface issues to the HOC. Operational responsibility resides with the various departments within the JFO. Following are the team’s responsibilities: 

Provide information to the Planning Team in the JFO to produce the Strategic Housing Plan.



Identify County specific housing concerns and forward these concerns to the Housing Operations Center.



Keep the County informed as to the progress of the housing program.



Meet with housing stakeholders to develop housing solutions



Work with the County to resolve permitting and inspection problems.

Command: The Divisional Housing Coordination Team works for the FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY Deputy FEDERAL COORDINATING OFFICER for Housing and the State Deputy STATE COORDINATING OFFICER for housing. They function as a unit, and the County housing coordinator will take the lead for the teams. All reports and INCIDENT ACTION PLANSs will be sent daily to the HOC. Command Concerns: The way the current system is set up, the County would be the lead position for each of the Divisional Housing Coordination Teams. However, there are several concerns that need to be addressed. Upon resolution, a new lead may need to be assigned. Each County has identified or is in the process of identifying a Local Direct Housing Coordinator. This person will be committed to the direct housing position for a minimum of ninety (90) days. The concern is the person identified will have another position in the County government or housing agency with normal duties that will need to be attended to, thus not being able to focus completely on the direct housing mission. Under the direct housing mission, the Local Direct Housing Coordinator will report jointly to the County and the State. There may be a conflict of loyalty as to whom they should ultimately direct to. The County may feel the Housing Coordinator reports to only them, while the State may feel the Housing Coordinator should report to them. Politically, the Local Direct Housing Coordinator may not be able to provide an unbiased view on how to handle the housing mission in their County. They may feel they have to present what is requested of them, even though it may not be the best or most appropriate solution, but politically, will help make the County look good. Potential Solution: It may be in the best interest of the direct housing mission to place the State Housing Coordinator as the lead on each of the Divisional Housing Coordination Teams. This individual should be knowledgeable of not only the direct housing programs, but other Individual Assistance programs that are available as well. This individual has no ties to the local government or to the Federal Responders (FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY and others) and could provide an unbiased viewpoint to each to reach the most appropriate housing solution. Communication: The Divisional Housing Coordination Team (DHCT) will forward all information to the HOC. Groove and cell phones will be the primary means of communication for the teams. All information collected, such as county data and issues, from the teams will be transmitted via Groove, which allows electronic file sharing. The DIVISIONAL HOUSING COORDINATION TEAMS will prepare a daily Incident Action Plan (INCIDENT ACTION PLANS). An outline of the INCIDENT ACTION PLANS is included in this

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Operations plan. The Deputy STATE COORDINATING OFFICER-Housing will chair a daily 5 PM conference call with the Divisional Housing Coordinators. Daily Conference Calls High-level discussion of critical issues DIVISIONAL HOUSING COORDINATION TEAMS members and Housing Group Leaders Housing group provides guidance and team leads provide status of key issues and information needs Daily DIVISIONAL HOUSING COORDINATION TEAMS Conference Calls (as needed) Informational sharing among DIVISIONAL HOUSING COORDINATION TEAMSs to discuss tactics, techniques and procedures Representative from the JHOC may participate Each Divisional Housing Team will be assigned an Operator that will reside at the JFO to handle their transmissions and will communicate with their operator on a daily and as needed basis. Teams will have a series of information templates that will allow them to collect data in the same format and report back to the HOC. Meetings: The Coordination Team will meet with local government officials to establish the needs of the County. The Coordination Team will have coordination meetings with code enforcement officials, county officials, and housing stakeholders as necessary. These meetings are designed to provide the county information regarding the progress of the housing program and to address county issues. Specific County requests or denials should be received in writing. Meetings will also be held to communicate the progress of the housing program as well as address the potential solutions of the Strategic Housing Plan. County approval must be obtained before the Strategic Housing Plan can be carried out. Information Needed: The team will collect the following information to be provided to the Planning Team at the JFO that will aid in the creation of the Strategic Housing Plan. The following is a list some of the information needed: County Disaster Housing Plan Contact list for utilities, codes, permits and emergency management Permitting and inspection code guidelines Identify any cultural issues Estimate of county housing need (overall and by area) Types of housing that is needed or allowed Critical unmet needs Large discrepancies between FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY data and actual conditions Gaps between FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY service delivery and State and local expectations Unused or under-used resources

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Potential housing resources Alternate housing solutions Possible Group Site locations Anticipated media coverage of temporary housing Templates: Templates have been created in to identify specific information that is needed along with the timeline to collect data. Images of these templates have been included in this section for your review. The actual templates are created in either Microsoft Excel or Access formats. These templates or forms are also equipped with drop-down menu of pre-written entries such as county names that can be simply clicked on to expedite use and minimize spelling errors. Logistics: The impacted County will provide the office space for the team. The county will provide Internet access for Groove. The State Coordinators will have a cell phone and a computer. Initially, the additional coordinators will arrive at the County Emergency Operations Center. Each additional Coordinator is responsible for arranging his/her own hotel accommodations. Public Affairs: Media attention can either assist or hinder the missions of the DIVISIONAL HOUSING COORDINATION TEAMS. The State Public Information Office (PIO) handles all media inquiries and releases new updates and facts about State operations during a disaster recovery. Team leads should keep the PIO informed about the accomplishments or potential problems of their missions. Mobilization: See HOC Activation and Staff Mobilization Schedule.

