Community-focused equity in local disaster response and recovery programs
Natural and human-made disasters often spotlight the disparities and inequities vulnerable communities face. As Jordanna Rubin, our director of disaster resilience and equity explains, incorporating equitable strategies into disaster planning, response and recovery helps reduce some of these disproportionate burdens.
A study from the University of Washington found that predominately Black, Hispanic or Native American communities are 50 percent more vulnerable to disasters than communities overall. Native Americans have even greater levels of vulnerability due to socioeconomic barriers, making recovery especially difficult.1 After Hurricane Ian, people with limited mobility and chronic health conditions were especially vulnerable, with nearly all the fatalities being people aged 50 or older. The devastating Maui wildfires of 2023 imposed unequal burdens on people of color and indigenous communities, many now facing long-term environmental and public health impacts.
To support the most vulnerable, disaster planners, emergency managers and recovery professionals must prioritize equitable strategies covering pre- and post-disaster response and recovery. These strategies shorten the disaster cycle for all survivors, reduce disproportionate impacts, promote community resilience, and enhance social justice. Failing to address equity has serious consequences and impacts on our most vulnerable communities.
A Federal priority
At the beginning of President Joe Biden’s term, racial equity was identified as a top Federal priority. In January 2021, the administration passed Executive Order 13985: “Advancing Racial Justice and Support for Underserved Communities through the Federal Government” and Executive Order 14091: “Further Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities”. As a result, the Justice40 social Equity Initiative was created (Executive Order 14008). Justice40 is a whole-of-government effort to ensure that Federal agencies work with states and local communities to deliver at least 40 percent of the overall benefits from Federal investment in climate and clean energy to disadvantaged communities. More than 14 Federal Agencies are implementing and advancing the Justice40 Initiative from clean energy projects to floodwater protections.2
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is working to deliver better services to marginalized and vulnerable populations and has identified initiatives to address equity in its programs. FEMA’s equitable strategies include leveraging resources to meet the needs of the most vulnerable, consulting underserved communities in FEMA policy and program implementation, and providing training and tools to FEMA staff and partners to advance equitable programs. This approach can be a foundation or guiding principle for local emergency managers to design an equitable disaster response and recovery program.
Designing an equity framework for local emergency managers and disaster professionals
With FEMA’s approach as a guide, the following key steps can be used as a framework to build and implement an effective equitable approach to disaster response and recovery:
1. Gather data and analyze disparities: Tools including SoVI, SVI, EJ Screen, National Risk Index (NRI), and census data can help identify and map communities that will most likely need support before, during and after a hazardous event. During data collection, “ground truthing community” data may be required with key stakeholders, community-based organizations or faith-based organizations to make sure you have the right data, it is complete and accurate, and that you understand it. Using your data, identify inequalities in access to critical services including, housing, healthcare, education or employment and consider the intersectionality of such factors with race, gender, socio-economic or other factors that interact and exacerbate disparities.
2. Identify the desired intent, goals and objectives: Determine what you are working to achieve in an equitable response and recovery program and recognize this will be specific to your community. Reducing disparities allows access to resources and services, promoting greater trust in institutions responsible for providing them. Creating systemic change can help avoid or reduce disparities in post-event resources and support, fostering equitable distribution and appropriate differentiation of services.
3. Engage and empower stakeholders: To address a community’s unique needs, it is important to involve the community in policy and program decision-making, listen to their needs and work with them to develop a plan that meets those needs. Conduct listening sessions to collect information about the community’s specific experience and provide opportunities for stakeholders to take on appropriate leadership roles in emergency management programs. Involving community members throughout the disaster lifecycle will support an equitable emergency and disaster management approach.
4. Develop tactics and strategies: Design flexible tactics and strategies since community members have differing abilities to access recovery programs. For example, consider emergency management personnel and teams – are they multilingual? Do they have a shared vision for equity? Are you designing programs with a ‘survivor first’ mentality? Do your spaces and resources meet accessibility and functional mobility needs?
5. Evaluate and adjust: Once designed and implemented, it is important to continuously measure the success of your program and determine if you are meeting your program objectives. Evaluation metrics should help you understand access, use, and quality of services and time to recovery.
As you implement, continue to monitor and evaluate your strategies. Maintain transparency and consider feedback methods to understand program outputs such as participation rates and near- and mid-term outcomes.
At the local level, full integration of equitable principles into all phases of emergency and disaster management will help managers understand the unique needs of their communities and support the most impactful approach to response and recovery. Such a framework is essential to supporting vulnerable populations with disaster recovery because it ensures fairness, addresses disparities, reduces vulnerability, builds trust and resilience, promotes social justice, and provides a path for sustainable recovery.