The HSS Recovery Support Function

 

 

Section Overview

By the end of this section, you should be able to describe the HSS RSF, its top priorities, and the nine Core Mission Areas as they relate to health and social services recovery from emergencies and disasters.

List of sections - Section 1: The HSS Recovery Support Function (arrow), Section 2: HSS Recovery Coordination, Section 3: HSS Recovery Operations, Section 4: HSS Recovery in Practice
clock icon
This course should take approximately 50 minutes to complete.

The National Disaster Recovery Framework

The National Disaster Recovery Framework (NDRF) is the core guide for federal support of state, tribal, and local disaster recovery efforts.

The structures, roles, and responsibilities described in the NDRF can be partially or fully implemented in the context of a threat or hazard, in anticipation of a significant event, or following an incident.

Effective implementation of the NDRF involves close collaboration between federal, state, and local agencies - as well as private stakeholders. Such collaboration is the cornerstone of successful recovery efforts in disaster affected communities.

What's different about the National Disaster Recovery Framework?

  • Emphasizes a sector-based vs. agency-specific approach to supporting recovery
  • Asserts that recovery "phase" starts with an incident response
  • Emphasizes local primacy and direction of how a recovery should proceed

Recovery Support Functions - Purpose

Recovery Support Functions (RSFs) are the primary organizational element of the NDRF's sector-based approach. A coordinated approach helps communities take intentional and organized action to achieve their recovery priorities. RSFs are a powerful tool for organizing and coordinating recovery stakeholders at all levels of government.

Recovery Speed and Effectiveness

(Orange Curve) Some communities struggle with recovery, experiencing long periods of slow growth and diminished opportunity.

(Red Curve) Others progressively self-organize to restore and rebuild to where they would have been had there not been a disaster.

(Blue Curve) The RSF model decreases disaster impact and enhances recovery by coordinating pre-planning and recovery support.

Strong organization is often the biggest determinate for an effective recovery effort

Line graph showing disaster impact on y-axis and time on x-axis; there are three different colors – orange line showing a sharp fall and consistently low value in growth after an incident, red line showing a sharp fall after an incident but steadily rising in growth, and blue line showing moderate fall after an incident and steady growth

Recovery Support Functions - Organization

The NDRF organizes federal departments and agencies into six Recovery Support Functions (RSFs). Each RSF is led by a designated federal department or agency known as the Coordinating Agency. The full list of the RSFs and their Coordinating Agencies can be seen below.

Six text bubbles stemming from “Recovery Support Functions” –Community Planning and Capacity Building (Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)), Economic (Department of Commerce (DOC)), Infrastructure Systems (United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE)), Housing (Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)), Natural and Cultural Resources (Department of the Interior (DOI)), and Health and Social Services (Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS))

The Health and Social Services RSF Mission

Family with child icon, bank icon

Assist locally-led recovery efforts in the restoration of the public health, healthcare, and social services networks to promote the resilience, health, and wellbeing of affected individuals and communities.

Restore the capacity, or assist in the continuity of, and reconnect impacted communities and displaced populations to essential health and social services (including schools).

Federal HSS RSF Mission Priorities

In executing its mission, the federal HSS RSF's top three priorities of work are:

  • To help state departments of health, social services, and education better understand and describe the extent and nature of HSS recovery issues
  • To identify short-term courses of action for meeting immediate recovery needs
  • To support affected states and communities in the development and implementation of recovery plans and capabilities necessary for long-term recovery.
People around a table in a meeting

HSS RSF Mission Areas

The HSS RSF's operations are organized around nine Core Mission Areas:

Team icon - Public Health, medical icon - Health Care Services, city icon - Environmental Health, brain icon - Behavioral Health, apple and medicine icon - Food Safety and Regulated Medical Products, family icon - Social Services, employee badge icon - Referral to Social Services/Disaster Case Management, users icon - Long-Term Recovery Impacts to First Responders, baby and school icon - Children in Disasters (Schools, Children, and Youth)

Public Health

  • Develop and implement strategies to assess and monitor public health, conduct disease surveillance, and prevent injury in the disaster-affected community
  • Assist in development and implementation of risk communications and public health messaging
  • Provide technical assistance for the delivery of site-specific hazard awareness related to recovery