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B. Key Personnel - Responsibilities & Qualifications

Positions

General Responsibilities

Qualifications

DIVISIONAL HOUSING COORDINATION TEAMS County Member

Key member of the tri-member Divisional Housing Coordination Team responsible for gathering county and municipal-specific information. Information to be collected: County Disaster Housing Plan Key points of contact information for County Manager, County Emergency Manager, Supervisory Building Inspector, Health Officials, local Volag Agency Representatives List of commercial mobile home parks and contact information Estimate of county housing need Alternate housing solutions Possible Group Site locations Key conduit with local officials to identify housing options Identify critical unmet needs and potential solutions Expedite county permitting process to facilitate direct housing operations Keep the County informed as to the progress of the housing program. Meet with housing stakeholders to develop housing solutions

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- These are county- or municipality-level Disaster Housing Coordinators which the County has identified prior to the event; - Must be committed for a minimum of 90 days - Person must have access to the local government’s top leadership; - Person should be knowledgeable of the local housing capacities, legal requirements, resources, and permitting and building codes; - have strong leaderships skills; Should be able to effectively communicate needs and potential solutions to all participating partners and agencies;

Florida Disaster Housing Plan – July 2009 – DRAFT

Positions

General Responsibilities

Qualifications

State Member

Key bridge between the federal and the County-level partners

Pre-selected and trained by the State as Regional Disaster Housing Coordinators prior to any disaster events

Work with the County to resolve permitting and inspection problems. Key member coordinating participation of state or locally-based non-governmental stakeholders Key conduit of State-wide prerogatives Work with utility companies to resolve utility issues in specific areas Meet with housing stakeholders to develop housing solutions Federal Member

Provide federal guidance for what type and format of information needed. Help identify County specific housing concerns and forward these concerns to the HOC. Key member in ensuring information is gathered in the proper timeframe and send to the JFO HOC Key member for following up with local requests for resolution sent via the HOC to the JFO

To be selected and trained by the Human Services Branch; Should be familiar with IHP and FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY housing programs and current policy and instruction relating to interaction with local communities; May have MHOP experience;

Key conduit for assisting with the formulation of the Strategic Housing Plan Meet with housing stakeholders to develop housing solutions Work with federal partners that may assist with providing housing solutions

C. Checklist: Daily Tasking & Protocol D-5 to D+5 The table below proposes a list of information that the Divisional Housing Coordinators should obtain from the field and forward to the Housing Operations Center between D-5 and D+5. Post D+5 work will comprise of ongoing assessment of housing needs, facilitation of local resources, and support to implementation of the disaster housing assistance programs and planning. It is assumed here that PDA has been completed prior to the Disaster Declaration and Damaged Dwelling inspection has begun.

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Florida Disaster Housing Plan – July 2009 – DRAFT

D Days D-5

Information Requirement

Source/ Member Responsible

County Disaster Housing Plan Contact list for utilities, codes, permits and emergency management

County Emergency Manager. County Emergency Management Website; County Code Enforcement Office

Permitting and inspection code guidelines D-4

Local policy and preference; and any other cultural or locally unique issues

County

List of commercial mobile home parks and contact information Potential Housing Resources D-3 (Landfall) D-2

D-1

Confirm post event housing assessment strategy, tactics and process

County, State, FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY

Types of post event disaster housing needs based on field assessment of disaster impact on housing and availability of resources

Using data from the PDA and the damaged dwelling inspections as well as input from the county, provide assessment of the number of dwellings that are destroyed or have major damage. Use the percent of homes insured from the Human Services Operation Plan

List of damaged subdivisions, congregate care and/or housing facilities and contact information Red Tag Lists

D

Continue on Red Tag Lists and other housing damage and assessment work Report on local housing resources

County, State (As the County begins red tagging dwellings, the Divisional Housing Coordinator forwards this information)

List of meetings scheduled D+1

Updates on Shelter conditions Critical unmet needs

ARC, County, State, FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY

D+2

Continue housing needs assessment and network building

County, State, FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY

D+3

Forward any County Housing issues; continue to refine the housing needs. Work with the County and State to resolve permitting issues.

Code Enforcement, County Administrator

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D+4

Updates on Shelter conditions Updates on which communities remain closed to residents returning

D+5

Updates on local plans for extended sheltering, temporary housing needs (if any)

D to D+90 From the very first day, planning is taking place to determine the best strategy for meeting immediate to long-term housing needs. The Housing Planning Section of the JHOC will develop no less than four Strategic Housing Plans: D+15, D+30, D+60 and D+90. Each plan will focus on a specific phases of the disaster housing mission (See Chapter on Housing Planning Section for more detail). The DIVISIONAL HOUSING COORDINATION TEAMS will play a key role in both the development and implementation of these strategic housing plans. Below is a list of key actionable items that can be used to complement the Daily Tasking Table above – and many of these informational items will be key to the first two Strategic Housing Plans (D+15 and D+30). 

Number of homes condemned or determined not to be habitable by the county.



Number of mobile home parks in the county.



Number of mobile home pads available for temporary housing use.



Number of pads available for temporary housing that require work before they can be used.



Number of shelters still opened.



Anticipated shelter closure dates.



Number of people still in shelters.



Locations of high concentrations of uninhabitable homes. A high concentration is anything over 20%. Areas can be mobile home parks, sub-divisions, zip code, or cities.



Municipalities that have restrictions on mobile homes and travel trailers. Describe the restrictions.

