San Bernardino County, California Transitional Assistance Department

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San Bernardino County, CaliforniaTransitional
Assistance Department

• Disaster Recovery and Service Delivery

June Hutchison Jhutchison_at_hss.sbcounty.gov 909.383
.9712
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Where is San Bernardino County?
You are here
Largest county in lower 48 Over 20,000 square
miles Borders many large counties and States of
Arizona, and Nevada Population 2,007,800 The
county employs over 18,000
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Timeline October 2007

• Sunday, October 21 Fires began
• Monday, October 22 Evacuation Center opened
• Monday, October 22 Human Services on site at
  Evacuation Ctr.
• Wednesday, October 24 Federal Disaster
  Declaration
• Thursday, October 25 Disaster Food Stamp Program
  authorized

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Fire/Disaster Food Stamp Statistics
NASA Photo

• Over 14,000 acres burned
• 520 structures damaged or destroyed
• 6,000 evacuated from their homes
• DFSP served 3,449 Households/10,513 people
• Issued 1.4M in Food Stamp benefits

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Evacuation Center Transitional Assistance
Specifics

• Human Services/Transitional Assistance
  Disaster Coordinator on site
• Staffing by employee volunteers
• 20 25 staff - some core, some staggered
• 12 hours shifts
• 12 C-IV laptops

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Staffing Time
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Fire Emergency Local Assistance Center (FELAC)
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What worked

• Being prepared - 2003 Fires
• Our staff
• Other county agencies
• County Website
• Keeping CBOs informed
• Pre-pinned EBT Cards

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What Worked, continued

• Our Eligibility System Consortium IV (C-IV)
• Disaster FS program built in, needed to be
  activated
• Extended system availability if needed
• Daily Reports to State and FNS
• Toughbooks to wirelessly access C-IV
• Willingness of County Consortium partners to
  assist

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Lessons Learned

• Be flexible
• I speak Spanish stickers
• Varied levels of staff
• Identify core disaster staff/meet quarterly
• Appointment System
• EBT Cards/POS machines to test cards
• Create a list of needed supplies/disaster
  checklist
• Automated systems available outside of normal
  hours
• Separate workstation for staff to conduct county
  business, complete time sheets, etc.

Hablo Español
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Samples

• Supporting Documentation
• Date and type of disaster
• Geographical areas affected
• Statutory prerequisites
• Determine need and estimated number of HH
• Duration of the DFSP disaster period
• Waivers
• Security
• Processing plan
• Notifying the public

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Questions