I. Introduction Disasters negatively impact everyone. Preparing for disasters and emergencies is important for all individuals, and is especially critical for those with access and functional needs who may need specialized assistance during an emergency. To help reinforce the importance of pre-planning for access and functional needs populations, the Oklahoma State Department of Health (OSDH) is providing this document to assist local entities during the planning process. This tool will help guide local emergency planners in identifying the specialized resources needed to address everyone in their communities. A. Access and Functional Needs Populations Defined – and functional needs” those specific actions, services, The term “access means accommodations, programmatic, architectural, and communication modifications that a covered entity must undertake or provide to afford individuals with disabilities a full and equal opportunity to use and enjoy programs, services, activities, goods, facilities, privileges, and accommodations in the most integrated setting, in light of the exigent circumstances of the emergency and the legal obligation to undertake advance planning and prepare to meet the disability-related needs of individuals who have disabilities as defined by the ADA Amendments Act of 2008, P.L. 110-325, and those associated with them. The Department of – Justice. The OSDH uses the collective and functional to describe term “access needs” populations that need and “access “functional support assistance” before, during, and after emergency situations. The term and functional is more “access needs” descriptive of the by these individuals for independent “assistance requirement” living and during occurrences of natural, human-caused, or technological disasters. Many State and local governments are addressing their Emergency Operations Plans (EOPs) to specifically include the and functional populations. “access needs” This change in focus facilitates a more community” to effective “whole approach emergency planning efforts. This concept is also consistent with language contained in the National Response Framework (NRF) and is known as C-MIST planning. This approach establishes a flexible framework that addresses a broad set of common access and function-based needs irrespective of specific diagnosis,
I. Introduction Disasters negatively impact everyone. Preparing for disasters and emergencies is important for all individuals, and is especially critical for those with access and functional needs who may need specialized assistance during an emergency. To help reinforce the importance of pre-planning for access and functional needs populations, the Oklahoma State Department of Health (OSDH) is providing this document to assist local entities during the planning process. This tool will help guide local emergency planners in identifying the specialized resources needed to address everyone in their communities. A. Access and Functional Needs Populations – Defined The term “access and functional needs” means those specific actions, services, accommodations, programmatic, architectural, and communication modifications that a covered entity must undertake or provide to afford individuals with disabilities a full and equal opportunity to use and enjoy programs, services, activities, goods, facilities, privileges, and accommodations in the most integrated setting, in light of the exigent circumstances of the emergency and the legal obligation to undertake advance planning and prepare to meet the disability-related needs of individuals who have disabilities as defined by the ADA Amendments Act of 2008, P.L. 110-325, and those associated with them. – The Department of Justice. The OSDH uses the collective term “access and functional needs” to describe populations that need “access and “functional support assistance” before, during, and after emergency situations. The term “access and functional needs” is more descriptive of the “assistance requirement” by these individuals for independent living and during occurrences of natural, human-caused, or technological disasters. Many State and local governments are addressing their Emergency Operations Plans (EOPs) to specifically include the “access and functional needs” populations. This change in focus facilitates a more effective “whole community” approach to emergency planning efforts. This concept is also consistent with language contained in the National Response Framework (NRF) and is known as C-MIST planning. This approach establishes a flexible framework that addresses a broad set of common access and function-based needs irrespective of specific diagnosis,
Functional%20Needs%20Guidance%20and%20Resource%20Book%20-%202012%20A%20Final.docx