D. Templates for Data Collection All templates beginning on the next are images only. The actual templates are created in Microsoft Excel or Microsoft Access and would be available electronically with this document All of the templates are equipped with drop-down menu of pre-written items that can be entered onto the form by simply clicking on them. This is designed to expedite use and minimize spelling errors. Furthermore, all of these templates in their electronic version will be linked to a standard form created by the FLTRO GIS Department for collecting and recording GPS information.

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Sample Data Collection Template: Local Requirement Checklist - Page 1 of 2

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Sample Data Collection Template: Local Requirement Checklist - Page 2 of 2

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Sample Data Collection Template: Environmental Checklist - Page 1 of 2

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Sample Data Collection Template: Environmental Checklist - Page 2 of 2

Sample Data Collection Template: Site Assessment Form - Page 1 of 3 Sample Data Collection Template: Site Assessment Form - Page 2 of 3

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Sample Data Collection Template: Site Assessment Form - Page 3 of 3

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E.

Key Questions for Group Site Survey

Below are key questions for assessing potential group sites that can be used to complement the Site Assessment Form above: 

Has the proposed Group Site been approved by the municipality or county?



Is the proposed site located in the floodplain?



Is the proposed site undisturbed land?



Is there a sewer line in the vicinity of the property? How close to the property? Draw a sketch.



Is there power near the property? How close to the property? Include on a sketch.



Is there a water line near the property? How close to the property? Include on a sketch.



Are there visible wetlands on the property?



Who is the owner of the property? This can be obtained from the county’s property appraisal website.



Is the owner willing to use the property as a group site?



Are there any existing structures on the property? Include on a sketch.



Is there road access to the property?



Are there any visible signs of ground water contamination on the property? i.e., are there monitoring wells visible?



Has the property been used to store hazardous materials? Check with the county or city.



Is there a fire protection system nearby? i.e., fire hydrants.



Is there mass transit nearby? How far away?



Are there grocery stores nearby?



What are the dimensions of the property? This can be obtained from the county’s property appraisal website.



What is the address or GIS coordinates of the property? Include a map if possible.



Is the site level?



Is the surrounding area residential, commercial, agricultural, industrial or undeveloped?



Are there any noise hazards nearby? i.e., an airport or industrial site. Is the property located in the noise hazard area?

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Sample Data Collection Template: Commercial Park - Page 1 of 1

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Sample Data Collection Template: INCIDENT ACTION PLANS - Page 1 of 1

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Sample Template: Division Assignment List - Page 1 of 1

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Sample Data Collection Template: DIVISIONAL HOUSING COORDINATION TEAMS County Contact Data - Page 1 of 1

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F. Operating Principles (What Defines Success) 

Good information



Timely information



Make conscious decisions about county’s needs (by local government)



People are housed at the end of the day



Outcomes vs. outputs



Timely action taken on items

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V.

HOUSING PLANNING SECTION

Roy Dunn Deputy SCO - Housing

Deputy FCO – Housing

Planning

Operations

Divisional Housing Coordination Teams (Team No. 1 – 7)

Housing Planning Group

Tri-Member Teams County State Federal

- Strategic Plans - Situation Unit - Resource Unit - Documentation Unit

Logistics

Finance

Joint Housing Solutions Center

A. Snapshot The Human Services Branch will create a Strategic Housing Plan by D+14. This plan will have county specific plans. These plans will be created with input from the counties and the State. The Divisional Housing Coordination Team obtains this input. The following are the areas that require county input. 

If a group site is needed will the county allow one to be built? If so where.



What is the county’s plan to execute Damaged Dwelling Assessments?



Who are the stakeholders in the county’s housing plan?



What shelters are open? How many people are in the shelters? When will the shelters close?



Will the county allow travel trailers on private sites?



What are the permitting and code requirements for the county?



Will the county assist with expediting permits?



Does the county have a disaster-housing plan? If so forward it to the HOC.



Are there any alternate housing opportunities such as: o

Transitional housing

o

Vacant apartments

o

Vacant HUD housing

o

Vacant hospitals

o

Large blocks of rental properties

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o

Pre-existing county owned travel trailer pad sites (Normally in Fairgrounds)

o

Private entities that will provide disaster housing to home owners with insurance

o

Military housing

This information is sent to the HOC as part of the INCIDENT ACTION PLANS. The HOC Administrator sends this INCIDENT ACTION PLANS to the Planning Team. The Planning Team uses the county specific INCIDENT ACTION PLANS to prepare the Disaster Housing Plan for the specific counties. This is included in the Human Services Strategic Housing plan. The Planning Team may send a planner to counties that do not have a disaster housing plan or to county that request planning assistance. This planner would assist in preparing a disaster-housing plan. The planner may also identify long term housing requirements and provide information to the ESF 14 Long Term Recovery Planning team if one is established for that specific county. The planning team produces the Strategic Housing Plan. The draft plan is given to the Deputy FEDERAL COORDINATING OFFICER - Housing for review. Once approved it is given to the Human Services Branch Director for review. The Branch Director approves the plan for distribution. The Deputy STATE COORDINATING OFFICER - Housing forwards the plan through State channels. The HOC forwards a copy of the plan to the Divisional Housing Coordination Team. The Team gives the plan to the counties. If the counties do not agree with the plan or would like to change the plan, they give their concerns to the Coordination Team. The Team forwards changes to the HOC. The planning Team works with the Deputy Branch director and the Deputy STATE COORDINATING OFFICER - Housing to modify the Strategic Housing Plan.

