
Faith Based Communities and Disaster Management Research
The IHSWD collaborated with RTI on a research project that assessed and modeled the role of faith-based and community organizations (FBCOs) in Miami-Dade County, Florida. The Institute was responsible for coordinating the Miami-Dade community engagement partners and developing a Social Network Analysis map.
2011 NABJC Conference Presentation: Disaster Management: Engaging Faith-Based Community Organizations In Strengthening Resiliency of Minority and Underserved Communities. – St. Louis, MO
Presenters:
Jannah
Scott, Th.D.
The DHS Center for Faith-based & Neighborhood Partnerships
A Center of the White House Office of Faith-based & Neighborhood
Partnerships
Reverend Dr. Randy G. Vaughn, Director Office of Disaster Management, NBC USA Inc.
Mr. M. Chris Herring, Executive Director, NCCU Institute for Homeland Security & Workforce Development
This workshop explored the role and significance of Faith-Based Community Organizations when it comes to strengthening the resiliency of minority and underserved communities and disaster management. It has well been established that these communities struggle with day-to-day social issues that negatively impact the quality of life. Some of these issues include crime, education, public health, housing, employment, and apathy. When disasters hit, these circumstances are challenged at an even greater level, hindering response and recovery. Apathy of the community often limits the role and involvement in preparedness and mitigation measures. Historically, the Faith-Based community has been the cornerstone for reaching and engaging these communities. This session explores the necessity and strategies needed to engage communities at the preparedness and mitigation levels. Minority and underserved communities are sometimes not included in these functions of emergency management.
National Faith Based Organizations: Organizational Infrastructure Readiness and Assessment: National Baptist Conference USA Inc
It has long been established that Faith-Based and Community Organizations play a major role in community development and resiliency. National Faith-based and Community Organizations (NFBCOs) are often not adequately equipped, however, to aid affiliates in assessing local-level needs to strengthen community resiliency. At the local level, community resiliency is affected by education, economic, crime, public health and housing challenges – all issues FBCOs are uniquely positioned to address. However, many NFBCOs do not have the organizational infrastructure to assist state and local affiliates with holistic strategic intervention for disaster management. IHSWD has partnered with Rev. Dr. Randy Vaughn, Disaster Manager for the National Baptist Convention USA Inc (NBC) to develop a standard research-based model for NFBCOs that will aid those organizations in assessing and strengthening mitigation measures, thereby leading to a “tool kit” for local affiliates. NBC has more than 16 thousand churches and 7.5 million members while the General Baptist State Convention of NC has approximately 900,000 members that will benefit from this initiative. The project includes an assessment of national-level organization strengths and weakness at the community level; a survey of state and local-level strengths and weakness; and a summary report with mitigation recommendations that will aid in the strengthening of preparedness, response and recovery phases of disaster management; training materials to ensure capacity building at the community level.
Engaging Minority Communities for Disaster Preparedness
A top priority for IHSWD is working with minority and underserved communities in order to better prepare them for disaster, strengthen response and recovery efforts, and ultimately, mitigate threats. In order to go so, the Institute:
Cooper from MDC, Inc. who has recently completed a FEMA Demonstration Project that studied how to best mobilized marginalized communities for disaster preparedness
Military Reintegration Program
The IHSWD is researching development of an on-line program that will assist veterans with preparation to enter homeland security careers. The program will:
Attend to the needs of veterans wounded in action as they seek out educational and career opportunities.
Student Engagement
The Institute is committed to student engagement and exposure. A number of engagement activities took place during the 2010/2011 academic year.
Graduate Assistants
The Institute funded two Graduate Assistants for the academic year, Michelle Casper and Stacy Muse. The students assisted with research for course development and research for the Critical Industrial Summit. The GAs also assisted with the HLS Career Resource Center.
Academic Course Presentations/Instruction
Herring, Harris and Porter assisted with the instruction of an Introduction to Homeland Security course. Presentations were made on HLS related issues in Introduction to Criminal Justice and Practicum courses.
Duplin County Critical Industrial Incidents Summit
Four students participated in the Duplin County Critical Industrial Incidents Summit. The students assisted with the facilitation of the meeting and made valuable contributions. The benefited from hearing about the concerns of the community
Stephen Flynn Lecture and Round Table
Stephen Flynn is a Homeland Security expert, Obama transition team adviser, author, and current President of the Center for National Policy. Flynn will spoke at 5:30PM on Wednesday, October 6 at the UNC FedEx Global Education Center. Flynn delivered a lecture titled: “Katrina, Haiti, Deepwater Horizon: Building a Resilient World." Through the coordination of the Institute, five criminal justice students attended the presentation. On Thursday morning, an invitation roundtable breakfast was held at the Carolina Inn in Chapel Hill. Herring and two NCCU students, Ms. Regina McKoy and Ms. Shauna Johnson attended. The students made strong contributions to the discussion.
Homeland Security Career Resource Center
The IHSWD introduced the Homeland Security Career Resource Center. With the assistance of graduate students, the Center was furnished with information related to HLS careers and graduate education. While in its early stages, the goal of the HLS Career Resource Center is to the nucleus for all NCCU students who desire to seek information HLS related careers, internships and graduate programs. The Center is located in the office area of the IHSWD, above Community Service.
