Model Shelter Report - Department of Social Services (December 2021)

Summary

A December 2, 2021 memorandum from S. Duke Storen of the Department of Social Services to Ralph Northam, Governor of Virginia, and others, submitting the report on a model shelter plan under Item 358 (B) of the 2020 Appropriation Act. The attached report, Sheltering for Congregate Care (Post-COVID) Model Shelter Report, says submission was waived for 2020 because of response operations for the coronavirus pandemic. It says the State Coordinated Regional Shelter (SCRS) Plan grew from planning initiated in 2004, and that the Commonwealth opened state shelters for the first time after Hurricane Florence evacuation orders in 2018. Its contents cover commodities, cost estimates, shelter sites, staffing and training, and the conclusion says the next update is due in 2024.

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DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES
Office of the Commissioner
S. Duke Storen
Commissioner

December 2, 2021

MEMORANDUM

TO: Honorable Ralph Northam
Governor of Virginia

Honorable Janet D. Howell, Chair
Senate Finance & Appropriations Committee

Honorable Luke E. Torian, Chair
House Appropriations Committee

Honorable Vanessa Walker Harris M.D.
Secretary of Health & Human Resources

Honorable Fran Bradford
Secretary of Education

Honorable Brian J. Moran
Secretary of Public Safety & Homeland Security

Honorable K. Joseph Flores
Secretary of Finance

FROM: S. Duke Storen

SUBJECT: Report on a Model Shelter Plan

I am pleased to submit the report on a model shelter plan, pursuant to Item 358
(B) of the 2020 Appropriation Act. If you have questions or need additional information
concerning this report, please contact me.

SDS:kc

801 East Main Street  Richmond, VA 23219-2901
www.dss.virginia.gov  804-726-7011  TTY Dial 711
Report to the General Assembly

Sheltering for Congregate Care
(Post-COVID)
Model Shelter Report

December 2021

1
Preface
Item 358(B) of Chapter 1289 of the 2020 Appropriations Act establishes that “The Department of Social
Services, in consultation with institutions of higher education, and with the assistance of the Virginia
Department of Emergency Management and the Department of General Services, shall develop a model
shelter plan to include but not limited to the process of mobilization and demobilization of the shelter;
relocation of residents when a state shelter is deactivated; warehousing of pre-positioned supplies;
potential use of existing resources and vendors already under contract with institutions of higher
education; and cost estimates for resources that would be reimbursed by the Commonwealth. The
Department shall submit a report on the model plan and its recommendations, including challenges
implementing such a plan in all state shelters, by October 15, 2020, to the chairs of the House
Appropriations and Senate Finance Committees, the Secretary of Health and Human Resources, the
Secretary of Education, and the Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security, and the Secretary of
Finance.”

This report, in accordance with Item 358(B), provides information on the Commonwealth’s emergency
shelter plan in regard to current capability and potential adjustments to be made in the plan to better
serve the Commonwealth. Due to response operations for the coronavirus pandemic, submission of this
report was waived for 2020.

2
Table of Contents

Introduction 4

Shelter Operational Phases and Commodities 5

Commodities 6
Contracting and Warehousing Supplies 6
Cost Estimates 7
Shelter Sites 7
Staffing 8
SCRS Transition Team 9
Shelter Consolidation, Relocation and Transition 9

Training 10

Conclusion 11

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Introduction
The current 2020 State Coordinated Regional Shelter (SCRS) Plan was developed from planning initiated
in 2004. The plan has undergone regular updates and revisions and has developed substantially since its
creation. In 2018, the Commonwealth opened state shelters for the first time in the wake of Hurricane
Florence evacuation orders, and many lessons were learned. From that experience, much thought and
discussion has gone into re-thinking the SCRS plan to allow for greater flexibility while containing costs
for future sheltering operations.

The success of the SCRS plan depends in large part on the success of local and regional shelter planning
and operations, as well as state planning and preparedness efforts. As incidents expand and shelter
operations scale up, gaps and deficiencies at the local and regional level will directly impact SCRS
operations, if activated; therefore, SCRS planning needs to be holistic in its approach. While local
jurisdictions are responsible for their own shelter planning, it is wise to proactively understand and plan
for known gaps throughout the shelter system. While the updated plan itself won’t be able to address all
known gaps, the dialogue in the development and planning for improvements has been helpful to better
understand these localized issues and try to address for them through a wide variety of means, including
improved education, wider collaboration, and deeper contextual review of policies, protocols, and
procedures. Mentions of some of these gaps are included in this document to help provide additional
context to the reader.