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B. Key Personnel - Responsibilities & Qualifications

Positions

General Responsibilities

Qualifications

HOUSING PLANNING SECTION Housing Planning Section Chief

Oversee the Housing Planning Section at the JHOC Provide planning support to the Disaster Housing operations Interface between the HOC and Joint Housing Solutions Center Provide planning support to the HOC and the JHSC Ensure the timely productions of the four Strategic Housing Plans

- Senior planner with operational and strategic planning experiences - With strong housing planning backgrounds and/or FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY disaster housing experience - Good working experience with local planning efforts a plus - Have strong leaderships skills; Should be able to effectively communicate needs and potential solutions to all participating staff and other colleagues in the JHOC

Planners

Develop Strategic Housing Plans D+15, D+30, D+60 and D+90 based on projected/actual housing needs and available resources and timeframes

Planners with strong housing, disaster operations and long-term recovery experiences

Work with and provide planning support to the HOC, the DIVISIONAL HOUSING COORDINATION TEAMS and Joint Housing Solutions Center Prepare recommendations of housing solutions or options Analysts/Forecasters

Analyze housing damage data and resource information Develop forecast of housing needs, burn rates, and operational performance

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Trained in data, information analysis; and/or organizational and operational analysis

Florida Disaster Housing Plan – July 2009 – DRAFT

Positions

General Responsibilities

Qualifications

Graphic Support/ GIS Support

Develop visual displays for the HOC, all planning documents

- Strong graphic design backgrounds in both printed and electronic media

Provide GIS capability to support geospatial analysis

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C. Strategic Housing Plans Synopsis There will be 4 strategic housing plans issued within the first 90 days post declaration: the first on D+15, second on D+30, third on D+60 and the fourth on D+90. These plans will bridge the three major phases of the housing missions, from sheltering (emergency and extended shelters), to temporary housing (up to 18 months), to long-term housing. Each of the 4 plans will have a particular focus and marks a transition of emphasis from one time period to another. Below is a synopsis of each plan followed by a more detail description in the next several pages: D+15 The D+15 plan will focus on extended sheltering needs and resources. This will entail identifying the most vulnerable population within the shelters, and expediting extended sheltering assistance to disaster victims who need it. Typically, the extended sheltering will be for disaster victims who could not return to permanent housing and require sheltering for 60 days or less. The D+15 Plan will assess extended sheltering resources such as hotels and short-term rentals, and the potential needs for EGS or other aggregate options. The D+15 Plan will also establish initial “ballpark” range for potential temporary housing needs based on disaster damage and impact assessments from the field. This Plan will also identify and incorporate county-specific strategies. D+30 The D+30 Plan marks a transition of emphasis from sheltering to temporary housing needs. This refers to disaster victims who will need some form of disaster housing assistance that will last more than 60 days and possibly for up to 18 months. This Plan will update the preliminary forecast on the magnitude of the temporary housing needs issued under D+15, and report on the conditions of locally available housing resources and options. It will form a first general statewide housing strategy incorporating all county-specific plans. In spite of its change of emphasis, this D+30 Plan will also review the status of the sheltering mission, and outline any additional actions that might be needed. D+60 The D+60 Plan will continue to focus on the temporary housing mission. It will present a status review of the temporary housing mission, reviewing the progress on a county-bycounty level, challenges to be tackled, and include any recommendations for improvements. The overall temporary housing needs will have by this point been validated or updated by federal data from applicant registrations and pre-placement interviews. Furthermore, each impacted county will have developed its housing plan based on its own circumstances and policies, and based on its mission-relevance and feasibility, incorporated into the D+60 Plan. D+90 The D+90 Plan marks a transition of focus from temporary housing to long-term housing. While the temporary housing mission is likely to remain operational at this point (and this Plan will report on the ongoing status of the temporary housing operation), the D+90 Plan will emphasize on the long-term housing needs assessed, and provide a preliminary strategy for long-term housing recovery.

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Phases

D+15

D+30

Shelter

Focus on Extended Sheltering (ES) needs and resources identified; ES options and strategies proposed and executed

Review status of the sheltering mission (both emergency and extended) reviewed; Recommendations proposed if needed

Establish initial forecast on temporary housing “ballpark” range based on disaster damage and impact assessments

Update initial forecast on the magnitude of temporary housing needs; refine initial reports on temporary housing resources

Identify county-specific temporary housing options (with focus on population retention)

Confirm and incorporate changes to the countyspecific strategies

Emergency & Extended (< 90 Days) Temporary Housing Assistance (90 Days – 18 Months)

D+60

D+90

Status review of temporary housing mission Validate temporary housing needs forecast and mission timeframe based on FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY PPI and Applicant Registrations Confirm and review progress of county-specific strategies

Long-Term Housing Recovery

Assess potential long-term housing needs and resources assessment

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Focus on the long-term housing needs assessed Provide a strategy for long-term housing recovery/local repopulation

