Promising Practices for Evacuation of People with Disabilities Evacuation Study for People with Disabilities Frances Norwood, PhD Inclusion Research Institute www.disabilityevacuationstudy.org Getting Real II FEMA, Office of Disability Integration and Coordination September 12-14, 2011 Arlington, Virginia Evacuation Study for People with Disabilities (2007-2011) Dr. Brian J. Gerber, Principal Investigator School of Public Affairs University of Colorado-Denver Dr. Frances Norwood, Co-Investigator Inclusion Research Institute Inclusive Preparedness Center Dr. Michael J. Zakour, Co-Investigator Division of Social Work West Virginia University Project Sponsor U.S. Department of Education, National Instituteon Disability and Rehabilitation Research Evacuation Study for People with Disabilities (2007-2010) .1162 surveys with individuals with disabilities with disaster experience from seven states –Louisiana,California, Florida, Texas, West Virginia, North Carolina, and Missouri .500 surveys with disability providers and emergency management/responders with disaster experience from seven states .35 best practice phone interviews with disability providers and emergency representatives from across the nation Main Findings .Registries don’t work .Evacuating persons with significant disabilities is dangerous .Social networks are an important resource in preparedness, response and recovery “Registries Don’t Work” .[Registries] don’t work. People don’t register. We had over 3,000 who needed help with evacuation and only 300 registered [in Galveston]. [Registries] make people think someone is going to come help them and it puts fire and rescue at risk(Gretchen Stone, PhD, Educational Psychology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas) Solution:Leverage Existing Disability Provider Contacts .Leverage the existing providers who already keep their lists up-to-date to ascertain who might need additional evacuation assistance. Registries in an urban setting are irresponsible and short- sighted(June Isaacson Kailes, Disability Policy Consultant and Associate Director, Center for Disability Issues, Sacramento, California) Solution: Providers Should Form MOAs with Other Providers .Identify and establish relationships with other providers outside of their evacuation zone. People have to establish relationships with other providers outside of the state so they can receive help from those providers without having to use a lot of discretionary funds(Donna Francis, Director, Metropolitan Human Services District, Developmental Disabilities Services, New Orleans, Louisiana) Solution:Work Through Providers to Build Your Registry .The major thing I would encourage providers to do is work with those family members who don’t have a plan. Help them get registered on local registries. Sometimes people just need support to get them registered(Donna Francis, Director, Metropolitan Human Services District, Developmental Disabilities Services, New Orleans, Louisiana) Barriers and Solutions .Hard and expensive to maintain .Communicates the wrong message .Few register .Effective in disaster? .Identify unmet needs through providers .Have providers build viable evacuation plans .Use providers to get the word out to maintain your registry .Need to support better coordination between EM and disability providers Evacuating People with Significant Disabilities is Too Dangerous .“[Hurricane] Rita contributed to the deaths of 119 people, 113 of those in Texas. Sadly, only 6 of the deaths were attributed to the storm. The other 107 deaths were caused by activities related to the evacuation” (Seale and Mazel 2009:11). Evacuating People with Significant Disabilities is Too Dangerous .We have an 87 acre facility, 167 residents, 500 staff. Our consumers are persons who are intellectually disabled. We have persons who are medically fragile and with behavioral problems. We are not going to evacuate. Period.