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Session Title: Disaster and Emergency Management Evaluation TIG Business Meeting and Panel: Evaluation of the National Case Management Consortium Katrina Aid Today: What Have We Learned?
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Business Meeting with Panel Session 324 to be held in Calvert Ballroom Salon B on Thursday, November 8, 9:35 AM to 11:05 AM
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Sponsored by the Disaster and Emergency Management Evaluation TIG
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| TIG Leader(s):
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Liesel Ritchie,
Western Michigan University,
liesel.ritchie@wmich.edu
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Scott Chaplowe,
American Red Cross,
schaplowe@amcrossasia.org
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Mary Davis,
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill,
mvdavis@email.unc.edu
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| Chair(s): |
| Cindy Roberts-Gray,
Third Coast Research and Development Inc,
croberts@thirdcoastresearch.com
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| Discussant(s):
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| Celine Carbullido,
United Methodist Committee on Relief-Katrina Aid Today,
celine.carbullido@katrinaaidtoday.org
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| Abstract:
Katrina Aid Today (KAT), first of its kind, is a consortium of nine national case management partners to facilitate recovery of 100,000 households of Hurricane Katrina. The in-house evaluation team at United Methodist Committee on Relief-KAT, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) which sponsors KAT, the Coordinated Assistance Network (CAN) for information sharing, The Salvation Army (TSA) in its role as a member of the consortium, and Third Coast Research & Development, Inc as external mid-term formative evaluator are our panel. Following brief presentations, panel members will join session attendees in small group discussion to identify lessons learned and issues for continued attention. The discussant will review the groups' responses and outline a plan for using lessons learned to 1) facilitate long term recover of disaster survivors and 2) improve disaster and emergency management evaluation.
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United Methodist Committee on Relief: Katrina Aid Today - The Coordinator's Role in the Evaluation
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| Amanda Janis,
United Methodist Committee on Relief-Katrina Aid Today,
amanda.janis@katrinaaidtoday.org
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Katrina Aid Today (KAT) was created by the United Methodist Committee on Relief as a response to Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Department of Homeland Security's call for a national consortium of case management agencies following Hurricane Katrina. KAT oversees and coordinates all programmatic operations of its nine partners, including a standardized monitoring and evaluation system for reporting results and impact of the consortium's case management operations. KAT's monitoring and evaluation system grew out of the original program design and has been flexible to complement the organizational framework of the individual national partners as well as the evolution of the program and services. Included in KAT's results framework is the use and reporting from the Coordinated Assistance Network (CAN) database, implementing partner site visits, monitoring and evaluative reporting, support for partner evaluations, client focus groups, external and internal mid-term formative evaluations, and final summative evaluations.
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Federal Emergency Management Agency: The Sponsor's Role in the Evaluation
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| Liz Monahan-Gibson,
Federal Emergency Management Agency,
liz.gibson@dhs.gov
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Eight weeks after Hurricane Katrina destroyed the Gulf States and displaced its residents, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced its sponsorship of a national, nine-partner consortium of case management agencies called Katrina Aid Today (KAT). The first of its kind, Katrina Aid Today, with guidance from FEMA, established a framework for program evaluation in order to measure client outcomes through specified indicators as well as monitor and evaluate the consortium's combined efforts. FEMA's Voluntary Agency Liaisons stepped forward in their traditional role in order to connect and coordinate KAT consortium partners to the larger network of disaster responders. This role has both informed the work of KAT as well as connected the larger federal agency to the teachings of the program. FEMA is now authorized under the Stafford Act to implement case management services in future disasters and looks to KAT as a model for future use.
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Coordinated Assistance Network (CAN): The Role of Technology in Information Sharing
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| Noah Simon,
Coordinated Assistance Network,
noah@can.org
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In the recovery phase of natural or man-made disaster, aid organizations work around the clock to bring vital services to those who are suffering. This work often has been hampered by the inability of disaster relief organizations to quickly and effectively communicate client needs and services offered among a continuum of agencies providing services. In order to collect client information, coordinate service, and prevent duplication of services by disaster relief organizations, a secure, web based database was created called the Coordinated Assistance Network (CAN) for the purpose of information sharing. As part of the agreement between United Methodist Committee on Relief/Katrina Aid Today and consortium members, agencies use the CAN technology platform, at no cost, as their common data sharing information system. CAN has proven an effective data collection tool for standardized reporting and monitoring of case management information as well as coordinated provision of referrals and services.
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The Salvation Army - Southern Territory: A Partner's Role in the Evaluation
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| Terry Hammond,
Salvation Army,
terry_hammond@uss.salvationarmy.org
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The Salvation Army is one of the nine Katrina Aid Today (KAT) national partners providing long term case management to persons and families affected by Hurricane Katrina. In an effort to ensure quality service to clients as well as compliance with the federal grant, the Salvation Army (TSA) has implemented independent evaluation strategies complementary of the consortium's overall evaluation framework. Primary to TSA's KAT proposal and implementation of disaster recovery case management is improving the wellbeing of the disaster-impacted households they serve. In order to assess this, all TSA case managers administer the 'General Contentment Scale' tool with client households at beginning, midpoint and closure of the case management process. TSA is the only KAT partner to solely focus on client outcomes as part of their independent evaluation. The Salvation Army-Southern Territory division oversees the Army's national implementation of Katrina Aid Today.
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External Formative Mid-term Evaluation: The Fole of the External Evaluator at Mid-term
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| Mary Sondgeroth,
Third Coast Research and Development Inc,
sondg@austin.rr.com
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Independent external mid-term evaluation of the innovative National Case Management Consortium, Katrina Aid Today (KAT) in late fall 2006 consisted of five studies providing five ôvoicesö in response to formative evaluation questions. The studies included focus groups with KAT clients (Katrina survivors); focus groups with case managers (many of whom are also Katrina survivors); telephone interviews with program managers representing the nine national case management partners, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and the Coordinated Assistance Network (CAN); secondary quantitative analyses of data recorded in CAN to document assessed needs, disaster recovery plans, use of resources including Long-Term Recovery Committees, and client outcomes; and qualitative analyses of the program's many written records and reports. Implications for assistance to survivors of major disasters in the future will be discussed, and learning from this process and these results will be enhanced through dialogue with conference attendees.
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