Vision Statement:
The Putnam County Community Resilience Coalition (CRC) envisions a resilient community in which all our children are able to quickly recover from an emergency or disaster with the support of the organizations and institutions serving them.
Mission Statement:
The Putnam County Community Resilience Coalition (CRC) will create a sustainable foundation for a resilient community by strengthening the ability of local organizations to collectively protect children before, during and after an emergency or disaster.
Putnam County is one of two sites selected nationwide for a pilot program in emergency preparedness research being conducted at Columbia University’s National Center for Disaster Preparedness (NCDP). The three-year program, called the Resilient Children/Resilient Communities Initiative was recently funded through a $2 million grant from GlaxoSmithKline in partnership with Save the Children. Washington County, Arkansas, was selected as the second site.
Emergency response plans often fail to address the specific needs of children and their families before, during and after disasters. Children’s institutions such as daycare centers and schools are often left out of the equation and communities may not have the resources to provide safe, non-traumatic sheltering and displacement services. Studies show that a slow recovery can delay return to normalcy that children need and that the long-term impact can be devastating.
Resilient Children/Resilient Communities builds on previous work done by NCDP and Save the Children. The Putnam County Department of Health and the Putnam County Bureau of Emergency Services collaborated in this earlier project, bringing together countywide participation from numerous sectors, to assist in the development of the Community Preparedness Index (CPI), an evidence-based readiness assessment tool.
The current initiative will involve and guide Putnam through a crisis simulation and help develop a sustainable, child-focused action plan. Impact will be measured using the CPI tool. The initiative will also form a National Children’s Resilience Board to identify policies and programs that improve readiness for children, and launch a nationwide outreach campaign to educate localities on how to better care for children following disasters.
For More Information:
- CRC Progress Report, Aug 2017
- Resilient Children/Resilient Communities Initiative
- Putnam County CRC Fact Sheet
- Putnam County BES Emergency Alert Options
- Ready.gov
- Save The Children
Contact: Barbara Garbarino, Project Liaison, Telephone: to 914-649-8875, Email: barbara.garbarino2@gmail.com
Agencies Involved:
- Brewster Central School District
- Camp Wilbur Herrilich
- Carmel Central School District
- Child Advocacy Center of Putnam County
- Child Care Council of Dutchess & Putnam Inc.
- Civil Air Patrol
- Community Connection – CRC
- Haldane Central School District
- Hudson Valley Cerebral Palsy Association
- Mahopac Central School District
- Mental Health Association in Putnam
- Metro-North Railroad
- NY State Office of Emergency Management, Region 2
- NY State Police – Office of Emergency Management
- NYS Department of Health
- Over the Rainbow Learning Center
- Putnam ARC (PARC)
- Putnam ARC (PARC) Preschool
- Putnam CAP/ WestCOP
- Putnam County Bureau of Emergency Services
- Putnam County Department of Health
- Putnam County Department of Social Services, Mental Health
- Putnam County Medical Reserve Corps
- Putnam County Office for People with Disabilities
- Putnam County Sheriff’s Department
- Putnam County Youth Bureau
- Putnam Family & Community Services
- Putnam Head Start
- Putnam Hospital Center
- Putnam Valley Children’s Center
- Putnam/Northern Westchester BOCES
- Town of Carmel
- Town of Philipstown
- Westchester Community Opportunity Program (Westcop)