Add to the Blueprint Participate in the Blueprint Use the Blueprint Challenge Examples Best Practices Examples Recommendation Examples Tool Examples Reports Examples Public/Private Partnership Examples Add to the Blueprint Participate in the Blueprint

INTRODUCTION: Use the Blueprint

What is the National Blueprint for Secure Communities

The Blueprint is a dynamic, ever-changing resource, written and compiled by community sector leaders, responders and experts, that identifies:

1) the challenges facing communities during the first 72 hours of crisis; 2) recommendations, ideas and best practices that might address the challenges; and 3) tools that the private and community sectors can provide to the public sector that augment and increase response and recovery capability.  Click here for a copy of the 2010 Best Practices.

For instance, in meetings with communities such as Galveston and Charleston, a number of best practices were identified and entered into the National Blueprint describing cross-sector collaborations that can be examples for other communities which are exploring ways to forge new partnerships.

Working in partnership with the Kennedy School of Government/Leadership for a Networked World (KSG/LNW) at Harvard University, the Community Institute for Preparedness, Response and Recovery (CIPRR) and the Corporate Crisis Response Officers Association (CCROA) are reaching out to first responders, local officials, the private and community sectors and citizens in these and other communities throughout the nation to develop the National Blueprint. The Blueprint is an asset to help develop templates for community pilot projects that each year serve as roadmaps for any community working to increase their public sector response capability during the first 72 hours of crisis by leveraging the assets and volunteers of the private and community sectors. Click here to read more ...


Challenges

Keeping the first 72 hours of disaster from becoming a law enforcement crisis

Most American communities simply cannot afford to be prepared for all hazards, and often must stretch public sector resources and responders beyond capacity.  Being prepared in these cases means developing strategies that allow every responder and resource to be focused on response and containment instead of being diverted to mitigation and law enforcement.  Working with special needs individuals, and managing or triaging the volunteers and materiel that arrives during crisis takes precious assets and personnel away from protecting a community and diverts them to other tasks.  Additionally, small communities can lose their response capability if the safety of families and relatives of responders is not planned for in advance.


 
Recommendations

Recommendations/Best Practices that can help during crisis

The ReadyCommunities Partnership is a program of CIPRR and CCROA to develop  recommendations that can help support the public sector response and recovery efforts during the first 72 hours of a national or large scale crisis.  These recommendations can be demonstrated using  public/private partnerships or collaborations between jurisdictions and organizations that support each other during crisis through mutual aid agreements.  A Recommendations Index lists these by heading, which are linked to more detailed information describing the purpose and need each recommendation meets.

 
Tools

Using the assets of the private and community sectors to augment the public sector response

CIPRR and the Kennedy School of Government are working with community stakeholders to develop or identify private sector capabilities that can help create new tools to augment the public sector response and recovery capability.  Click Tools Index to view a listing of tools in the National Blueprint and associated white papers. Or, click Reports Index to review some of the tools developed independently by sector leaders working to strengthen homeland security.


REFERENCE INDEX

Public/Private Partnerships

| Collaboration and Innovation Between Sectors

Many jurisdictions have developed public/private partnerships to reach a level of preparedness and response capability not possible using only the resources of the public sector.  Over 60% of all response and recovery resources come from the private and community sectors in the form of volunteerism, materials, insurance, personal savings, contributions and non-profit donations.  The partnerships that are being developed between governments and organizations at all levels can be examples for others to follow in their own communities.  Clicking on Public/Private Partnerships displays abstracts of examples reported by the media, or clicking on Public/Private Index displays a list of links that will display the description and the source material.


 
Best Practices & Reports

| Learning what works from others

For two years, CIPRR has collected over 400 examples of 'best practices' in response and preparedness that have been developed at the local, state and federal level and reported by the media.  These best practices demonstrate commitment, inginuity and practicality that might be examples for others to follow.  This list is updated daily, displaying the dates and sources of the information.  Click the Best Practice Abstract to read a summary of each example, or chose the Best Practice Index, and then click on any heading to read the full description and access the original references.

Additionally, various reports have been prepared by agencies, trade associations, corporations and non-profit organizations.  Click the Reports Abstract to read a summary of each report, or chose the Report Index, and then click any heading to read the full description and download the report.


 

 

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