Some of the Federal Agencies and Partners that support this Mission Area include:

  • Federal Emergency Management Agency
  • Environmental Protection Agency
  • Department of the Interior
  • Department of Labor
  • American Red Cross
  • United States Department of Agriculture
  • Veterans Administration
Three federal employees in neighborhood, one holding a clipboard

Healthcare Services

Assessment of disaster-related structural, functional, and operational impacts to health care facilities such as:

  • Hospitals
  • Clinics
  • Nursing homes
  • Assisted living centers
  • Blood banks
  • Dialysis centers
  • Substance abuse treatment facilities
  • Poison control centers
  • Medical and dental offices

Some of the Federal Agencies and Partners that support this Mission Area include:

  • Federal Emergency Management Agency
  • DHS Civil Rights and Civil Liberties
  • Department of the Interior
  • US Department of Agriculture
  • Department of the Treasury
  • DHS National Protection & Programs Directorate
  • American Red Cross
  • Department of Transportation
  • Small Business Administration
  • Veterans Administration
Hospital room with beds and staff

Environmental Health

  • Observe the environment of affected communities to determine if post-disaster conditions can cause adverse public health effects
  • Provision of technical assistance (e.g., scientific data and models) and environmental health trainings
  • Identify and mitigate public health threats to sheltering, potable water, and wastewater that can cause or exacerbate negative environmental health outcomes

Some of the Federal Agencies and Partners that support this Mission Area include:

  • Federal Emergency Management Agency
  • DHS Civil Rights and Civil Liberties
  • Environmental Protection Agency
  • Department of the Interior
  • Department of Labor
  • American Red Cross
  • United States Department of Agriculture
Three workers in work vests, hard hats, and masks

Behavioral Health

  • Assess structural, functional, and operational impacts to behavioral health facilities and programs
  • Transition Crisis Counseling Assistance & Training activities
  • Provide guidance on stress management and mitigation
  • Engage with community behavioral health partners to assess needs, provide technical assistance, identify best practices, and connect practitioners with resources
  • Engage stakeholders in developing strategies for behavioral health assessment, surveillance, and long-term treatment

Some of the Federal Agencies and Partners that support this Mission Area include:

  • Federal Emergency Management Agency
  • DHS Civil Rights and Civil Liberties
  • Department of the Interior
  • American Red Cross
  • National Volunteer Organizations Active in Disaster
  • Veterans Administration
A small group of people listening to a facilitator

Food Safety and Regulated Medical Products

  • Provide technical assistance to FDA-regulated biologic, device, drug, animal feed, and human food establishments to protect public health
  • Assess impacted community food supply networks to ensure food safety
  • Determine if local public health organizations validating local food safety functions are encountering capacity limitations
  • Assessing impacts of supply chain disruptions on recovery 

Some of the Federal Agencies and Partners that support this Mission Area include:

  • Federal Emergency Management Agency
  • Department of the Interior
  • Department of Treasury
  • United States Department of Agriculture
  • Department of Transportation
A warehouse with packaged food products

Social Services

  • Assess structural, functional, and operational disaster impacts to social services facilities and programs
  • Assess impacts to at-risk individuals
  • Identify disaster-related social services needs that cannot be met with community resources
  • Provide technical assistance in assessing health care services needs and the applicability of federal program flexibilities and waivers for meeting those needs

Some of the Federal Agencies and Partners that support this Mission Area include:

  • Federal Emergency Management Agency
  • Department of the Interior
  • Department of Justice
  • Small Business Administration
  • Department of the Treasury
  • Corporation for National and Community Service
  • DHS Civil Rights and Civil Liberties
  • National Volunteer Organizations Active in Disaster
  • United States Department of Agriculture
  • Veterans Administration
Federal employees seated on table providing technical services to community
Social Services / Disaster Case Management
  • Implement a coordinated system for referring individuals and families with unmet disaster needs to appropriate social services
  • Leverage federal social services programs to mitigate social disruption while transitioning individuals and families back to self sufficiency
  • Facilitate delivery of federal-supported Disaster Case Management (DCM)

Some of the Federal Agencies and Partners that support this Mission Area include:

