Planning Community Stakeholder Meetings
PJ: “Terrye, you remember our Prepared4ALL Action Team, right? We’ve gotta get moving…the CSM is about 6 weeks away. We have the agenda from our last meeting. We have notes of what went well and what didn’t. So now we can plan for the next CSM.
“Here’s what we need to do:
Character 8: “1. Set the CSM date and time
?Terrye: Think about access issues with the Community Stakeholder Meeting date and time. Describe 2-3 date/time access issues.
Character 8’s Response
People who work during the day may want to have evening meetings but people with children may have childcare issues at night. People who work on shifts may not have the same free times as others. Local government staff may have so many other meetings that they may not have a lot of time available. Some local government staff may have union rules related today and time of meeting.
Character 19: “Identify the place for the meeting
?Terrye: What are some possible access issues with the place for the CSM?
Character 18’s and 19’s Response
Character 19: [While he signs, PJ interprets] “Meetings should be near public transportation. Some people with disabilities rely on public transportation. The meeting building must be accessible, with accessible entrances, exits, restrooms and meeting rooms, etc. This is the law for public meetings.
“The meeting room must be set up in an accessible way. For example, remove some chairs to make room for wheelchairs and scooters at the table. Make sure there is a clear path to move around the room. Remove obstacles on the floor. Make sure there is space at the table for sign language and non-English language translators.
“If there is going to be a presentation make sure it is accessible, with large enough text, proper use of headings, and is available in other accessible formats. Images should have “alt text” descriptions. If the meeting is held remotely, use an accessible online meeting tool. If remote, make sure the meeting is accessible by smart phone, landline phones, computers and tablets. Remember that some people do not have computers or smart phones.
Character 18: [While she signs, PJ interprets] “Send out meeting invitations. Send them out far enough in advance. Include a statement that the meeting will be in an accessible location and that reasonable accommodations will be available upon request. Provide a contact to request accommodations.
?Terrye: Which of the following are reasonable meeting modifications (accommodations)?
- Preferential seating
- Extra space at the meeting table for needed equipment or technology
- Notetakers
- Extra space in the meeting room for support persons
- A phone call before the meeting to answer questions
- Allowing participants to bring children if needed
- All of them
Character 18’s Response
The above and more are all likely to be reasonable modifications (accommodations). Remember that high cost alone does not make a modification (accommodation) unreasonable.
?Should reasonable modifications (accommodations) be offered for remote online meetings?
- Yes
- No
Character 18’s and 10’s Response
Character 18: Reasonable modifications (accommodations) should be offered for remote online meetings. For example, note takers may be needed and print may need to be enlarged for on-screen viewing. There may be unique accommodations for online meetings.
Character 10: Set Meeting Roles. Take a look at the meeting role description, Terrye.
CSM Roles
Consider how to prepare participants in advance and who will act as:
Meeting facilitator to lead the discussion. Most often the local emergency or public health preparedness planner will call the meeting, which will be held in a public building. Some communities find it helpful for someone from a disability or other community-based organization to run the meeting.
Timekeeper to keep the meeting moving and cut off discussion if needed
Recorder to record responses in the meeting Workbook (this person is the key to capture all the good ideas that come out of the meeting).
Disability community experts (with lived and professional expertise)
Other community members (with lived and professional expertise)
Emergency plan expert to summarize the plan at the beginning of the meeting and refer back to the plan as needed. This should be someone who knows the local emergency plan well.
Carrie: Send out the agenda, emergency plan and workbook in advance for people to review if they can.
Community Stakeholder Meeting Agenda
Introductions • CSM roles: facilitator, timekeeper, recorder, plan expert, other experts
Review meeting goals
Briefly review the Workbook and the meeting process
Summarize the local emergency plan and emergency response practices (sometimes common practices aren’t recorded in the plan)
Complete the Workbook
Determine next steps and responsibilities. How will meeting notes be shared?
Share handouts and resources • Self-preparedness handouts for disability community member participants and other community representatives and organization representatives • Awareness raising handouts to emergency planners, managers, responders and community officials.
Carrie: “Think about this agenda for a minute. How might you apply the Prepared4ALL process in this kind of meeting. I’ll start you off.
“Pinpoint the local disability inclusion issue. The first issue is finding gaps and areas of strengths in the local emergency plan. During the meeting issues about specific gaps will occur. The emergency management and public health agencies are already pinpointed. Now the planners need to pinpoint the other local government agencies to involve.
“Relate: Find local organizations with related goals for collaboration. The Prepared4ALL Action Team members and other community representatives can think about which other groups to involve and then engage them with the collaboration. This is also an opportunity for the local planners to engage with these new collaborators.”
Character 8: “During the meeting you should use the PARED and 4ALL to find strengths and find and make a plan to close gaps.
“Be Positive: While reviewing the workbook think about the strengths in the local plan and local community.
“ Advance opportunities: When prioritizing which gaps to close, choose some gaps which can be closed easily. ‘Fast and easy wins’ will move the group forward. Think about collaborator strengths and leverage them to decide on gap closing strategies.
“Reflect. At the beginning of the meeting reflect about what brought the group to this meeting. During the meeting think about how solutions to other challenges might be used to close gaps in the emergency plan. Before setting priorities, reflect about what is really important and must be dealt with immediately. Reflect on the number and kinds of gaps and strengths identified during the meeting. Look for patterns related to strengths, gaps, and solutions. At the end of the CSM reflect upon what the meeting as accomplished.
“Envision: During the discussion envision more than one way to close a gap. Then envision the best way to close that gap. Who would be the best person or people to implement the gap closing solution? What resources do they have and would they need to be successful?
“Deploy: One step at the Community Stakeholder Meeting is to make an Action Plan to put the gap closing solutions into action. Be ready to review and revise action steps moving forward.”
Character 8: “Remember the ‘4All’ piece. At the meeting ask whether the solutions meet the STATE test. Do the solutions give “Same Time Access To Everyone?” Do all local partners own and share the issue?”