Emergency services: vulnerable populations.

Existing law, the California Emergency Services Act, establishes, within the office of the Governor, the Office of Emergency Services (OES) under the supervision of the Director of Emergency Services. Existing law makes OES responsible for addressing natural, technological, or manmade disasters and emergencies, including activities necessary to prevent, respond to, recover from, and mitigate the effects of emergencies and disasters to people and property. Existing law requires OES to establish a standardized emergency management system for use by all emergency response agencies. Existing law requires the director to appoint representatives of the disabled community to serve on pertinent committees related to that system, and to ensure that the needs of the disabled community are met within that system by ensuring certain committee recommendations include the needs of people with disabilities. This bill instead would require the director to appoint representatives of the access and functional needs population, provided a majority of appointees are from specified groups, to serve on those committees and to ensure the needs of that population are met within that system. Under existing law, political subdivisions, as defined, have full power during a local emergency to provide mutual aid to any affected area in accordance with local ordinances, resolutions, emergency plans, or agreements. Existing law defines "emergency plan" for these purposes to mean official and approved documents that describe the principles and methods to be applied in carrying out emergency operations or rendering mutual aid during emergencies. Existing law requires a county, upon the next update to its emergency plan, to integrate access and functional needs into its emergency plan and to include representatives from the access and functional needs population, as defined, regarding that integration. This bill would require a county to send a copy of its emergency plan to OES on or before March 1, 2022, and upon any update to the plan after that date. By creating a new duty for counties, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The bill would require OES, if requested, in consultation with representatives of people with a variety of access and functional needs, to review the emergency plan of each county to determine whether the plans are consistent with certain best practices and guidance, as specified. The bill would require counties to develop and revise emergency plans to address the issues identified by OES in OES's review. The bill would require OES, if requested, to provide technical assistance to a county in developing and revising its emergency plan to address the issues that the office identified in its review. Existing law, on or before July 1, 2019, requires OES, in consultation with specified groups and entities, including the disability community, to develop guidelines for alerting and warning the public of an emergency, as specified, and to provide each city and county with a copy of the guidelines. Existing law requires OES, within 6 months of making those guidelines available and at least annually, to develop an alert and warning training that includes information regarding certain emergency alert systems and the alert and warning guidelines. This bill, instead, would require OES to develop those guidelines on or before July 1, 2022, would include the access and functional needs community, as provided, instead of the disability community in the list of groups that OES is required to consult, and would require OES to develop the alert and warning training with involvement of representatives of the access and functional needs community. Existing law requires OES, in cooperation with involved state and local agencies, to complete an after-action report within 180 days after each declared disaster that reviews public safety response and disaster recovery activities. This bill would require OES to include conclusions and recommendations based on findings in the report. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.