Nevada Commission on Homeland Security OKs 2014 Homeland Security grant program projects

Gov. Brian Sandoval, Chairman of the Nevada Commission on Homeland Security, along with 16 voting members recently approved the funding allocations for Federal Fiscal Year 2014 Homeland Security Grant Program projects.

During the March NCHS meeting, commissioners unanimously determined the top five priorities for investments to be funded with around $4.5 million awarded to the state of Nevada by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Based on the DHS funding criteria, the top five priorities for the state were identified.

1. Cyber Security (Mission area: Protection)
2. Intelligence and Information Sharing (Mission area: Prevention)
3. Public Information and Warning (Mission area: All)
4. Operational Coordination (Mission area: All)
5. Operational Communications (Mission area: Response)

Chief Chris Smith from the Nevada Division of Emergency Management/Homeland Security provided an overview on the process and outcome of the April 15 and 29, 2014, Homeland Security Working Group, according to a news release. Smith praised the efforts of the group comprised of 30 people from state and local jurisdictions and the collaborative process used to determine what was best for Nevada. The HSWG identified 24 projects to be funded and submitted the recommendations to the Homeland Security Finance Committee.

There were a total of 18 State Homeland Security Program (SHSP) projects totaling $3,546,350 and six Urban Area Security Initiative projects totaling $950,000.

Carson City Fire Chief Stacey Giomi, Finance Committee Vice-Chair, Carson City Fire Department, provided a briefing on the results of the May 12, 2014, Finance Committee meeting. Giomi reiterated the success of the process adopted by the working group and the budget recommendations presented to the committee based on the funds awarded. Vice-Chair Giomi made the recommendation to the commissioners to approve the 24
projects ranked by priority for final approval.

The commission unanimously approved the FFY 2014 final budget recommendations.

Several community related projects supported through the approval process for funding to adequately fulfill the state’s priorities are recapped below from the news release.

Schools Prepared And Ready Together Across Nevada
Nevada public schools educate approximately 450,000 students on a daily basis in 17 counties. The SPARTAN investment has developed and revised National Incident Management System compliant school multi-hazard operations plans in each of the counties in the State of Nevada. This project will re-establish a statewide forum comprised of local and state agencies to sustain and exercise existing operational plans and share lessons-learned in a coordinated effort among all Nevada School Districts.

Public Warning and Public Information
This initiative builds upon an existing base to implement the Presidential Policy Directive (PPD) 8 campaign to build and sustain preparedness through proactive public outreach and community-based and private sector programs for a unified approach. This directive also identifies the need to institute a unified procedure in which Nevada Public Safety Officials' can quickly disseminate alerts and warnings using Common Access Protocol (CAP) through digital means.

The reappointment of the Statewide Task Force composed of representatives from the whole community-state, local, tribal, non-profit, and private sector will focus on strengthening the existing procedures by coordinating crisis communication plans used by Nevada public safety officials. The Nevada Broadcasters will be enlisted to conduct outreach over radio and television to our citizens with messaging such as "See Something-Say Something." The task force will be charged with re-writing the statewide Emergency Alert System (EAS) plan to include Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS).

Statewide Citizen Corps Programs
Citizen Corps programs assist with public awareness, preparedness and response training for citizens and volunteers which include prevention techniques, public outreach and protocols for each county/community.

The State’s Citizen Corps Council (CCC) ensures there is appropriate membership from state, local and tribal jurisdictions to serve on the Council.
The State Council works toward assisting the local and tribal entities in developing and sustaining their local goals and objectives.
This project mission is to develop, improve, expand and support the state council with a wide array of organizations in the non-profit, faith-based, volunteer, and private sectors to distribute key information to a large segment of the population.