Florida Disaster Housing Plan – July 2009 – DRAFT

Procedures & Templates The Strategic Housing Plan is a comprehensive document that covers the life span of a disaster. It is prepared in conjunction with all partners at every level of government. The plan is revised and updated periodically to reflect changes in mission requirements. This plan serves as a link between the three phases of the operation. It captures information and plans that are developed at the local level, and reports these plans through the federal channels. The Strategic Housing Plan needs to bridge the different phases of a housing mission. The three phases are sheltering, temporary housing and long term housing. Each of these phases need to be included in the Strategic Housing Plan as it is revised based upon the changing conditions of the disaster. The Housing Operations Center is the repository of information that allows these plans to be written. Consequently, the HOC must track not only direct housing data, but also data that will relate to the long-term recovery plan. This data is developed by the Housing Area Coordinators as they work within their divisions. The Strategic Plans are developed not only to guide the operations but also to communicate with the housing stakeholders in the community and in the state. These plans are produced with input from the communities. Consequently, these plans need to be widely disseminated. Responsibilities FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY housing responsibilities lie mostly within the first 90 days. FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY is responsible for providing temporary housing and sheltering. FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY may assist communities with Long Term Housing planning, but not with the actual construction of housing. FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY may also assist with coordination with other federal agencies to assist communities with housing. Some of the agencies that may be used to provide housing assistance are the Department of Agriculture, VA, HUD and USDA-RHS. The State is an integral player in the planning and execution process. They will participate in the development of all plans. The Strategic Housing plan will represent the state priorities and preferences. The local communities will have developed disaster-housing plans. The information in these plans will be used to prepare the Strategic Housing Plan. The Strategic Housing plan differs from the county disaster-housing plan in that it delineates how federal resources will be coordinated and utilize. The local communities are also important partners in preparing the Strategic Housing plan. They provide much of the data needed to prepare the plan. Their disaster-housing plan is the backbone of the county specific Strategic Housing plan. They also review the Strategic Housing plan and ensure that it meets their needs and conforms to their requirements such as permitting and codes. Strategic Housing Plan D+15 (Sheltering) This housing plan will be completed at D+15. Following a disaster, numerous citizens find themselves stranded in temporary shelters. It is always a priority for the community to close these shelters since the buildings that act as shelters have an everyday function that the community wants to reinstate. Therefore, the initial strategic housing plan should focus on the sheltered population and the population not in shelters that require immediate

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housing. These plans need to be developed on a county-by-county basis. This initial plan should accomplish the following: 

Determine how many households still reside in shelters at D+15.



Determine the number of American Red Cross shelters and community shelters are still open.



Determine the capacity of the open shelters.



Determine the housing need for each county.



Delineate short term housing solutions.



Identify concentrations of destroyed residences and plan for sheltering solutions.



Identify special needs populations and plan for their housing solutions.



Identify codes and permits pertinent to the county.



Identify locations of mobile home parks and available pads.



Identify potential group sites.



Recommends whether or not the FMR should be increased.



Identify the housing goal and housing timeline.

This plan needs to delineate the process for expediting the placement of shelter residents. For instance, it may explain how Community Relations will work with Applicant Services to get the shelter population registered with FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY and the SBA. It will then explain how assistance will be expedited to these applicants. It will also explain how VOLAG will be used to help close the shelters. The Strategic Housing Plan should have the following outline: 

Introduction (This explains which county the plan is being developed for and briefly describes the incident that caused the damage. It also explains if the majority of the damage was wind or water related.)



Purpose (This section explains that this plan is an initial plan focused mostly on removing applicants from shelters. It also explains that follow on plans will be more oriented toward temporary housing.)



Demographics of the applicants (This section explains where the hardest hit areas are and the population make up of the areas. It delineates the number of households, special needs, income level, type of housing etc. affected.)



Shelter population (This section describes which shelters are opened, the number of households in the shelters, the number of applicants that were homeless before the storm, and when the shelters are planned to close.)



Sheltering Plan (This section describes how the shelter population will be housed. These are the sections that should be addressed:



Registering applicants



Use of VOLAG to handle pre-storm homeless applicants



Temporary housing currently available for eligible applicants



Schedule for housing the applicants



Expedited assistance

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D.

Temporary Housing

(This section describes how the temporary mission will proceed and it makes an initial estimate of the housing need.) 

Estimated number of applicants requiring assistance



Number of housing units currently installed.



Codes and permits required to install units.



The county’s willingness to allow group sites.



The county’s willingness to allow relocation.



The county’s willingness to allow expedient housing such as tents.



The number of mobile home parks and pads available in the county.



A recommendation on increasing FMR.



A timeline for the direct housing mission.



Number of rental resources available in the county.



Conclusion (This section reiterates that this is an initial plan and follow on plans will be produced once better data is available.)

Strategic Housing Plan D+30 (Temporary Housing) This plan is the bridge between sheltering and temporary housing. This plan will explain if the sheltering is complete and if not, what is being done to close the shelters. This plan will refine the housing need. The housing need will be determined using observations from the Divisional Housing Coordinators. They will work with the county to determine the best estimation of how many applicants need assistance. The county will assist with this effort by inspecting the damaged homes for habitability. As these inspection results become available, the Divisional Housing Coordinator will compare the number of uninhabitable units to the number of rental resources, direct housing resources and alternate housing resources to determine the need. The outline for this Strategic Housing Plan is the following: 

Introduction (This explains which county the plan is being developed for and briefly describes the incident that caused the damage. It also explains if the majority of the damage was wind or water related.)



Purpose (This section explains that this plan is an update from the D+15 plan and that this plan will describe the progress of the sheltering mission and a more detailed temporary housing strategy.)



Demographics of the applicants (This section explains where the hardest hit areas are and the population make up of the areas. It delineates the number of households, special needs, income level, type of housing etc. affected.)



Shelter population (This section describes which shelters are opened, the number of households in the shelters, the number of applicants that were homeless before the storm, and when the shelters are planned to close. It also explains how many shelters have been closed since the last plan and how many applicants have been housed from those shelters.)



Sheltering Plan (This section describes how the shelter population was housed. It explains how many pre-storm homeless were in the shelters and where they were placed. It also explains how the eligible applicants were housed.)