This document identifies new strategies to support the Commonwealth’s SCRS shelter program in order
to increase efficiencies and lower costs while ensuring the equitable delivery of services. The strategies
are organized into the following categories:

1. Shelter Operational Phases and Commodities
2. Shelter Sites
3. Staffing
4. SCRS Transition Team
5. Shelter Consolidation, Relocation and Transition
6. Training

Some of the strategies in this report have already been instituted, such as staffing changes, updated
training, and supplemental shelter education workshops. Other strategies are in progress, such as
implementing operational phases, revising commodities, and developing a SCRS Transition Team; while
others are still being explored, such as identifying additional shelter sites. Shelter planning is a fluid and
reactive process; as information is learned through experience or best practices, the plan is updated
accordingly. Thus, some of these strategies may be altered or exchanged as new information becomes
available.

The strategies proposed in this report bring some significant changes and will require new thinking,
planning, and training from all partner agencies participating in shelter planning.

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Shelter Operational Phases and Commodities
Operational phases provide a framework and an easily recognized benchmark for SCRS partner agencies
to organize and deploy their commodities. The current SCRS plan outlines three operational phases:

1. Life Saving (0-48 hours) - provides security; registration (including communication accessibility);
shelter; limited cots for sleep; basic health, mental health, and accessibility for all residents; and
food and water.
2. Life Sustaining (48-96 hours) - provides cots for all residents; hygiene kits; establishment of
structured routines; and opportunities for children and families to participate in their own
recovery.
3. Informational Needs (96+ hours) - provides support for residents who are not able to
immediately return home post-event, including transition services; status of disaster and relief
efforts; types of available assistance; and process of obtaining assistance. 1

While described in the plan, these three phases are not incorporated into the planning, activation or
operational processes. Commodities are ordered in whole for the maximum capacity of the site(s) upon
activating shelter operations, with the intent to have all supplies on hand when the shelter opens. An
“all in” approach is very costly and may delay the opening of the shelter if supplies and equipment are
held up at any point in the order or delivery process.

The plan update will simplify operations into a tiered two-phase concept, each having a significantly
different approach to how shelter services and commodities are provided.

Events with notice (i.e., hurricanes) and no notice (i.e., tornadoes, etc.) will follow these operational
phases:

● Tier 1 Immediate Phase (pre-event through 72 hours post-impact): provides security;
registration (including communication accessibility); shelter; limited cots, prioritized for medical
and access and functional needs (AFN) only; basic health, mental health, and accessibility
services for all residents; and food and water. Messaging will encourage evacuees to bring their
own bedding, hygiene, and comfort items if possible.
● Tier 2 Sustainment Phase (72 hours post-impact onward): provides cots for all residents; hygiene
kits; establishment of structured routines; opportunities for children and families to participate
in their own care and recovery; and support for residents who are not able to immediately
return home post-event, including transition services. It is important to note that shelter
populations decrease significantly after the Immediate Phase of shelter operations.

This two-tiered approach is cost effective for two reasons. First, it allows the Commonwealth to quickly
initiate shelter operations without having to purchase all commodities and services for an unknown
number of shelter residents prior to opening the shelter. Operations can be stood up with staff and a
limited number of necessary items to be triaged to those most in need, including the full legally
mandated necessities for residents with medical and AFN needs. By purchasing some items and services
later, there can be a better estimate of actual need with less waste.

1
State Coordinated Regional Shelter Plan Annex A: Congregate Shelters. (July, 2020).

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Second, SCRS messaging can include information for evacuees to bring their own materials to support
themselves in the shelter, if possible. As a common practice for evacuation and sheltering nationwide,
this may help further reduce dependence on state resources.

Services and commodities necessary for state shelter operations will be assigned to the appropriate
operational phase (Tier 1 or Tier 2). Other necessary services may be requested as needed in either
phase. These could include goods, such as a particular item to meet a specific accommodation need
(e.g., pediatric wheelchair, etc), or services (e.g., telephonic interpretation for a single evacuee or an on-
site interpreter to support a large group with an identified language need).

Funding for advance purchase of durable equipment (such as cots, blankets, basic durable medical
equipment, etc.) to support quick start up and initial operations for shelters is necessary to fully
implement this two-tiered approach.

