This Citizen Corps News Digest is provided by FEMA's Individual & Community Preparedness Division to highlight community preparedness and resilience resources and activities recently announced by federal agencies and Citizen Corps partners.

DHS and FEMA Updates

Last Week to Register Your Council or CERT Program!
FEMA is asking all new and existing local Citizen Corps Councils and Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) Programs to register on the National Citizen Corps and CERT websites. FEMA has two improved online registries that will demonstrate community readiness efforts of local Citizen Corps Councils and CERT Programs. This effort will recognize the tremendous work accomplished to date and serve as a baseline for future individual and community preparedness and resiliency projects. Every Citizen Corps Council and CERT Program is required to register if they wish to have a listing in the Citizen Corps and CERT directory on the National Citizen Corps and CERT Program websites. Please note that only Citizen Corps Councils and CERT Programs may register.

The registry is not for individual CERT Teams that are organized within a CERT Program. More information and guidance documents for registration are available on the Councils and CERT Program registration support pages located at http://www.citizencorps.gov/councils/registry.shtm and http://www.citizencorps.gov/cert/registry.shtm. The websites provide a registration fact-sheet, registration questions and contact information for technical assistance and support.

Webinars

Region VII Webinars: Functional Needs Support Services
Join FEMA Region VII for two different webinars regarding functional needs support services:

An Overview of Functional Needs Support Services (FNSS)
This is an informative one hour overview of Functional Needs Support Services (FNSS) in General Population Shelters. This webinar and conference call will introduce planning guidance that can be incorporated into existing shelter plans to meet access and functional needs in general population shelters.an informative one hour webinar discussing applications in Functional Needs Support Services (FNSS) in General Population Shelters. This webinar further explores FNSS in congregate shelter settings and provides participants with case studies to generate discussion around best practices. When:

Monday, April 4 th , 2011 – 3pm – 4pm (Central)
Tuesday, May 3 rd , 2011 – 10am-11pm (Central)
Friday, June 10 th , 2011 – 10am-11am (Central)

Applied Functional Needs Support Services (FNSS)
Join FEMA Region VII for an informative one hour webinar discussing applications in Functional Needs Support Services (FNSS) in General Population Shelters. This webinar further explores FNSS in congregate shelter settings and provides participants with case studies to generate discussion around best practices. When: (sessions are repeats):

Tuesday, April 26th, 2011 – 1pm – 2pm (Central)
Monday, May 9th, 2011 – 2pm – 3pm (Central)
Tuesday, June 7th, 2011 – 2pm – 3pm (Central)

***No RSVP Necessary***

For both webinars: Go to https://connect.hsin.gov/regionvii/

Call-in Number is: 1-800-320-4330 and the PIN is: 746583

Please feel free to invite individuals/agencies that may benefit from this information. Questions? Email Jono Anzalone, Regional Voluntary Agency Liaison at jono.anzalone1@dhs.gov or call 816.283.7078.

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Other Preparedness Updates

We are providing the following links to third party sites for your reference. FEMA does not endorse any non-government websites, companies, or applications

Unmanned Aircraft and Emergency Response
Emergency Management Magazine, in a March 24 article by Kimberlie Nitti, reports on how unmanned aircraft can transmit "collected sensor data to emergency response teams on the ground that use the information to strategically allocate fire fighting resources." In 2008 unmanned airpcraft helped in performing search and rescue operations during the hurricanes in Louisiana and Texas. Read the full article and learn more about how these small aircraft are helping with emergency management.

ShelterBox Provides Solution to Grateful Families in Japan
ShelterBox is a charitable organization that since 2000 has been providing shelter, warmth and dignity to people after disasters around the world. ShelterBox delivers unique boxes filled with important survival tools including a disaster relief tent for up to 10 people, stove, blankets and a water filtration system. The Iwate Prefecture of Japan was heavily impacted by the recent tsunami in Japan and local officials think it could be as long as three months before temporary housing is available for those displaced by the disaster. ShelterBox began working right away with local authorities to get tents set up for families that need shelter. Read more about this and about ShelterBox USA, ShelterBox's American affiliate, at http://shelterboxusa.org.

These news stories and other Individual & Community Preparedness news can be found on our website at www.citizencorps.gov

Sincerely,

The National Office of Citizen Corps
FEMA Individual & Community Preparedness Division

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Yesterday's CERT Training Webinar

Dear CERT Community,

Yesterday's webinar on the updated CERT Basic Training and new CERT courses has been recorded and may be accessed at your convenience. Over 1,200 participants joined us in the live webinar and we were happy to answer numerous questions about the CERT training.

You may view the webinar recording by going to the Community Preparedness Webinar Series webpage entitled New CERT Training from FEMA and clicking on View Webinar Recording.

If someone you know was unable to participate in the live broadcasts, please share the link with them.

Thank you for supporting CERT!

Sincerely,

CERT National Program Office
Individual & Community Preparedness Division
Federal Emergency Management Agency

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FEMA Major Disaster Declarations Update

Tennessee Severe Storms, Tornadoes, and Flooding
Thu, 31 Mar 2011 17:47:30 -0500

Major Disaster Declaration number 1965 declared on Mar 31, 2011