Below is information about the upcoming EPI Technical Assistance conference in DC.

http://www.governmenthorizons.org/emergency-preparedness-and-response08.htm

Government*Horizons and National Organization on Disability's
Emergency Preparedness Initiative Present:

Disability and Special Needs Technical Assistance Conference
(Emergency Preparedness, Response, and Recovery)

January 8-9, 2008
Capital Hilton, Washington, DC

**If you require any special needs services, such as C.A.R.T./Captioning, Sign Interpretation, Descriptive Narration or amenities of services animals, please contact Brian Lake at (703) 807-2753 or by email at blake@marketaccess.org**

About This Conference

• The Disability and Special Needs Technical Assistance Conference will provide technical assistance on aspects of emergency management planning and response for people with disabilities and special needs. Recent disasters have made us aware of plans and operational procedures related to response and recovery to these populations in any natural or non-natural disaster. This conference will bring together Federal, State, and local experts to discuss day-to-day challenges in planing for their vulnerable populations. You will learn new concepts currently used or being developed to address disability and special needs planning in their jurisdictions.

Conference Agenda/Speakers
7:00 - 8:00 am  Registration/Continental Breakfast: Sponsored by Homeland Defense Journal      
8:00 – 8:05 am  Metropolitan Police Department, Special Operations Division Color Guard        
8:05 - 8:15 am  Opening Remarks: Hilary Styron, Executive Director, Emergency Preparedness Initiative, National Organization on Disability     
8:15 - 9:00 am  Keynote Speaker: Honorable Tom Ridge, Chairman, National Organization on Disabilities (invited)
9:00 – 9:45 am  Panel: Volunteer and Donation Management for People with Disabilities
Michael-Anne Gomez, Executive Director, Volunteer Center, Howard County, MD
Marcie Roth, Executive Director and CEO, National Spinal Cord Injury Association       
9:45 – 10:15 am Networking Break: Sponsored by Homeland Defense Journal
10:15 - 11:15 pm        Panel: ADA Guidelines from Department of Justice for Mass Care/Sheltering
Olegario D. Cantos VII, Esq., Special Counsel to the Acting Assistant Attorney General, Civil Rights Division, Department of Justice

Jeanine Worden, Deputy Section Chief in the Disability Rights Section of the Civil Rights Division, Department of Justice      
11:15 - 12:00 pm        Panel: Tests, Training, and Exercises
Carl Cameron, Inclusion Research
Debbie Fulmer, Advisor Civil Rights Civil Liberties, Department of Homeland Security   
12:00 - 1:15 am Lunch Keynote: Cindy Daniel, National Disability Coordinator, FEMA: Sponsored by Homeland Defense Journal      
1:15 – 2:00 pm  Panel: Education for People with Disabilities and First Responders
Rebecca Hansen, EAD & Associates
Neil McDevitt, CEPIN   
2:00 – 2:30 pm  Networking Break: Sponsored by Homeland Defense Journal
2:30 - 3:30 pm  Panel: Special Needs Registries: Two States with Two Different Approaches
Calvin I. Brown, Office of Emergency Management, Fort Worth, TX
David Moss, GIS Programmer/Analyst, Office of Emergency Management, Fort Worth, TX
Mary J. Goepfert, MPA, APR, CPM, Instructor, Field Training Unit, New Jersey Office of Emergency Management    
3:30 – 4:00 pm  David Paulison, Administrator, Federal Emergecny Management Agency (invited)   
4:00 pm Day 1 Adjournment      

        Day 2  
7:00 – 8:00 am  Continental Breakfast: Sponsored by Homeland Defense Journal   
8:00 – 8:05 am  Opening Remarks, Hilary Styron, Executive Director, Emergency Preparedness Initiative, National Organization on Disability     
8:05 – 8:45 am  Morning Keynote: Ken Fisher, Office of Emergency Preparedness, City of New Orleans, LA 
8:45 – 9:30 am  Panel: What Corporations Need to Know About Employees with Disabilities
Carol Glazer, Executive Director, National EmployAbility Partnership, National Organization on Disability
Willie Coleman Jr., CMDSM, EMCM, MQC, Specialist Division Manager, Government Contracts, ServiceSource, Inc.   
9:30 – 10:00 am Networking Break: Sponsored by Homeland Defense Journal
10:00 – 11:00 am        Panel: Local Emergency Management Going the Distance
Darrell L. Darnell, Director, Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency, Government of the District of Columbia

Jim Davis, Emergency Management Coordinator, Pittsylvania County, Virginia
Dina Maniotis, New York City, Office of Emergency Management   
11:00 – 12:00 pm        Panel: Faith-Based Efforts and Disabilities in Disasters
Rik Opslteten, National Organization on Disability
John Kim Cook, Director, Center for Faith-Based & Community Initiatives, Department of Homeland Security
Joann Hale, Emergency Response Specialist, Church World Service        
12:00 -12:30 pm Closing Keynote: Chris Geldart, Director, National Capitol Region Office of Coordination, Department of Homeland Security      
12:30 pm        Closing Remarks, Hilary Styron, Executive Director, Emergency Preparedness Initiative, National Organization on Disability     

Hilary C. Styron, Director

Emergency Preparedness Initiative
National Organization on Disability
910 16th Street, NW  6th Floor
Washington, DC 20006

HQ Office:  202-293-5960
TTY:          202-293-5968
Fax:          202-293-7999
Cell:          202-409-0074

www.nod.org/emergency