Letter to Jeh Johnson, Secretary of Homeland Security - Urges FEMA to Renew Nassau & Suffolk's SAFER Programs
Letter
The Honorable Jeh Johnson
Secretary
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Nebraska Avenue Center, NW
Washington, DC 20528
Dear Secretary:
I am pleased to write in support of the application submitted by the Nassau County Office of Emergency Management for funding under the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response Grants (Application EMW-2013-FF-00583). Such funding will enable Nassau County to implement a fire service recruitment retention plan.
Nassau County has seventy-one independent fire districts that serve a population of almost 1.4 million residents. The membership is almost all volunteer, drawing recruitment from their respective communities. Volunteers are therefore critical and, thus, volunteer firefighter recruitment and retention are vital to maintaining the staffing levels required to meet the operational demands to protect Nassau County residents.
With funding, Nassau County OEM will coordinate with its 71 FDs to implement a regional county-wide Fire Service Recruitment Retention Plan. Goals include: hiring a program coordinator to focus on outreach and management of their Fire Service Recruitment Retention Plan; conducting more Volunteer Fire Service awareness campaigns in local schools; conducting targeted multi-channel public outreach campaigns; utilizing SAFER funding for college tuition at the local community college in return for volunteer fire service commitment; working with FDs to construct viable succession planning programs; providing initial and ongoing training at the local fire academy for volunteers; and conducting quarterly reviews, surveys and analysis to determine program efficiency and measure expected outcomes. The primary goals of this plan are the retention of younger members, increasing overall turnout, and succession planning. I applaud Nassau County for its foresight, and I sincerely hope its application for funding meets with your approval.
Thank you for your consideration. For additional information, please do not hesitate to contact me or my Grants Director, Marissa Emanuel, in my Washington office at 202-224-6542.
Sincerely,
Source