Section: Scope of Operations /
Title: Promulgation Page / Last Revision Date: May 7, 2015 /
WHEREAS, the City of Brooklyn Park and Independent School District 279 is charged with the responsibility to develop and maintain a family reunification plan; and
WHEREAS, the City of Brooklyn Park Office of Emergency Management and Independent School District 279 have worked together to draft and update this plan; and
WHEREAS, the City of Brooklyn Park and Independent School District 279 each have standard operating procedures that could be used in concert with this plan; and
WHEREAS, the adoption of this plan by the City Council of Brooklyn Park and Independent School District 279 establishes the roles and responsibilities during the response and recovery phases of a large scale event at an elementary school;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the City Council of Brooklyn Park and Independent School District 279 to adopt the Elementary School Family Reunification Plan
IN WITNESS THEREOF, we have subscribed our signature;
NAME / TITLE, AGENCY / SIGNATURE / DATEJeffrey L. Lunde / Mayor
COBP
Michael Sable / Interim City Manager, COBP
Kenneth T. Prillaman / Fire Chief
COBP
Jody L. Yungers / Rec & Parks Director, COBP
Craig Enevoldsen / Police Chief, COBP
Dean Henke / School Board Chair, ISD 279
Kate Maguire / Superintendent
ISD 279
Dean Olsen / Health & Safety Coord., ISD 279
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Office of Emergency Management - Family Reunification Plan /Section: Scope of Operations /
Title: Agency Involvement / Last Revision Date: May 7, 2015 /
This Family Reunification Plan has been developed through a collaborative effort involving representatives from the Brooklyn Park Fire Department and Office of Emergency Management, the Brooklyn Park Police Department and Independent School District 279. This plan would not have been possible without the perseverance and support of the following Planning Team members:
· Suzette Erickson, Principal Crest View Elementary
· Dimitri Russell, Assistant Principal, Crest View Elementary
· Dean Olsen, Health & Safety Coordinator, Osseo Area Schools
· Jody Seppala, Osseo Area Schools
· Mark Bruley, Deputy Chief, Brooklyn Park Police Department
· Todd Milburn, Deputy Chief, Brooklyn Park Police Department
· Bill Barritt, Inspector, Brooklyn Park Police Department
Although the initial work was completed by the initial consortium outlined above, we believe the plan serves all school districts operating in the City of Brooklyn Park and we believe that the Community Center, and the designed Family Reunification set up, could serve surrounding communities.
The need for a robust family reunification plan is needed in all jurisdictions yet the effort to create redundant centers in every city does not seem justifiable and as an organization that supports, and seeks, shared services opportunities, we believe this is an initiative that could be refined and then ultimately serve several neighboring communities and the schools they serve.
AGENCY PARTICIPATION:
As of the implementation date of the plan, the parties intending to utilize this plan for family reunification include:
ü The City of Brooklyn Park for all resident ISD 279 schools
ü Independent School District 279 for all of its Brooklyn Park, Brooklyn Center and Osseo schools
It is the intent to pursue discussions with the Robbinsdale School District and the Anoka-Hennepin School District to include them in the scope of this family reunification plan. The short term objective would be to use the Community Center and this plan for all Brooklyn Park schools.
As additional school districts or communities adopt this plan, separate annexes will be added to address district-specific set up, coordination and communication needs.
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Office of Emergency Management - Family Reunification Plan /Section: Scope of Operations /
Title: Purpose & Goals Overview / Last Revision Date: May 7, 2015 /
Purpose:
This plan provides guidance so the City of Brooklyn Park and Independent School District 279 can provide effective and efficient reunification of elementary school students with appropriate family or authorized friends in the event of natural disaster, man-made disaster or other large scale traumatic incidents which creates the need for reunification and support in dealing with the issue.
