_http://www.gsnmagazine.com/node/27286?c=disaster_preparedness_emergency_response

First FEMA Corp class

The first 231 public disaster preparedness/recovery volunteers from DHS’s FEMA Corps program finished their instruction courses on Sept. 13 and are set for their initial 10 months of service in the new organization helping disaster victims around the country.

DHS announced the FEMA Corpsinitiative in March, in conjunction with the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS). DHS called the program an “innovative new partnership” aimed at strengthening disaster response and recovery and expanding career opportunities for young people. CNCS is an independent federal agency under which more than five million volunteers work through Senior Corps, AmeriCorps, and Learn and Serve America. The agency was created in 1993, and was formerly known as the "Corporation for National Service" or "CNS.”

FEMA Deputy Administrator Rich Serino gave the keynote address at the induction ceremony for the inaugural class of FEMA Corps members on Sept. 13 at FEMA’s Center for Domestic Preparedness in Vicksburg, MS, according to a DHS blog post.

In a previous blog post on August 13, Serino said FEMA Corps members will build on the extensive work that AmeriCorps to establish a service cadre dedicated to disaster response and recovery, adding that AmeriCorps was the inspiration for FEMA Corps.

FEMA Corps members, it said, will now help with disaster preparedness, response, and recovery activities, providing support in areas ranging from working directly with disaster survivors to supporting disaster recovering centers to sharing valuable disaster preparedness and mitigation information with the public.

FEMA Corps, said Serino, sets the foundation for a new generation of emergency managers, promoting civic engagement as well as offering an educational and financial opportunity for young people. The program, he said, is designed to strengthen the nation’s disaster response by supplementing FEMA’s existing Reservist workforce.

In his Aug. 13 blog post, Serino said there were 231 members in the class, ranging in age from 18 to 24. Members, he said, completed their first month of training with CNCS in August and sent on to the Center for Domestic Preparedness for two weeks of training in their FEMA position-specific roles.

With both CNCS and FEMA training completed, said Serino, the new FEMA Corps members will be qualified to work in one of a variety of disaster related roles, ranging from Community Relations to Disaster Recovery Center support.

Serino called the inductees “pioneers that combined the citizen service of AmeriCorps’ National Civilian Community Corps with FEMA’s specialized mission of supporting survivors with their recovery after a disaster.”

The new members, he said, will contribute to a dedicated, trained, and reliable disaster workforce by working full-time for ten months on federal disaster response and recovery efforts.