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.

New CERT Training Now Available

Happy 2012 from the National CERT Program at FEMA!

This New Year we're pleased to announce two new courses now available to States and local CERT programs across the nation:

• G428: CERT Train-the-Trainer Course
• G427: CERT Program Manager Course

States in particular are encouraged to offer these courses to local CERT instructors, Basic Training course managers, and program managers. The materials for each course include an Instructor Guide, Participant Manual, and PowerPoint slides, and are available for download at the national CERT website at www.citizencorps.gov/cert/training_mat.shtm.

G428: CERT Train-the-Trainer Course

The new Train-the-Trainer Course focuses on preparing instructors to:

• Deliver the CERT Basic Training Course accurately.
• Convey the messages and intent of the CERT Program (e.g., safety, teamwork, place in overall community emergency operations plan).
• Assure the students achieve the objectives of the CERT Basic Training.
• Create a comfortable yet managed learning environment for CERT participants.

The audience for this three-day course includes current and prospective CERT instructors, CERT course managers, and those who train CERT instructors.

View the new CERT Train-the-Trainer materials HERE.

G427: CERT Program Manager Course

The new Program Manager Course defines the core components of a local CERT program and focuses on effective practices to establish and maintain an active program, including:

• Develop local CERT program goals and a related strategic plan
• Promote the local CERT program
• Orient, manage and retain CERT members
• Recruit, fund, manage, and retain CERT trainers
• Acquire and manage program resources
• Deliver and manage effective training and exercises
• Develop essential policies and procedures for a local CERT program
• Evaluate and sustain the program

The audience for this course includes any professional or volunteer interested in becoming a local CERT program manager as well as current CERT program managers. Participants will develop ideas to help start a new program or to revitalize an ongoing program.

View the new CERT Program Manager materials HERE.

Course Delivery

The delivery of the CERT Train-the-Trainer Course and the CERT Program Manager Course may be paired of offer a five-day block of training.

States are encouraged to offer the courses and can use Homeland Security Grant Program funding to support the training.

States may also request an “L” delivery of either or both courses in conjunction with FEMA's Emergency Management Institute (EMI). An “L” delivery is an EMI course that takes place in the State and is funded by the State. State Training Officers and State CERT POCs should contact Paul Benyeda at EMI for more information, Paul.Benyeda@fema.dhs.gov.

Both courses are also offered on-site at EMI in Emmitsburg, Maryland. For information about on-site course offerings, schedules, and the application process, please visit the EMI website.

Monthly Ready Call, A Year in Review Webinar, Upcoming Youth Preparedness Workshop, and more!

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

This week's News Digest includes:

Monthly Ready Call Tuesday January 10 th at 3:00 ET / Noon PT

*REMINDER*

The next monthly Ready call will be held Tuesday, January 10 th , at 3:00 ET/2:00 CT/1:00 MT/Noon PT .

Join us for this FREE event as we kick off 2012 with the first in a series of Ready Calls geared toward addressing the preparedness and readiness needs and interests of our state and local partners.

Topics for this month's discussion include:

• The National Preparedness Month 2011 After Action Report
• The Resolve to be Ready Campaign
• A smart phone app developed by Ready Georgia
• Overview of the whole community doctrine
• Individual and Community Preparedness Achievements

NOTE: Before participating on the call, you must register for the event. If you previously registered, you can use your current login information to access the webinar. If you have any questions regarding the call, please contact ready@fema.gov

Throughout the year, federal, state, local, and private sector organizations release program initiatives, create exercises promoting community preparedness, train volunteers to help prepare, respond, recover from and mitigate disasters and generally promote the idea of community preparedness. All of these efforts reflect FEMA's Whole Community approach to emergency management.

The Community Preparedness Webinar Series would like to recognize these efforts and highlight future plans for 2012. Join us to hear about the Emergency Preparedness accomplishments of 2011 and to learn more about what you can expect in 2012. Anyone who is interested in what the New Year might bring in terms of emergency preparedness should join this webinar.

