Situation

Hagerty was tasked by NISTAC (Nationwide Infrastructure Support Technical Assistance Consultants) to analyze 152 Special Community Disaster Loans (SCDL) in Louisiana (LA) and Mississippi (MS). The loans, valued at $1.4 billion, were awarded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in 2006 as a result of special legislation passed by Congress in October 2005 to help local governments in LA and MS likely to be affected with a loss of revenue due to Hurricane Katrina.

Need

Based on the loan regulations, applicants could qualify for full or partial cancellation (forgiveness) if they had a 3-year operating deficit and that deficit was due to a loss in revenue caused by the disaster and/or an increase in unreimbursed-disaster related expenditures. It was Hagerty’s job to analyze the data and see if the local state governments qualified for full or partial loan forgiveness.

Solution

Prior to conducting the analysis, Hagerty’s subject matter experts on government accounting worked with FEMA management to streamline the cancellation process; refine the cancellation regulations; respond to questions and issues raised during the public comment period; draft standard operating procedures and training for the cancellation process; brief senior staff at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the Vice President’s Office, the senior staffs of Senators Vitter and Landrieu; and several members of Congress.

To complete the analysis, Hagerty assigned a dozen accountants, many with CPAs, to review the audited financial reports of the local governments and meet with their Chief Financial Officers. They compared actual post-disaster revenue to base lines revenues would have been had the disaster not occurred, and reviewed documentation associated with Unreimbursed Disaster Related Expenditures (UDRE). These reviews helped to determine whether the expense was disaster-related, not covered by another federal, state, or private (e.g., insurance) program, and incurred within the 3-year period following the disaster.

Outcome

Based on Hagerty’s analysis, more than 60% of all of the loan dollars were eligible for cancellation. FEMA agreed with Hagerty’s conclusion and approved for notifications to begin. Once the cancellation program was ready to be implemented, Hagerty management briefed senior officials in each state and conducted applicant briefings with all applicants.

Situation

Hagerty was asked by the State of Mississippi to develop and implement a plan for a permanent housing program to benefit disaster-affected residents impacted by Hurricane Katrina.

Need

After Hurricane Katrina left so many thousands of people without homes, Congress created the Alternative Housing Pilot Program under the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and allocated $400 million to fund it. The Mississippi Alternative Housing Program (MAHP) applied for and received part of the grant — $281 million — to be administered by the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency (MEMA). The grant required MAHP to identify, develop, and evaluate safer and more comfortable alternatives than FEMA’s temporary Disaster Housing trailers and group sites; transition the units from temporary to permanent housing; and address approaches to unit management while housing Katrina survivors in the lower six counties of the State of Mississippi.

Solution

Hagerty developed a strategy and implemented a plan to permanently house disaster-affected Mississippi residents using “temporary” Mississippi or eco cottages. Under contract to PBS&J (now part of Atkins), Hagerty shaped all aspects of the permanent housing program, including developing a strategy to convert the cottages into permanent housing solutions; advising MEMA on major decision points; providing analyses on the potential benefits and challenges associated with various proposed courses of action; initiating a Cottage Sales Program; liaising with local elected officials and representatives from the nonprofit sector to win support for permanent cottages; and assessing and recommending improvements to the temporary Cottage Program.

The cottages were distributed in four ways: individual purchase, as a donation to a nonprofit, as a donation to a government agency, or auction. Hagerty took the lead on developing the Mississippi Cottage sales program and donation program for MAHP, developing supporting documents such as the program guide, sales process, eligibility criteria, applicant prioritization schedule, and tracking process. Hagerty also played a pivotal role in communicating programmatic information to local communities, including elected officials, to win support and approval from host jurisdictions for permanent cottages.

Outcome

The Mississippi and eco cottages were well received and successfully embraced by the community. As of February 2011, 1003 cottages were sold to individuals, 435 were donated, 338 were deployed, and 350 were auctioned. Many of the donations went to nonprofits who were awarded and accepted ownership of cottages for permanent placement, often as demonstration projects.

Situation

As part of a large exercise series, the New England Regional Catastrophic Preparedness Initiative (NERCPI) asked Hagerty to support a Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program (HSEEP) compliant program, specifically to help the State of Rhode Island understand and prepare for a cybersecurity threat.

Need

Hagerty designed the exercises to understand institutional protocols, policies, and procedures for reporting a cyber incident, thresholds for operational communications, and how to use the area’s fusion center for streamlining information sharing. According to the Department of Homeland Security, fusion centers are “focal points within the state and local environment for the receipt, analysis, gathering, and sharing of threat-related information between the federal government and state, local, tribal, territorial, and private sector partners.”

Solution

The Hagerty team developed two tabletop exercises. The first exercise presented a variety of scenarios detailing a myriad of cyber threats to the financial sector and included members from financial institutions of all sizes from across Rhode Island, as well as state and federal partners.  The second exercise focused on threat scenarios to the water and wastewater sector; it included representatives from water and wastewater facilities within the state.