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Temporary Housing (This section describes how the temporary mission is proceeding and it makes a refined estimate of the housing need. This includes the number of rental resources available in the county.)



Estimated number of applicants requiring assistance. (This estimate should come from the county’s damaged dwelling assessment)



Number of housing units currently installed.



Codes and permits required to install units. (This section should describe what is being done to expedite the permitting process.)



The county’s willingness to allow group sites. (This section should indicate where potential group sites are located, give a brief description of the sites and prioritize them based on suitability and location to the displaced population.)



The county’s willingness to allow relocation.



The county’s willingness to allow expedient housing such as tents. (This section should explain if any expedient housing will be used and if it has already been used what is the plan to move the applicants into something more comfortable.)



The number of mobile home parks and pads available in the county. This section should explain if there are any issues that are preventing FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY from procuring as many pads as possible. (Issues maybe unwillingness to rent to FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, background checks, debris etc.)



The willingness of utility companies to expedite inspections. (This section should describe how long it takes for a temporary power pole to be inspected, how the process can be expedited, and the county’s willingness to hire additional inspectors.)



The county’s willingness to install 403 housing. (This section describes whether or not the county would be willing to install their own direct housing units under the 403 program.)



A recommendation on increasing FMR.



A timeline for the direct housing mission. 9The timeline includes the FEDERAL COORDINATING OFFICER’s goal for the housing mission, the number of units that need to be installed per day, the progress so far, the plan to meet the goal if there is a shortfall.)



Conclusion (This section reiterates that this is an update plan and follow on plans will be produced once better data is available.)

Strategic Housing Plan D+60 (Temporary Housing) The D+60 Strategic Housing plan is a compilation of the county plans. It describes how the federal resources will be used to support these plans. It also establishes the goals for the program and a timeline for completion. The D+60 plan will also identify possible long-term solutions that the community may be developing. The Temporary Housing Strategic Plans will focus on the following areas: 

Short term housing needs



Resources



Housing Options



Housing Strategies



Progress of the housing mission



Possible long term solutions being worked by the county

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The plan will delineate the following items by county and include a statewide roll up.



Need for a Group Site by county.



Counties willingness to accept a group site.



How group sites will be secured and serviced by the local infrastructure.



County permit and code requirements



Number of units forecasted to be installed.



Number of units installed.



Number of forecasted applicants.



Number of rental resources available in the county.



Number of commercial pads available in the county.



Alternate housing alternatives. These may include:



Make ready section 8 housing



Make ready commercial property



County owned housing resources such as fairground trailer pads.



DOD housing resources



Cruise ships



Camp grounds



Man camps for workers



Tents



Pre-fabricated structures



Use of real estate agents to locate housing



Relocation



Amount of Housing Assistance awarded.



Description of the plan to house the remaining applicants.



Update the housing goal and housing timeline.



Identify factors that are impeding the mission.

The outline for the D+60 Strategic Housing Plan is the following: 

Introduction (This explains which county the plan is being developed for and briefly describes the incident that caused the damage. It also explains if the majority of the damage was wind or water related.)



Purpose (This section explains that this plan is an update from the D+30 plan and that this plan will describe the progress of the sheltering mission, a more detailed temporary housing strategy and a initial long term housing strategy by county.)



Demographics of the applicants (This section explains where the hardest hit areas are and the population make up of the areas. It delineates the number of households, special needs, income level, type of housing etc. affected.)



Shelter population (This section describes which shelters are opened, the number of households in the shelters, the number of applicants that were homeless before the storm, and when the shelters are planned to close. It also explains how many shelters have been closed since the last plan and how many applicants have been housed from those shelters.)



Sheltering Plan (This section describes how the shelter population was housed. It explains how many pre-storm homeless were in the shelters and where they were placed. It also explains how the eligible applicants were housed.)

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Temporary Housing (This section describes how the temporary mission is proceeding and it makes a refined estimate of the housing need. This includes the number of rental resources available in the county.)



Estimated number of applicants requiring assistance. (This estimate should come from the county’s damaged dwelling assessment. At D+60 the county should have a good idea of how many homes have been damaged.)



Number of housing units currently installed.



Codes and permits required for installing units. (This section should describe what is being done to expedite the permitting process. This section should talk about permitting issues that are preventing the expedient placement of direct housing units.)



The county’s willingness to allow group sites. (This section should indicate where potential group sites are located, give a brief description of the sites and prioritize them based on suitability and location to the displaced population. This section will explain if a group site will be built.)



The county’s willingness to allow relocation. (This section will talk about the process for relocation, how alternate housing is identified and how the applicant is made aware of these resources.)



The county’s willingness to allow expedient housing such as tents. (This section should explain if any expedient housing will be used and if it has already been used what is the plan to move the applicants into something more comfortable.)



The number of mobile home parks and pads available in the county. This section should explain if there are any issues that are preventing FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY from procuring as many pads as possible. (Issues maybe unwillingness to rent to FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY, background checks, debris etc.)



The willingness of utility companies to expedite inspections. (This section should describe how long it takes for a temporary power pole to be inspected, how the process can be expedited, and the county’s willingness to hire additional inspectors.)



The county’s willingness to install 403 housing. (This section describes whether or not the county would be willing to install their own direct housing units under the 403 program.)



A recommendation on increasing FMR.



A timeline for the direct housing mission. (The timeline includes the STATE COORDINATING OFFICER’s goal for the housing mission, the number of units that need to be installed per day, the progress so far, the plan to meet the goal if there is a shortfall.)



