Intergovernmental Relations and Preparedness

Relations on the Ground

Mutual aid agreements, federal and local disaster response, and homeland security all represent the varying levels and complexity of intergovernmental relations. The use of integrated and interdependent collaborations as a form of intergovernmental relations allows public and private organizations to work together and create a solution to a problem larger than any one organization could handle.

This synergy is exemplified by the efforts of first responders in disaster situations. Local emergency management officials hold the emergency operations center (EOC) as the nucleus of response operations, where representatives of public safety, fire/rescue, law enforcement, city government, local health departments, and local water districts meet to ensure that necessary information is communicated in a timely fashion. Press conferences are held to inform residents of the current disaster situation and provide additional instruction. Various informal networks respond during and after a disaster, such as those providing immediate shelter, food, or health services. Public, private, and nonprofit organizations align with one another based upon their purpose, and coordinate their efforts by communicating through the EOC to support the community. It is important for all implementation plans to identify not only the number of participating agencies, but also the type of relationship they have. To be effective, agencies must reciprocally command the support, resources, and commitment of the other.

In addition to group processes such as respect, trust, and regular interaction, various government agencies must have the capacity to collaborate in order to be successful in managing disasters and crises, which includes having the appropriate financial, technological, and human resources to contribute to a collective effort. Agencies also need to be able to effectively communicate within an interagency context. Political scientist Eugene Bardach identifies interagency collaborative capacity as an important framework for creating new collaborative efforts. Building this capacity into intergovernmental relations during disaster preparedness requires that agency leaders remain steadfast in the process without giving in to personal preferences.

Department of Homeland Security

In the year following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States, 22 federal agencies were reorganized to create the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), charged with coordinating government resources to battle terrorism and secure the country from natural and human-made threats. Determining ways to coordinate extensive federal resources among hundreds of state and local interests has been a challenge for DHS. The coordination among federal, state, and local emergency management agencies in disaster preparedness and response is a function of their standard operating procedures. As the federal coordinating agency, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) recommends that all state and local emergency management [Page 348]functions implement the all-hazards emergency management approach of disaster response. Intergovernmental relations in mitigation takes the form of implementing improved building codes at municipal, county, and state levels and coordinating land use planning at municipal and county levels to prevent development in disaster-prone regions. Disaster preparedness activities arrange responders to react during a disaster and increase their capacity to respond. Preparedness activities include creating regional or metropolitan warning systems, practicing response activities with mutual aid partners, and training first responders at municipal and county levels. After a disaster strikes, the response activities take form in addressing immediate needs, and can include working with entities from other jurisdictions to provide rescue, food, water, housing, or medical services. The long-term assistance, or recovery, to communities that extends beyond the initial response such as temporary housing, grants-in-aid, and job assistance are the cooperative effort of the local jurisdiction and the specialized agency. Each of these disaster management phases overlap, and emphasis is placed on intergovernmental relations.

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