Student Career Counseling
Homeland Security continues to be a growing field with diverse opportunities. Institute staff often speak to students are career opportunities. Approximately sixty students have participated in individual career counseling sessions.The Institute for Homeland Security and Workforce Development hosted a planning meeting for the 2010 North Carolina Industrial Incidents Summit on November 6, 2009 at NCCU. The Summit is intended to identify best practices in large-scale accident response, emergency response and coordination, interoperable communication, and the relationship between emergency responders and the surrounding community.
The planning committee included representatives from Durham Technical Community College, NC Emergency Management, RTI, Fayetteville State University, Guardsmark, the EPA, Johnson C. Smith University, Orange County Emergency Management, the Town of Apex, NC Division of Waste Management, NCCU Departments of Criminal Justice, Sociology and Public Health, and Durham County Emergency Management.
The Institute held its First Annual North Carolina Critical Industrial Incidents Kick-off Summit at North Carolina Central University on March 12, 2010. The Summit will be a kick-off for a year-long series of working groups designed to build collaboration among first responders, public officials, industry leaders, the private sector and community members.
The event featured Chief Mark Haraway, Apex Fire Department, who discussed the lessons learned from the EQ Industrial Fire and Emily Young, NCEM, Asst. Director for Recovery, who discussed the impact of disaster on low-income communities.
The panelist included the following:
On November 16, 2010, a public forum was held at the Ed Emory Auditorium in Kenansville, (Duplin County) NC, Preparing for an Industrial Incident through Community Collaboration: A Public Conversation. In preparation for the summit, Institute staff made presentations to the Duplin County Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC) in cooperation with Duplin County Emergency Management. The summit was attended by approximately 50 citizens from throughout the county and lasted from 6:00pm to 8:30pm.
The agenda for the Summit included: Introductions and Welcome from the Institute for Homeland Security &Workforce Development; Engaging Duplin County’s Citizens in Emergency Planning, Response Recovery and Mitigation, Rob McDuffie, Duplin County Emergency Management; North Carolina Emergency Management’s Role in Emergency Response, Doug Haas, North Carolina Emergency Management; Engaging Citizens: An Industry Perspective, Charles Phillips, RSO Butterball, LLC; The Importance of Collaboration in Long Term Community Recovery Planning, Bill Johnson, IEM, Inc; Bringing a CERT Team to Duplin County, Patty Moore, NC CERT Program Manager; and discussion on the importance of education and communication.
Ideas captured during the discussion sessions include: Ordinary Citizens thing they are not really needed; Need to educate people; People believe engagement is “Not my role;” Face to face contact is best to educate people; Use the political model to mobilize people; The community needs to be Reactive vs. proactive; There are opportunities to get schools involved; Use community exercises to get citizens involved; Utilize radio stations; Use social media to reach out to people of all generations; Use expo center to stage an emergency exercise; Recognize those volunteers who are already participating & those that want to be recognized; Citizens are conditioned to get out of the way; Emergency managers must take the message to the people; How can Emergency Management present rather than being asked?; Community is very responsive with the right campaign; Must give people a sense the urgency.
North Carolina Central University's Department of Criminal Justice led a delegation to the east African nation of Uganda June 12-23, 2009 in collaboration with the United Nations African Institute on the Prevention of Crime and Treatment of Offenders (UNAFRI), Makerere University, and the National Association of Blacks in Criminal Justice (NABCJ).
The Institute for Homeland Security and Workforce Development hosted the Phase 3 pilot for this management and planning level course on June 17-18, 2008. The course is designed to introduce basic principles and skills associated with planning security for planned events in small communities and rural areas. This is a 16 hour course that reinforces the importance and magnitude of security planning required to execute a safe and effective event. The pilot was held in collaboration with Eastern Kentucky University at the RBC Center and had 30 students in attendance
Opportunities For Engaging Minority Communities In Securing Our Nation
On Feb. 11, 2008 the NCCU Institute of Homeland Security & Workforce Development and Army War College sponsored Opportunities For Engaging Minority Communities In Securing Our Nation, a colloquium designed to explore opportunities to engage Muslim, Latino & African American communities during the preparedness, response, recovery and mitigation phases of natural disasters and terrorist threats with an emphasis on policy implications. Panels included Muslim community leaders, public health professionals and law enforcement professionals. The public health panel was organized by NCCU Department of Public Health Education. The 75 attendees and participants included representatives from the Pentagon, state public health, the Governor’s Office, all levels of law enforcement, the private security sector, community members and students. The luncheon speaker featured Gerald Curry, Colonel, USAF. Col. Curry is the author of Striving For Perfection: Developing Professional Black Officers. Additional speakers included Faye Stone, Deputy Executive Director of the NC Commission on Volunteerism and Community Service and representatives from Buffalo Soldiers.
The event was held at the Radison, RTP and free to all attendees.
Federal Law Enforcement and the Private Security Sector: Information Sharing in the War Against Transition Terrorism
Stephen C. Miller, a former member of the Joint Terrorism Task Force in Raleigh, NC, retired counterintelligence agent in the US Army, and Institute for Homeland Security and Workforce Developoment partner, conducted a workshop sponsored by the Institute and NCCU's Department of Criminal Justice designed for law enforcement personnel exploring terrorists threats in the United States and abroad.