There are various factors that impede health equity in disaster preparedness and recovery such as social, cultural, economic, and physical barriers. These barriers include poverty, discrimination, lack of education, poor socioeconomic conditions, no access to health care systems, insecurity related to food and housing, presence of diverse cultural people with custom beliefs, stigma to seek medical and non-medical assistance, unavailability of transportation, poor infrastructure of communities preventing people from reaching out to take physical assistance post-disaster (Chang, 2019).
These barriers prevent the FEMA agency to fulfill its mission of providing support to people afflicted by disasters. The mentioned factors also delay the recovery of the community from the disasters as the state of affliction elongates with delayed or poor disaster management due to these barriers.
The FEMA is involved in putting striving efforts to overcome these barriers to ensure that prior to disaster or during and post-disaster events, every individual in the community is considered equal in terms of saving lives and providing security. By providing equal opportunity to all people in acquiring safety, shelter, care treatments, and non-medical services, quality of life is also improved. For this purpose, FEMA developed an Equity Action Plan in the federal equity initiative. This plan is made with the goals of promoting racial equity and support for poorly served communities with the aid of the Federal government so that the quality of life is improved for each individual affected by the disaster. This plan consists of several actions to be taken such as:
Impact of Funding Sources, Policy, and Legislation
For the effective working of any governmental and non-profit organization, there is a need for funding sources, policy making, and implementation of legislation. Likewise, FEMA is a federal governmental organization whose budget is managed by Congressional Budget Office (CBO). FEMA through its funding source of CBO provides various financial grants to eligible people burdened by the disaster.
For example, Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) and Public Assistance Grant Program (PA) are some of the funding grants FEMA offers to disaster survivors based on their needs and eligibility (Congressional Budget Office, 2022). Thus, funding from CBO enables effective delivery of FEMA’s services to affected individuals as disaster preparedness requires extensive planning with an appropriate number of employees, therefore, adequate funding sources will ensure the appropriate and timely delivery of FEMA’s services.
Capella 4060 Assessment 2
The FEMA policies such as State Mitigation Planning Policy, Tribal Mitigation Planning policy, Local mitigation planning policy, and additional mitigation planning policies are an interpretation of how hazard mitigation planning is done and what is required for performing it. These policies are made for particular geographical regions based on their requirements. These policies help FEMA provide disaster mitigation services based on hazard and risk assessment, procuring mitigation capabilities based on the geographical classification of areas, developing a mitigation strategy, and finally implementing the developed strategy (FEMA, 2020).
The Code of Federal Regulations (44 CFR Part 201) are the rules and regulations authorized by the federal government to implement while planning for hazard mitigations. FEMA implements these provisions while preparing and planning for hazard and disaster mitigation planning for state, local, tribal, and regional governments. The provisions of this legislation impact FEMA’s delivery as the organization is directed about disaster preparedness and mitigation with appropriate rules and regulations so that every needy and affected individual acquires immediate and customized support from FEMA.
The CFR legislation is authorized on the basis of the Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (The Stafford Act), the Homeland Security Act, and the National Flood Insurance Act (FEMA, 2020). These funding decisions by CBO, policy development, and legislation have been developed for the betterment of individuals, families, and all communities afflicted by disaster and the resultant survivors. The implications targeted to these individuals by these funding decisions, policies, and legislation can be improved safety of disaster-afflicted people, provision of improved quality of life, and enhanced security.
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