Goals:
ü Ensure children and authorized family members or care givers are safely reunited following an incident
ü Provide for the health and well-being of those impacted by the incident
ü Support the community in starting the recovery process from a tragic event
Description:
A facility and process that would allow for reconnecting displaced or separated family members. Family reunification centers are used when, for a variety of reasons, schools need to relocate their students to another facility and then accommodate or orchestrate the releasing of children to their parents, guardians or representative.
Events that may prompt the need for a family reunification center include, but are not limited to, active shooter events, improvised explosive events, natural gas leaks and explosions, partial building collapse or various law enforcement issues within close proximity to a school.
The family reunification center needs to be able to offer the following;
ü A process for receiving children and tracking their release
ü Access to school district records remotely when paper files are not accessible
ü A process for receiving adults and appropriately matching them to a child that they have the right to retrieve
ü A facility that can provide basic needs for waiting adults and children
ü Depending upon the event, the inclusion of a Family Support Unit
Family reunification cannot typically be managed at the school where the event occurred. Even if the site was considered safe, there would not normally be enough room for emergency vehicles, parent vehicles, the press, etc. Therefore, the district has partnered with the City of Brooklyn Park to use the Community Activity Center as the designated reunification site.
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Office of Emergency Management - Family Reunification Plan /Section: Threat & Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment /
Title: Risk Assessment / Last Revision Date: May 7, 2015 /
Utilizing the Comprehensive Preparedness Guide (CPG) 201, produced and distributed by the US Department of Homeland Security, we evaluated various threats that could impact our schools and/or our school children.
THIRA:
The Threat and Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment (THIRA) is a tool that allows a jurisdiction to understand its threats and hazards and how the impacts may vary according to time of occurrence, season, location, and other community factors. This knowledge helps a jurisdiction establish informed and defensible capability targets.
THIRA Process:
The basic elements of the THIRA Process consist of five basic steps as noted below.
Step 1: “Identify the Threats and Hazards of Concern,” assesses the various threats and hazards facing a community of any size.
Step 2: “Give the Threats and Hazards Context,” assesses the vulnerability of the community to those hazards using varying time, season, location, and community factors.
Step 3: “Examine the Core Capabilities Using the Threats and Hazards,”
Step 4: “Set Capability Targets,” estimate the consequences of those threats and hazards impacting the community and, through the lens of core capabilities, establish capability targets.
Step 5: Captures the results of the THIRA process to set an informed foundation for planning and preparedness activities across prevention, protection, mitigation, response, and recovery.
Step 1: Identify the Threats and Hazards of Concern
We have determined that there could be a variety of natural, technological or human-caused threats that would necessitate family reunification including but not limited to:
ü Flood
ü Tornado
ü Airplane Crash
ü Hazardous Material Release
ü Power Failure
ü Civil Disturbance
ü School Violence
ü Terrorist Acts
Step 2: Give the Threats and Hazards Context
Natural / Flood1. The Mississippi or tributaries overflows, threatening a school.
Natural / Tornado
1. The expected path of a tornado is direct alignment with a school in the city.
2. A tornado has had an impact on the structural integrity of a school in the city.
Technological / Airplane Crash
1. A commercial or private plane crash lands into a school.
2. A commercial or private plane crash lands near a school putting the building or its occupants at risk.
Technological / Hazardous Material Release
1. A release of hazardous material in or near a school that requires evacuation.
2. A release of hazardous material that, due to type of material and weather, threatens a school.
Technological / Power failure
1. A wide area loss of power necessitates the need to move children.
Human-Caused / Civil Disturbance
1. A riot or other civil disturbance near a school puts its occupants at risk.
Human Caused / School Violence
1. An active shooter event in a school in the city.
2. An improvised explosive device detonates, or is found in or near a school.
3. A domestic violent event inside a school makes the school a crime scene.
Human Caused / Terrorists Acts
1. A terrorist delivers a chemical nerve agent at a large community event near a school while school is in session.
Miscellaneous
1. Other threats that could put school occupants at risk.
Step 3: Examine Core Capabilities
As part of our overall assessment, there are a number of Core Capabilities and Desired Outcomes that became evident. Most of these will be covered in a more comprehensive document outlining the city’s intended response and recovery planning and/or the Emergency Operations Plan. For the purpose of this document, the Core Competency was family reunification and the Desired Outcome was identified as the ability to effectively reunite children and authorized adult care givers in an environment outside of their assigned school.