(Fairfax service provider, DC Tabletop participant, October 28, 2010) Solution: TLC Galveston Team Approach to Evacuation .25 persons with traumatic brain injury and 25 staff evacuated in Hurricanes Rita 2005 and Ike 2008 .Make agreements at like facility ahead of time .Practice plan with residents and staff .Multiple ways to communicate when cell phones are down .Establishing normalcy for residents and staff .Bring all vehicles .Leave after the rush Solution: TLC Galveston Team Approach to Evacuation Barriers and Solutions .Availability of accessible transportation .Traffic jams .Accessible destination .Disruption of routine .Review transportation contracts, bring all vehicles .Leave early, leave late .MOAs with like providers .Establish normal routine .Make evacuation a viable alternative Previous Evacuations Separated Families .We learned that shelters need to be ready for people with [various kinds of] disabilities. They separated people with disabilities from their families on the way out of town and you can’t do that. The people manning the shelters need a better general awareness of disability(Cliff Doescher, Executive Director, The Arc of New Orleans, Louisiana) Social Networks Aid Preparation .Persons who receive strong social support during disasters are more likely to have knowledge of an evacuation destination (67.5%) than those without strong social support (31.8%) Knowledge of Specific Evacuation Destination Respondent Receives General Family/Friends Support During Disasters Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree Total Yes 67.5 (347) 56.3 (262) 45.1 (32) 31.8 (14) 59.9 (655) No 32.5 (167) 43.7 (203) 54.9 (39) 68.2 (30) 40.1 (439) Total 100.0 (514) 100.0 (465) 100.0 (71) 100.0 (44) 100.0 (1094) Pearson .2 value = 35.78 (df = 3, n= 1094), with an effect size (eta) . = .18. Social Networks Aid Preparation .65.8% of persons with 3 or greater voluntary memberships consider themselves “well prepared” to evacuate, compared to 47.8% of those with 1 voluntary membership. Evacuation Capacity Assessment Number of Voluntary Memberships 1 2 3 or Greater Not Very Well Prepared 9.8 (43) 5.5 (7) 6.3 (5) Somewhat Prepared 28.7 (126) 24.2 (31) 22.8 (18) Well Prepared 47.8 (210) 67.2 (86) 65.8 (52) Total 100.0 (439) 100.0 (128) 100.0 (79) Pearson .2 value =26.33 (df = 6, n= 646), with an effect size (eta) . = 0.20 Social Networks Aid Preparation .While 75.3% of those respondents with a caregiver knew what to take on an evacuation, only 59.5% of those without a caregiver did. Had to leave your home for several days or more because of a disaster * and you or member of HH use a caregiver for assistance with daily activities You or member of HH use a caregiver for assistance with daily activities TOTAL Yes No Had to leave your home for several days or more because of a disaster Yes No 75.3% (271) 59.5% (257) 66.7% (528) 24.7% (89) 40.5% (175) 33.3% (264) Total 100% (360) 100% (432) 100% (792) Pearson .2 value =22.02 (df = 1, n= 792), with an effect size (eta) . = .17 Social Networks Aid Evacuation .82.8% of respondents with a caregiver actually evacuated, while only 64.3% without a caregiver evacuated. Did you or someone from your household evacuate your home? And you or member of HH use a caregiver for assistance with daily activities You or member of HH use a caregiver for assistance with daily activities TOTAL Yes No Did you or someone from your household evacuate your home? Yes 82.8% (193) 64.3% (153) 73.5% (346) No 17.2% (40) 35.7% (85) 26.5% (125) Total 100.0% (233) 100.0% (238) 100.0% (471) Pearson .2 value =20.77 (df = 1, n= 471), with an effect size (eta) . = 0.21 Solution: Texas SNET .During Rita and Katrina, we had people get on planes and we had no way of tracking them. We had no idea where they went. The importance of tracking is [I now know] that John Smith got on the bus in Corpus Christie and is now at Fort Worth. This is a web-based system, so this is real time information (Rex Ogle, Preparedness Section Administrator, Texas Division of Emergency Management, Austin, Texas) Solution: Provider Involvement .In Galveston, we practiced walking homeless to the pick up spot to help them get to the evacuation spot. I had a relationship with them which helped too. Someone cares if I live or not. That meant something. It also helped that we had refreshments for the walk(Gretchen Stone, PhD, Educational Psychology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas) Barriers and Solutions .Families separated in evacuation/shelter .Individuals up-rooted from their social supports & networks in evacuation & recovery .Policy not to separate families in evacuation/shelter .Providers foster social connections .Foster provider role in response & recovery .Foster social networks in recovery? Evacuation Study for People with Disabilities Frances Norwood, PhDInclusion Research Institute fnorwood@inclusionresearch.org www.disabilityevacuationstudy.org