Outcome

Both tabletop exercises were well received by participants and led to several great discussions pertaining to information sharing and operational coordination in the event of a cyber incident. One issue that generated a lot of discussion was at what point operationally is the best time to involve the National Guard, state regulators, and Rhode Island Emergency Management Agency. Each of Hagerty’s After Action Reports included a summary of what was accomplished during each exercise, a list of the participants, gaps identified in the exercises with subsequent analysis, and recommended next steps.

Situation:

The State of New Hampshire’s Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management (HSEM) asked Hagerty Consulting for technical assistance and guidance to ease local stakeholders, many of whom did not know one another, through the development of the state’s first Disaster Recovery Plan. The State also requested a base Recovery Plan and six supporting Recovery Support Function (RSF) Annexes.

Need:

To kick off the four-month project, Hagerty worked with HSEM to develop a list of stakeholders essential for this planning effort. The recovery phase of emergency management often involves non-traditional emergency preparedness and response partners. Hagerty, in coordination with HSEM, held a kick-off webinar for recovery stakeholders to provide a workshop on pre-disaster recovery, discuss an overview of the State’s current planning process, and identify where the stakeholders would fit into the process.

Working closely with HSEM, Hagerty organized individual RSF planning groups. Hagerty held virtual meetings with the designated lead of each RSF’s planning group, as well as with other stakeholders. These meetings provided the Hagerty team with a strong understanding of each group’s capabilities to provide disaster recovery support. This information was used to establish both the base Recovery Plan and the RSF Annexes.

Solution:

Hagerty utilized best and emerging practices around the country including the National Disaster Recovery Framework (NDRF) to develop the baseline content of the plan. The Hagerty team held various virtual stakeholder meetings to ground-truth the plan’s content, identify common recovery practices that typically occur within the State, establish roles and responsibilities for specific agencies, and point out gaps in the State’s current processes.

The Draft Recovery Plan and Draft RSFs were provided to HSEM and RSF stakeholders for comment, followed by a closeout workshop to present and validate the plan.  At the conclusion of the project, Hagerty provided HSEM with a Next Steps Memo, prioritizing tasks associated with mitigating the gaps identified throughout the planning process.

Outcome:

Under a separate contract, Hagerty also developed a tabletop exercise (TTX) for the State of New Hampshire to exercise its new Recovery Plan. Using an earthquake scenario, exercise players split into the six RSF groups to discuss how the State’s response operations transition into recovery operations, and the challenges that may arise in coordinating within and across the RSFs. Additionally, as part of the TTX, Hagerty facilitated a resilience workshop, which outlined the relationship between recovery and resilience and started the process to define resilience specifically for the State of New Hampshire. An After Action Report outlines observations and recommendations from the TTX, as well as next steps in the State’s resilience planning efforts.

Situation:

Shelter locations within the City of Fort Worth, Texas were not in compliance with the guidance provided by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Fort Worth was concerned that in the event of a disaster or emergency requiring shelter activation, the City would not be able to provide the proper, legally required assistance for a portion of the more than three million Texans with a disability.

Need:

Hagerty was hired to conduct a Functional Needs Support Services (FNSS) Shelter Assessment of the existing shelters, an overarching assessment of the programmatic elements of FNSS in the City, and provide a recommendation for how to remediate deficiencies and take steps toward compliant shelter operations.

Solution:

The Hagerty team began by researching current policies, procedures, laws, and agreements in place. Information-gathering included a survey among City employees; evaluating written procedures for working with advocacy groups; establishing a voluntary and confidential registry for persons with disabilities; reviewing demographic information of people with disabilities already within the local shelter service area; and reviewing past complaints regarding shelters or shelter service. At each of the shelter locations, measurements and photographs were taken to capture door and walkway space, slopes, and door pressure to determine FNSS compliance. Additional locations within each shelter that were evaluated included parking lots, drinking fountains, restrooms and showers, food preparation and feeding areas, utilities, sleeping areas, and telephone access. The team gathered more than 200 data points from inside and outside each shelter and compiled all of this information in a comprehensive document including photographs and diagrams.

Outcome:

The final document included specific recommendations for improvements. Topics addressed in the report included pre-agreements with social service and volunteer organizations, involving the disability community to participate in plan developments, identifying back up power sources, securing reliable transportation, and designing appropriate and usable signage for various segments of the disability community. The report was presented before City executives and very well received. Some of the recommendations were implemented relatively quickly and easily. For the others, plans are being made to incorporate them over time given budgetary constraints while the City pursues additional funding sources such as federal and state grants.

Situation:

Wake County Emergency Management (WCEM) in Raleigh, North Carolina had developed a new Continuity of Operations Program (COOP); none of their department level directors and management staff had seen it or worked with it yet.

Need:

WCEM needed to become familiar with the new COOP program. Everyone needed training in anticipation of a planned tabletop exercise (TTX) scheduled for just a few weeks away.

Solution:

Hagerty developed three COOP training sessions and worked closely with the WCEM staff to make sure everyone understood the new program. The team also developed an executive level TTX based on a hurricane scenario with two modules: one for protective actions and the other for reconstitution of services.

Outcome:

The training and TTX was very successful. Approximately 25 department level directors and key staff participated in the TTX.