Step 4: Set Capability Targets
CORE CAPABILITY / DESIRED OUTCOMEFamily Reunification / Effectively reunite 100% of children and authorized adult care givers in an environment outside of their assigned school.
Capability Target: Receive, identify, process and unite 100% of a schools population with an authorized adult utilizing the Community Activity Center along with city staff, district staff and credentialed volunteers.
Step 5: Apply the Results
The result of the risk analysis pointed to the need to develop, publish and test a family reunification plan that could serve the community and the school district. This document is intended to outline that plan.
As part of any credible risk assessment, the profiling of the individual hazards assists communities with determining:
ü The potential impact to the community.
ü The likelihood of an occurrence
ü Loss estimates
ü Size of affected area
ü Potential for casualties
ü Speed of onset
ü Impact on property
ü Economic impact
Although most of the identified threats have a relatively low probability of occurring, they would each have a significant impact on our community. As such, a dovetailed effort to “pre-plan” a response in each of our schools is underway and would serve to augment this plan.
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Office of Emergency Management - Family Reunification Plan /Section: Operations /
Title: Concept of Operations / Last Revision Date: May 7, 2015 /
General
Students and staff will be bussed from their school to the reunification site. Teachers will escort their students to the designated Student Holding Area (gymnasium) and take attendance. Other staff will report to the Command Post located at the front counter of the Community Activity Center for assignment.
Parents will be notified by the district’s public information officer (PIO) that the school has been evacuated and students need to be picked up from the reunification site. When they arrive, parents will be directed to the Parent/Guardian Waiting Area inside Arena 1. Attendants will provide them with a copy of the Family Reunification Guide for Parents and a Release Form.
Parents will remain in the Waiting Area until their student’s teacher’s name is announced. Before proceeding from the waiting area, they will be required to show proof of identification. Attendants will confirm each parent/guardian’s identity by reviewing identification (driver’s license or other photo ID) and will update the parents release form with an authorized stamp. If a parent/guardian does not have proper identification, they will be directed to the police table/counter for DVS verification.
Law enforcement and district personnel will work to identify parents/guardians who have no identification and are not in the DVS system.
Once they have been properly identified, they will then move to the Request Gate.
Request Gate Operations
Upon arrival at the Request Gate, request gate staff will confirm that the student release form has been properly stamped indicating that the requestor has been properly identified. Request Gate staff will verify the child’s status as indicated on the Google docs spreadsheet. Parents of students in any status, other than “In Student Holding Area” will be directed to the Special Handling Area for processing.
If the student did not arrive at the reunification site with their class, parents/guardians will be escorted to the Special Handling Area where staff can provide individual assistance with verifying the student’s location and status.
If the parent must be notified that their student was injured, transported elsewhere, held as a witness, arrested, or otherwise detained, staff will move them to a nearby room for further notification. The Special Handling Area will be manned by counselors, administrators or appropriate staff.
If the student is in the holding area, Request Gate staff will then verify that they are listed on the student’s emergency contact card and authorized to pick up the student and if so, will also update the student release form with the appropriate authorization stamp.
Individuals not listed on the student’s emergency contact card will be directed to a separate “Authorization Area” for assistance. Authorization Area staff will attempt to contact the parents by phone (using district information) to get verbal authorization.
Once authorized, the authorization attendant will update the release form with the name of the parent giving authorization along with the appropriate authorization stamp. Requestors must obtain one of these authorization stamps before proceeding to the “Release Gate”.