Commodities
This two-tiered approach has clear advantages. First, it will help to decrease the planning and
implementation time in the activation timeline. Planning can account for a certain basic level of service
in the Immediate Phase and can fill in the gaps in the Sustainment Phase. Operationally, this allows for a
clearer picture of actual need and scale for commodity resources (i.e., only 300 people at a shelter that
has capacity for 950).

As a planning precaution, if the event is expected to disrupt critical supply chains, the initial order could
skip the limitations of the Immediate Phase instead move directly to the full commodities list of the
Sustainment Phase at full capacity as a safety measure.

Second, having a cache of durable supplies on hand will help to quickly open shelters in the Immediate
Phase while the remaining supplies are being ordered and dispatched for the Sustainment Phase.
Durable goods include basic administrative supplies, cots, blankets, and durable medical equipment to
support access and functional needs. These could be delivered as a whole to one shelter or parcelled out
to multiple shelters to support critical needs in the Immediate Phase. The SCRS Plan will be updated to
include appendices on warehousing and deploying this cache and, similar to the current plan, will also
have commodity lists for each site updated by operational phase.

Finally, the two-tiered approach reduces waste by ordering sustainment commodities and services for
actual population needs rather than shelter capacity. Shelter populations tend to decline quickly once
the initial impact subsides, which is typically after the first 72 hours. As evacuees are assessed upon
registering into the shelter and needs are identified, the need for full commodities will then be limited
to those residents who are not able to quickly return home and will need additional support and
services while they work to transition to other non-shelter solutions.

Contracting and Warehousing Supplies
VDSS, DGS and VDEM met with each shelter site in 2021 to discuss warehousing and contract support
capabilities for shelter support. Virtually no interior warehouse space was available on shelter site
campuses. Although some sites had room for container storage, the cost, security, viability and
management of supplies in outdoor container storage were determined to be unreasonable. Similarly,

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existing services and contract resources varied widely between sites. No viable solution was found that
wouldn’t incur additional logistical costs and management challenges.

VDEM warehouses (indoor), inventories, and manages a small cache of shelter supplies in Richmond
that were leftover from the 2018 activation. VDEM has indicated that they are willing to continue to do
so contingent on funding and available space. This is an issue that will need to be revisited as the new
shelter plan is developed, but VDEM has been a willing partner in supporting logistics between shelter
activations.

Cost Estimates
VDSS, DGS, and VDEM are developing a procurement strategy that conforms to the two-tier shelter
operational process previously outlined in this document. This involves significant work with each of the
state agency partners to determine what their operational needs will be for each of the phases, and to
resolve any competing priorities and expectations between them. This work is in progress and we
anticipate that a request for proposal will be open by October 2021, and contracts awarded by May
2022.

Shelter Sites
The use of Institutions of Higher Education (IHEs) as state shelter sites poses significant challenges.
Thirteen IHEs are identified in the current SCRS plan to serve as shelter sites for up to 30 days. Many
participating IHEs have expressed concern that activating a state shelter will conflict with or possibly
shut down campus operations. Each site has varying capabilities in terms of capacity (116 at the smallest
shelter; 982 at the largest shelter), ADA accessibility, pet sheltering (six sites only), and other challenges.
Furthermore, these sites are spread out across the state and will relocate evacuees many miles and
hours away from their home communities, which will hinder their initial recovery efforts; this may also
decrease their willingness and ability to seek shelter.

VDSS is currently exploring how to move SCRS operations from IHEs to other types of facilities. Utilizing
the planning done by VDEM and VDH to stand up community vaccination centers (CVCs) in 2021, VDSS is
working with VDEM to identify vacant large scale retail and other community spaces that are not
currently being used for local or regional shelter operations. VDEM developed and is planning to
maintain a list of these sites, to be updated annually or more frequently as vacant properties get leased
or sold. These sites will have some of the same challenges found at the IHE shelters and require careful
planning ; however, these sites offer flexibility in terms of keeping evacuees closer to their home
communities, which will enable them to more quickly begin their recovery. Additionally, these sites will
not impact IHE operations and infringe upon the educational and service needs of their students.

Where possible, VDSS will work with VDEM to identify opportunities to help localities form collaborative
shelter site agreements between local jurisdictions and regional planning authorities to utilize locally-
identified large sheltering sites in non-impacted areas. Additionally, VDSS also supports the
development of host agreements directly between local / regional jurisdictions themselves to support
evacuations within the Commonwealth; this is not an item to include in the updated plan but was born
out of the development and dialogue in planning.

