Disaster Recovery Workshop for

StatesFrom Plan to Implementation: Lessons Learned

Personnel

Where/how to find skilled staff?

• Reach out (Find CDBG expertise)– HUD– COSCDA– Other State CDBG Offices

• OCD first hired key managers– Key managers then hired their own staff

• Advertise (Get the word out)– Standard LA State procedures

OCD Hiring Procedures

• Used existing personnel procedures to hire “Unclassified” positions– Expedited process– Provided salary flexibility to encourage

experienced personnel to relocate

• Hired Managers from Louisiana, Pennsylvania, New York, North Dakota, and Kentucky

OCD Existing Staff

TOTAL NUMBER OF CURRENT DRU STAFF: 54

TO ADMINISTER A $13.4 BILLION PROGRAM

Restructuring

LRA and OCD combining officesTotal Combined Staff: 79Total Positions Vacant: 24• DRU Assistant Director• Housing Specialists• Hazard Mitigation• Economic Development• Planning

OCD Organizational Chart

Future Challenges

• Maintaining knowledgeable and experienced personnel in an uncertain environment (restructuring, longevity of program)

• Assuming contractor responsibilities as program winds down

• Developing longer term program monitoring capabilities

• Streamlining process for future disasters

What would you do differently?

• Establish emergency hiring and contractor procurement procedures BEFORE a disaster– Identification of experienced personnel and

resources across state agencies– Create a ‘Reserve’ list of State employees or

retirees to ‘borrow’ until you have the time to hire permanent staff

• Policy and Implementation under one roof• Staff up faster

– Hire as many positions as possible early on– Use contractors if necessary (private sector can

staff up faster)

How to seek/qualify consultants?

• Follow Procurement Best Practices • Look at consultants’ capacity (how

many sub-contractors are necessary to provide the service?)

• Talk to prior clients and subcontractors regarding past performance

• Less emphasis on knowledge of funding sources (CDBG/HMGP) and more emphasis on management experience and customer service

Building Surge Capacity

• OCD enlisted the assistance of other state agencies DHH, DSS, for some programs

• OCD required consultants to have subcontractors in place as part of the SFO process

• In general FEMA, ICF, and others were able to build surge capacity through:– Extensive use of consultants and

subcontractors– Salaries commensurate with experience and

disaster recovery efforts

Building Surge Capacity

• Road Home Contractor, ICF, was required to hire over 2,000 employees in less than 1 month -38 subcontractors including 2 non-profit agencies and 3 educational institutions-Job Fairs

• For meeting closing and other benchmarks, the contractor had employee competitions and rewards

Recommendations

• Streamline state civil service requirements to expedite the hiring process and salary flexibility in a disaster

• Establish a “Reserve” list for disaster recovery efforts (employees and other agencies).

• Development of a COSCDA Disaster Rapid Response Team