Conclusion (This section reiterates that this is an update plan and follow on plans will be produced once better data is available.)

Strategic Housing Plan D+90 (Long Term Housing) Although FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY does not provide long-term housing there is a need to begin planning for long term housing during all phases of the disaster. The long term housing plans do not replace the community long term housing plan that may be developed in conjunction with ESF 14. Rather this plan outlines and documents the options that the community may have identified and the progress that has been made by the community to provide long-term housing. This plan may serve as a reference to a Long

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Term Recovery planner assigned to the community. It also ensures that long-term options are considered when short-term housing is planned. The Long Term Housing Strategic Plan is produced at D+90. It outlines the following items: 

Establishes if a sales program will be instituted and the goal for the sales program.



Outlines the Sales process.



Defines how FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY will move residents out of housing after 18 months. Possible options are: o

Charge rent

o

Evictions

o

Relocation

o

Rental properties



Defines the procedures for closing Group Sites and the timeline for closure.



Defines the process of recertification and reports on the progress.



Identifies the number of applicants still in temporary housing by type of unit.



List long term housing solutions being pursued by the county.



Identifies long-term resources that maybe developed or repaired prior to the end of the temporary housing window.

The following is the outline for this plan: 

Introduction (This section describes how the damaged was caused and the counties affected. It also explains that long term housing is the community’s responsibility.)



Temporary Housing (This section describes how the temporary housing mission was delivered. It lists the number of units installed, the number of units yet to be installed, the number of eligible applicants, the number of rental resources, the number of group sites, the number of commercial sites, and the number of private sites.)



Transition (This section describes how the applicants will be transitioned from temporary housing to long term housing. This section describes the recertification process, describes how many applicants are moving out per day, describes the sales process, describes the rent policy if applicants are in the units past 18 months, and describes the eviction policy. This section explains how the group sites will be closed.)



Long Term Housing (This section describes the projects, programs that the county has initiated to provide long-term housing. This section will identify the stakeholders inside the county and explain what initiatives they have taken to solve the housing problem. This section will describe any transitional communities that were developed and any other opportunities that had been identified.)



Conclusion (This section emphasizes that long term housing is the communities responsibility. The purpose of this document is to coordinate the transition between temporary housing and long term housing.)

Assessing Disaster Housing Needs Using PDA One of the most critical information requirements is how many households will require assistance. This number constantly changes as better data is received concerning the

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Damaged Dwelling Inspections. However, an initial determination needs to be made in order to position the resources needed to deliver the Direct Housing Program. The first data set that is available is the PDA. The PDA is a sampling of the most damaged areas in the county. It is not a comprehensive list of every damaged dwelling. Because there are gaps in the data certain assumptions must be made to better estimate the need. The assumptions used to calculate the need from the PDA data are: 

Only homes that are destroyed or have major damage will require direct housing.



Renters will receive Direct Housing in commercial parks or group sites.



Homeowners who have insurance will not be eligible for Direct Housing.

Most homeowners will be able to have a unit on their private property. A percentage needs to be estimated of those homeowners that cannot have a unit on their private site based on the geography of the county. For instance, an area that is largely rural we easily allow for temporary housing installation. The estimated percentage in this case would be low about 1%. An estimate must be made as to how many households will not want direct housing. This percentage is usually about 5%. These assumptions then drive the calculation: The following is the calculation: 1.

The total of the destroyed homes and homes with major damage is multiplied by the percent of homeownership from the census data. This gives the number of renters and owners eligible for direct housing.

2.

The number of eligible homeowners is multiplied by the percentage of private sites that will not be feasible. This number is added to the eligible renter population.

3.

The number of rental resources available is deducted from the eligible renters. If there are more rental properties then eligible renters, the remaining rental property is deducted from the eligible homeowner number.

4.

The percentage of households that will not want Federal assistance is multiplied by the number of eligible renters and eligible homeowners. This number is then deducted from appropriate category.

The resulting number of eligible homeowners is the private site housing need. The number of commercial pads available is then deducted from the eligible renter population. If there are more commercial pads available then eligible renters a group site is not required. However, if there are not enough commercial pads, then a group site will be required. Using Damaged Dwelling Assessment The county will perform habitability inspections on the damaged dwellings. These inspections will indicate which homes can be occupied. The results of these inspections will be used to refine the Housing PDA data. The Damaged Dwelling Assessments are much more comprehensive then the Housing PDA data. This information can be used in conjunction with the homeowner percentage from the census information to arrive at the eligible population. The calculations and assumptions are the same as above except the number used initially is the number of uninhabitable homes.

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VI. JOINT HOUSING SOLUTIONS CENTER Proposed Organizational Structure and Focus for the Joint Housing Solutions Center:

A. Snapshot The Joint Housing Solutions Center (JHSC) will facilitate and coordinate resource contributions from both governments (federal, state to local) and the private and non-profit sectors. Potential participants may include the American Hotels & Lodging Association (for extended sheltering), to the local Boards of Realtors and Apartment Associations (rental resources), to HUD, VA, USDA or other public or private funding sources (funding for longterm housing recovery). The Housing Resources Unit works in conjunction with the Planning Team and will assist in the development of the Strategic Housing Plans. Much of the information that they use to develop their plans will be obtained from the Housing Operations Center and the Divisional Housing Coordination Teams. Organizationally, the JHSC will include a Steering Committee with standing members who would help chair the three Working Committees. The latter will invite participation of resources that focus on the three phases of the disaster housing mission: sheltering, temporary housing, and long-term housing. Above organization chart shows the organizational structure and operational focus.