Registration is required for this FREE event. If you previously registered, you can use your current login information to access the webinar. If you have any questions regarding the call, please contact ready@fema.gov

Note: The webinar registration process is a new addition to the webinar series. Participant registration allows us to track interest for upcoming webinars and plan appropriately for the number of expected participants.

Don't forget - log in at 1:50 p.m. on January 12. The Webinar will begin promptly at 2 p.m .

Upcoming Youth-Based Technical Assistance Workshops

Leading educators and scholars in the field of preparedness education consider our nation's youth to be the best envoy for taking preparedness messages home to their families. In order to better prepare our nation's youth to bring preparedness home, FEMA is providing technical assistance workshops to state and local practitioners who support youth-based programs and who are interested in integrating preparedness education into their offerings.

As part of these workshops, participants hear from experts who have developed and delivered some of the most successful youth preparedness programs across the country. In discussing their programs, they also emphasize the following:

• Getting Started & Engaging Partners
• Identifying Curriculum
• Implementing the Program
• Promoting the Program
• Sustainment & Evaluation

The next workshop is scheduled for Tuesday, January 31 , 2012 at the Orange County Emergency Operations Center in Winter Park, Florida . For more information please contact, Peggy Cadeaux NO LATER THAN Monday, January 23, 2012.

For more information about integrating preparedness education into your local youth programs, send a message to citizencorps@dhs.gov.

New CERT Training Now Available

Happy 2012 from the National Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) Program at FEMA!

This New Year we are pleased to announce two new courses now available to states and local CERT programs across the nation.

Materials for each course include an Instructor Guide, Participant Manual and PowerPoint slides and are available for download at the national CERT website.

G428: CERT Train-the-Trainer Course

This new Train-the-Trainer Course focuses on preparing instructors to:

• Deliver the CERT Basic Training Course.
• Convey the messages and intent of the CERT Program (e.g., safety, teamwork, place in overall community emergency operations plan).
• Ensure students achieve the objectives of the CERT Basic Training.
• Create a comfortable yet managed learning environment for CERT participants.

The audience for this three-day course includes current and prospective CERT instructors, CERT course managers and those who train CERT instructors.

View the new CERT Train-the-Trainer materials.

G427: CERT Program Manager Course

This new Course defines the core components of a local CERT program and focuses on effective practices to establish and maintain an active program, including:

• Developing local CERT program goals and a related strategic plan
• Promoting the local CERT program
• Orienting, managing and retaining CERT members
• Recruiting, funding, managing, and retaining CERT trainers
• Acquiring and managing program resources
• Delivering and managing effective training and exercises
• Developing essential policies and procedures for a local CERT program
• Evaluating and sustaining the program

The audience for this course includes any professional or volunteer interested in becoming a local CERT program manager as well as current CERT program managers. Participants will develop ideas to help start a new program or to revitalize an ongoing program.

View the new CERT Program Manager materials.

Course Delivery

The delivery of the CERT Train-the-Trainer Course and the CERT Program Manager Course may be paired as a five-day block of training. States are encouraged to offer the courses and can use Homeland Security Grant Program funding to support the training.

States may also request an “L” delivery of either or both courses in conjunction with FEMA's Emergency Management Institute (EMI). An “L” delivery is an EMI course that takes place in the state and is funded by the state. State Training Officers and state CERT POCs should contact Paul Benyeda at EMI for more information.

Both courses are also offered on-site at EMI in Emmitsburg, Maryland. For information about on-site course offerings, schedules, and the application process, please visit the EMI website.

Thank you for your participation!

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

FEMA's mission is to support our citizens and first responders to ensure that as a nation we work together to build, sustain, and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate all hazards.

FEMA Major Disaster Declarations Update

Massachusetts Severe Storm And Snowstorm
Major Disaster Declaration number 4051 declared on Jan 06, 2012