Bringing Your CERT Program Back To Its Roots

1. Bringing Your CERT Program Back To Its Roots Jim Yoke Emergency Services Coordinator Santa Clara County Fire Department

2. Your Presenter Jim Yoke Emergency Services Coordinator Santa Clara County Fire Department jim.yoke@sccfd.org 408-887-7818

3. Background • Working with CERT since 1999 • Seven years in San Diego County with the American Red Cross, assisting CERT programs countywide • Saratoga CERT Program Manager since the program’s birth in 2006 • CERT Train The Trainer Instructor • CERT Program Manager Instructor • Member California CERT Advisory Workgroup since 2002

4. What Do We Know About Roots? • Family roots • Tree roots • Root canal – ouch! • Root of the problem • Old gnarly roots in the front yard that you have to dig out in order to put in a rose garden for your wife – lots of work and a sore back! • Or, the roots of a CERT Program!!!

5. Thinking About This Subject • “CERT programs throughout the country have become involved in all aspects of emergency preparedness and response.” • Really? Is that true? • “This session will look at how to reengage the original concept of CERT, which is teaching community members, how to educate and respond within their neighborhoods.” • “Reengage” is the key word, but what to do with it?

6. What Are We Doing?Why Are You Here, In This Room?What Motivates You To Do What You Do?

7. Why CERT Programs Fall On Hard Times • Poor leadership • Indifferent leadership • Train & Release • Jurisdictional indifference • Lack of activity • Training • Exercises • Meetings • Financial troubles • No growth – no newbies, no fresh blood • Poor organization • Illogically put together • Not supported above and below • Lack of volunteer tracking and communication • Inadequate recognition • No advancement opportunities • Bad supplemental training situation

8. You Wouldn’t Believe The Things I’ve Seen • Mutiny • Coups • Rival groups set up • Independent CERT’s not attached or approved by their jurisdiction, telling the jurisdiction what to do • Citizens starting a “CERT” when told by city leadership that CERT isn’t wanted.

9. Solutions Exist For All Of The Problems Listed On The Two Previous SlidesHow Do You Assess The Health Of Your Program?This Implies “Reengagement” Of CERT’’s Original Concept

10. So What Is CERT’s Original Concept? • People will do whatever human nature tells them to do in a crisis. • However, not all people are the same • In a disaster demands will rapidly overwhelm first responder resources. • CERT and similar volunteer groups are a “force multiplier” • We do the most good for the most people.

11. Where To Go From Here • Goals and objectives – every program needs them, formally, and written down • Make them SMART • Simple • Measureable • Achievable • Realistic • Timely

12. Five Steps In Goal Setting • Identify community needs and sponsor needs • Develop draft goal and objectives • Test the goal and objectives with sponsors and stakeholders • Periodically evaluate: • Progress toward achieving objectives • Appropriateness of objectives • Develop new goal and objectives as needed

13. Promoting Your Program – Do It Well And You’ll Get Buy-In Galore • Why do we promote? • To whom do we promote? • How to gain support through partnerships? • The relationship between program promotion and goal setting • How to initiate and foster partnerships (hint – you can’t do it all and you don’t need to either?) • The promotional message

14. Working With Volunteers • How recruit them • How to orient them • Why we track them • Methods for managing them • Techniques for retaining them • What if I need to get rid of a bad apple?

15. Policies & Procedures • Policy: A plan of action that links the organization’s “vision” and the day-to-day operations • Procedure: A series of steps the organization will take to implement a policy • Bottom line – you need to know what you plan to do and how you plan to do it • How detailed this gets is up to you and your jurisdiction – not done in a vacuum

16. Program Evaluation • Evaluation importance – This is what we are really talking about when we’re talking about “reengaging our roots” • How does the affect your partner relationships???? • What to evaluate – this gets back to your goals and objectives • What are we doing now? • How well are we doing it? • Do we need to do something differently? If so, what?

17. Things Worth Evaluating • CERT Basic Training • Supplemental training • Your program – volunteers, resources, funding • Exercises and drills – you are doing this, right? • Community activities • Partner relationships

18. Evaluation Stuff To Think About • Who needs the information that we come up with? • What kinds of data are needed? • Objective versus Subjective – both are good but you need to be clear about the differences • Where can we find the data? • Program Report – a formal document that you will use with your partners and advocates

19. How To Know If You’re Successful • Volunteers are retained • Skills are sharpened • Teams response effectively • Your program is administered capably • There is external program support • SMART objectives can and should be written to measure each of these!!!

20. Questions?