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B. Steering Committee Members: Responsibilities & Qualifications Members 

State Coordinators 2



Federal Coordinator / HUD Coordinator 2



VOLAG Coordinator (American Red Cross/ARC) 2



Private Sector Resources Coordinators (Fannie Mae/Mort. Bankers Association) 2

Roles The Steering Committee will facilitate housing resources, manage the working committees, and help develop housing solutions. The Steering Committee is formed as a standing committee and is comprised of principal stakeholders and manages the delivery of resources and guides housing solutions from emergency shelter to long-term housing needs. The Steering Committee is made of up senior level officials from their respective area. All Steering Group members must be able to access GROOVE.

MEMBER

RESPONSIBILITIES

QUALIFICATIONS

Local Member

Provides information regarding bldg. permits, codes, group site locations. Interacts with the local network of housing resource providers. Identifies and communicates progress to local stakeholders

Knowledge of areas for the placement of group sites. Direct access and knowledge of available units for placement. Available to meet with Steering Group and committee stakeholders and provide housing options.

Regulatory Affairs Public Housing Community Dev. Corp.

Has a leading role on Emergency Sheltering Committee. State Members Emergency Management

Activates state housing, transportation and human services.

Housing and Comm. Dev.

Has a leading role within each of the 3 working committees; however, focus should be Emergency Sheltering and Long Term Housing Solutions Committee

Federal Members

emergency management;

FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY

public housing and assisted housing resources;

HUD

Rural housing and

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Has fiduciary responsibility for directing the State’s Emergency Management resources, which include health and safety.

Access and knowledge of federal emergency mgmt. tools; State Coordinating Office of public/private housing resources; Ability to mobilize federal resources

Florida Disaster Housing Plan – July 2009 – DRAFT

MEMBER

RESPONSIBILITIES

QUALIFICATIONS

USDA

development resources

SBA

Has a leading role on Long Term Housing Committee

and provide housing options. Senior officials.

Volunteer Agencies (VOLAG)

Manages VOLAG communications network and VOLAG resources. Focus on human service needs and special needs populations;

American Red Cross Nursing Home Association Salvation Army Mennonites

Private Members HOME DEPOT Fannie Mae Regional Telecom Co.

Planning Members

Has a leading role in Emergency Sheltering Committee Manages network of private resources. Has a leading role in Temporary and Long Term Housing Solutions Committee

Communicates strategic objectives and provides a platform to insure housing resources are being used effectively

State or regional level VOLAG representative with access to a network of human services. Have pre-existing working relationships with state and local governments. Working case management structure.

Access to an array of resources including: physical, technological, capital, human, etc.

Experienced organizational development professionals with a background in community development or change management

Operations Meetings are co-facilitated by the state/and Federal partner. A face-to-face meeting is held initially, thereafter, conference call meetings are held daily at 5:30. The agenda for the conference calls should include: housing deliverables, benchmarks (scheduling and review), communications, categorized by Emergency Shelter, Temporary and Long Term Housing Solutions. Deliverables Deliverables are categorized according to needs. Categories within the area of deliverables include: transportation, special needs housing, supportive service needs, multi-family housing resources, and single-family housing resources. Communications/Outreach Steering Resource Group members have access to and use GROOVE as a tool to receive and review mission critical data regarding the need and delivery of housing resources. The Steering Resource Group communicates with the HOC and Planning Group three times a week. Based on the discussions and mission critical Information that is obtained at these meetings, resources can be augmented.

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Transportation Ensures that individuals and families are able to get to the shelters; Engage state, local, public and private transportation organizations; Work directly with Sheltering Coordinator to insure that families are able to get to the group shelters. Special Needs The focus for this position is on meeting the housing needs of the disabled, senior citizens or mentally challenged. Engages nursing home assoc., Assoc. of Retarded Citizens (ARC), HUD’s Section 211 properties (assisted housing for seniors)

C. Activation and Initial Actions (1st) First Action: Steering Committee Teleconference Focus: Convene Initial Steering Committee Meeting Location: Offsite Conference Call (D Day) Lead Organization(s): State Agenda 

Review forecast of the disaster’s impact on housing



Review and expand existing list of housing resources



Forecast potential mission for the JHSC



Establish protocol for assigning and reporting deliverables (planning role)



Clarify roles and which organizations lead in various segments of the work



Review and discuss role of the three Working Committees



Ensure that Steering Committee members have access to GROOVES



Confirm Steering Committee mobilization date and meeting at the JFO

Deliverables 

Steering Committee will review list of housing resource organizations and network of partners prior to meeting at JFO



Designate and invite housing resource partners to join any of the three working committees



Review protocols

(2nd) Second Action: Steering Committee Meeting at the JFO Focus: Establish the three Working Committees Location: Meeting at JFO Lead Organization: FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY (planning) Agenda 

Review updated State Coordinating Office of housing needs

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Florida Disaster Housing Plan – July 2009 – DRAFT



Confirm and/or modify JHSC mission for all three phases: shelter, temporary housing and long-term housing recovery



Confirm participations of housing resource partners and reorganize working committee assignments as needed.

Working Committees

Shelter

Temporary Housing Working Committee

Long-Term Housing Working Committee

State / HUD / Private

(Lead Resource)

FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY / State

(> 90 days)

(Lead Resource)

(Permanent Housing)

Working Committee VOLAG / State

(90 Days – 18 Months)

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(Lead Resource)

Florida Disaster Housing Plan – July 2009 – DRAFT

Shelter Committee (