Planning to be prepared : an empirical examination of the role of voluntary organizations in county government emergency planning
By: Brudney, Jeffrey L
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Contributor(s): GAZLEY, Beth.
Material type: 
ArticlePublisher: Armonk, NY : M.E. Sharpe, March 2009Public Performance & Management Review 32, 3, p. 372-399Abstract: Recent governmental responses to domestic disasters have emphasized the important role played by a sometimes extensive network of decentralized, voluntary organizations in emergency response. However, we still understand very little about how local governments proactively plan to work with these private organizations. This article uses a national survey of county-level emergency planning agencies to describe the role of volunteers and voluntary organizations in local disaster planning. Employing network and collaborative theories, we model county disaster preparedness as a function of risk level, county resources, and routine and nonroutine voluntary involvement in emergency planning. We find a positive association between the level of joint planning with voluntary organizations and public managers' perceptions of preparedness, even after controlling for county risk level. These findings should encourage county emergency managers to engage in stronger joint disaster planning efforts with the private voluntary sector.
Recent governmental responses to domestic disasters have emphasized the important role played by a sometimes extensive network of decentralized, voluntary organizations in emergency response. However, we still understand very little about how local governments proactively plan to work with these private organizations. This article uses a national survey of county-level emergency planning agencies to describe the role of volunteers and voluntary organizations in local disaster planning. Employing network and collaborative theories, we model county disaster preparedness as a function of risk level, county resources, and routine and nonroutine voluntary involvement in emergency planning. We find a positive association between the level of joint planning with voluntary organizations and public managers' perceptions of preparedness, even after controlling for county risk level. These findings should encourage county emergency managers to engage in stronger joint disaster planning efforts with the private voluntary sector.
community capacity, emergency management, nonprofits in emergency management, voluntary organizations, volunteerism
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