Center for Collaborative Policy
California State University, Sacramento
So, what exactly should an emergency manager do? This was the question raised by the California Emergency Services Association (CESA) leadership in late 2010, in response to unprecedented changes in the field since 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, and the Great Recession.
Facing increased expectations and fewer resources, the emergency management profession is being forced to evolve and meet new, dynamic challenges. Since 2001, funding, expectations and attention to the field of emergency management and homeland security has increased dramatically, fundamentally altering the role of the local emergency manager—but until now no self evaluation has been able to take place for the field.
To accomplish this effort, CESA requested the assistance of the Center for Collaborative Policy, California State University Sacramento (CCP) to serve as a neutral party and facilitator in this important dialogue. CCP worked with CESA members before their annual conference through surveys and interviews to assess the state of the field, and then at the conference CCP facilitated a series of feedback and dialogue sessions where issues were sorted out and offered as recommendations. An article on the project was written by Adam Sutkus, Phyllis Cauley and Nicole Ugarte is attached below—the article was published by the American Society for Public Administration and also the International Association of Emergency Management. The final ‘Findings and Recommendations’ report provided to the CESA organization is also attached. For any questions, please feel free to contact Adam Sutkus (asutkus@ccp.csus.edu or 916.838.2093)