Characteristics of Proactive Community Engagement, Public Participation, and Public Awareness include:

• Stakeholders working together to maximize the use of available resources
• Creating post-disaster recovery plans that reflect the community’s long-term recovery goals
• Making public information available and accessible to keep everyone informed throughout the recovery process
• Full participation in the recovery process to address challenges and opportunities facing the community, which can assist an individual to make personal decisions about recovering from a disaster