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The SCRS plan should identify a method to open shelter sites sequentially, when and where possible,
where one shelter is open and the next is on standby, instead of opening multiple shelters
simultaneously. This will help to consolidate and improve services and reduce costs in staffing and
commodities. Sequential opening will depend on a number of internal and external factors, and will
need to be reviewed prior to each SCRS activation for feasibility. These factors include but are not
limited to the location of the shelter; the size and needs of the expected evacuee population; the need
for and availability of pet sheltering; the size and overall capability of the available shelter sites; the
expected impact, actual impact, and potential recovery needs of the event; and expected impacts to
supply chains.

During the COVID pandemic, non-congregate shelter (NCS) plans 2 were developed, and the state shelter
plan will continue to maintain and expand on that capability. NCS utilizes hotels, motels, and other
space to individually house vulnerable populations. In addition to public health emergencies and due to
the overall cost of shelter operations, NCS might also be used for small incidents involving several dozen
evacuees or large special needs communities that would strain the resources in congregate shelters. The
state NCS plan identifies a process for contracting facilities, a virtual evacuee registration system, and
provision of necessary wraparound services to meet access and functional, medical, behavioral health,
and other needs.

Staffing
Ensuring that the SCRS is adequately staffed is a significant concern. The current plan outlines the
number of staff needed at each site, but it is widely recognized that all SCRS partner agencies will be
challenged to meet this need; and in fact, a Virtual Activation and Roster Exercise (VAREX), conducted in
August 2021, confirmed staffing gaps across all SCRS partner agencies. Regular staff turnover, unfilled
positions, and staff designation as Essential to agency work are but a few of the reasons there are
insufficient numbers of staff assigned and prepared for these emergency roles. Additionally, some state
agencies rely on local agency staff to support state operations. In the arena of sheltering, these same
staff are often tasked to support local shelter operations and therefore would be unavailable to respond
to a state request. Finally, in an emergency some staff will be affected by the emergency itself and will
not be available to assist. These staffing issues and concerns are common at all levels of sheltering (local,
regional, and state) and significantly impact the Commonwealth’s ability to ensure maximum shelter
capability.

In 2020, VDSS streamlined its shelter staffing roles to cross-train staff to handle multiple shelter
functions. This reduced the overall number of staff required to operate a shelter because cross-trained
staff members can transition to address changing operational needs of the site. VDSS has shared this
information with local shelter planners to encourage similar capability and flexibility in their staffing
plans with the goal of encouraging the use of statewide mutual aid to support staffing.

With the revitalization of the Adjunct Emergency Workforce (AEW) program in 2021, VDSS is training
additional state staff to support shelter operations. The support of the AEW workforce is imperative, as

2
State Coordinated Regional Shelter Plan Annex B: Non-Congregate Shelters. (VDSS). July, 2020.

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VDSS has a significant role in the regular daily support of thousands of Virginians, as well as in recovery
operations, and cannot fully devote all staffing resources solely to disaster response operations.

Additionally, the new SCRS plan will also incorporate roles for shelter residents to help support tasks
within the shelter. These may include greeter, runner, hall monitor, and other simple roles that require
little training and experience and have a low security risk. Resident support is a common practice in Red
Cross shelters and provides residents a way to alleviate boredom and stress with productive use of their
time. It also helps to facilitate individual recovery as it empowers shelter residents to be responders
rather than victims through active participation in the shelter operation.

As different agencies have different responsibilities in supporting various aspects of the SCRS, the plan
will require all shelter partner agencies to identify ways to augment their shelter staffing to ensure a
robust workforce. This may include Memorandums of Agreement / Understanding with agencies directly
for volunteer and/or nonprofit organizational support, requests through ESF17, and other avenues for
support.

SCRS Transition Team
Supporting the transition of shelter residents back into their community is a critical service and
nationally recognized best practice. The current SCRS Plan assigns the role of helping shelter residents
initiate the recovery process to a transition team, but this resource has not been developed.

Using a Multi-Agency Shelter Transition Team (MASTT) framework developed and tested by several
other states, VDSS will identify a MASTT planning team composed of a wide array of subject matter
experts from across state and Volunteer Organizations Active in Disaster (VOAD) agencies and develop a
process to identify and support resident transition needs. The process will include transition casework,
including interviewing residents to identify barriers and actively address immediate needs in order to
transition them back to their local jurisdiction; developing data collection and reporting standards and
tools; and developing a method to connect residents to case managers and resources in their local
community.

ESF6 will continue to support local jurisdiction shelter transition needs as requested through WebEOC,
as well as through regular / enhanced programs and channels, such as the Disaster Supplemental
Nutrition Assistance Program (D-SNAP) and other benefits programs, and other agency or disaster relief
programs.

Shelter Consolidation, Relocation and Transition
The current SCRS plan does not include information on how or when to consolidate or relocate shelters,
and does not provide a detailed process to transition shelters. Maintaining multiple open SCRS for the
duration of an event is expensive and can quickly drain even the most robust resources.

The new SCRS Plan will develop a process and protocol to consolidate and/or relocate multiple SCRS
shelters into a single location or smaller footprint as soon as safe, practical, and cost-efficient to do so.
This will include identifying an appropriate secondary site(s) and required resources, and preparing to

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transition the operation into long-term sheltering if needed. Secondary sites should be located as close
to the impact area as safely possible to afford residents better access to their home communities and
networks to enhance their recovery.

If only a small number of residents remain in the shelter, the plan will develop a process to switch the
operation to non-congregate sheltering (NCS) and relocate those residents to hotels close to their
communities and demobilize the congregate shelter operation. Support and transition services will then
be provided in the NCS setting as detailed in the NCS plan.

Training
The current plan mandates shelter staff training but does not specify training requirements. Previously,
staff from all shelter partner agencies were provided access to the web-based Introduction to the SCRS
Plan training, available in the Commonwealth of Virginia Learning Center (COVLC), and then were
expected to complete role-specific agency-provided training afterward. Training was not tracked
centrally, so it was unclear what courses were being provided, how often, and how many shelter staff
were completing their requirements agency to agency. Furthermore, AEW staff were not provided
access to training.

VDSS has made great strides in training this past year, and will incorporate these accomplishments into
the new plan. In addition to the updated Introduction to the SCRS Plan 3, currently accessible on the
COVLC to all partner agencies and the AEW, all general staff (Shelter Specialists) are cross trained to
perform multiple functions within the shelters. The Shelter Manager curriculum has also been updated,
and all managerial roles are similarly cross-trained. Ongoing shelter management workshops support
managerial skills in problem solving and decision making within the shelter. An additional course in
access and functional needs in a shelter setting is currently in development and will be available to
shelter staff from all partner agencies once it is complete.

Course modality is also being expanded and will be incorporated into the new plan. Web-based courses
have been the staple of SCRS training, and will continue to be a key component of training in the new
plan. As feasible by subject matter and audience, courses will also be offered via in-person or virtual
classroom and recorded for additional staff to complete or refresh their training. Just-in-time (JIT)
training materials are also being developed to quickly train new staff and refresh current staff when the
SCRS is activated.

The new plan will set forth basic training requirements, including course requirements by agency and
position, training cycles, and tracking and reporting to help ensure that agencies are meeting their
obligations to prepare their staff for shelter operations. All of this material will be located in an appendix
to the SCRS plan.

3
VDSS OEM1101 Introduction to the SCRS Plan. (2020). Available in the Commonwealth of Virginia Learning
Center.

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Conclusion
The current 2020 SCRS Plan continues to be updated with best practices and lessons learned.
Nonetheless, in re-thinking congregate care sheltering, many parts of the plan will need to be
completely overhauled to incorporate these new processes and protocols. The SCRS Plan is required to
be updated once every four years, and the next update is due in 2024. This will allow time to adequately
flesh out all details in making these substantial changes to the current plan.

Many of the strategies mentioned above are already in process or in planning to be implemented. The
opportunity to work through and evaluate these strategies before they become part of the plan is
invaluable; making numerous large changes in planning without testing could result in a poor outcome.
Through multi-agency stakeholder planning discussions, training, and exercise, VDSS continues working
to ensure operational success to fully support the sheltering needs of the Commonwealth in an
emergency.

Concurrently, dialogue with local / regional shelter partners will continue to illuminate gaps in sheltering
at the jurisdictional level. VDSS has partnered with VDEM to facilitate these discussions with the goal of
helping local jurisdictions close these gaps and thereby further reduce the need for state shelter
operations.

Ultimately, reducing the need for and increasing the efficiency of the SCRS is a win for the
Commonwealth, and new strategies in planning can help achieve this goal.

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