  • Federal Emergency Management Agency
  • DHS Civil Rights and Civil Liberties
  • Department of Justice
  • Department of Labor
  • American Red Cross
  • National Volunteer Organizations Active in Disaster
  • United States Department of Agriculture
  • Veterans Administration
Federal employees seated on table providing technical services to community
Long-term Recovery Impacts to First Responders
  • Determine which groups of responders should be included in a health care or disease registry program to monitor long-term physical and behavioral health
  • Establish and implement long-term tracking of responder health
  • Determine the appropriate duration and content of long-term health tracking
  • Common recovery issues tend to center around environmental health and behavioral health risks 

Some of the Federal Agencies and Partners that support this Mission Area include:

  • Department of Justice
  • Department of the Interior
  • American Red Cross
  • Department of Labor
A group of first responders walking on the street

Schools, Children, and Youth in Disaster

  • Support the restoration of the educational environment for students and staff in impacted communities
  • Coordinate health and social services delivery, through liaisons, to impacted schools
  • Support state, territorial, tribal, and local government efforts to coordinate the enrollment of displaced or homeless students, and the delivery of educational, health, and social services to them

Some of the Federal Agencies and Partners that support this Mission Area include:

  • Federal Emergency Management Agency
  • Environmental Protection Agency
  • Department of the Interior
  • Department of Energy
  • American Red Cross
  • National Volunteer Organizations Active in Disaster
  • Small Business Administration
  • United States Department of Agriculture
Community leaders and residents cutting a ribbon at a facility opening

Case Study #1 - Nationwide Drought (2012)

Mission and Organization:

  • HSS RSF activated in response to an increase in behavioral health needs in farming communities
  • Primary & Supporting Agencies: FEMA, DOI, VA

Formed the Drought Behavioral Task Force:

  • Supported the identification of 86 relevant farming community behavioral health resources
  • Developed a plan for suicide and depression data collection to help communities better prepare for future droughts and reduce the impact of drought events on livelihoods, behavioral health, and the economy

Applicable Mission Areas:

  • Behavioral Health Impacts
  • Referral to Social Services / Disaster Case Management
U.S. drought monitor map displaying various levels of drought throughout United States

Case Study #2 - Flint Water Crisis (2016-Present)

Mission and Organization:

  • HSS RSF facilitated access to safe water, ensure a safe water supply, and address short and long-term health needs for impacted communities
  • Primary & Supporting Agencies: FEMA, EPA, USDA

Federal support includes:

  • Provision of technical expertise and personnel
  • Increasing access to nutritious foods that combat lead absorption
  • Increasing access to healthcare
  • Increasing access to early childhood education
  • Provision of technical assistance for the development of consistent public messaging

Applicable Mission Areas:

  • Public Health/Social Services Impacts
  • Environmental Health Impacts
  • Children and Youth in Disasters 
Legionnaire's disease cases spike bar graph - state officials reported a rise in cases of Legionnaire's disease over a year-and-a-half period that matches the time Flint was drawing its drinking water from the Flint River; bar graph showing the number of Legionnaire's cases on the y-axis and years on the x-axis

Case Study #3 - Hurricane Harvey (2017)

Mission and Organization:

  • Human Services sector suffered significant impact from flooding, electrical system damage, medical equipment damage, power outages, etc.
  • Disproportionate effect on children, families, and seniors due to social disruption of schools, homes, childcare facilities, senior housing, etc.
  • Primary & Supporting Agencies: FEMA, USACE, SBA, USDA, VA, HHS, EPA, NVOAD

RSF Coordinated Federal support included:

  • Facilitated the communication of regulatory relief grant opportunities and ensured HSS providers were connected with available assistance.
  • Peer-to-Peer Leadership planning workshops for school leaders
  • Capacity building psychological first aid training
  • Targeted behavioral health training for first responders
  • Development of healthcare facility recovery guides based on Texas-based best practices

Applicable Mission Areas:

  • Health Care Services Impacts
  • L-T Recovery Impacts to First Responders
  • Social Services Impacts
  • Children in Disasters
Section Summary

The HSS RSF mission is:

  • To assist locally-led recovery efforts in the restoration of public health, healthcare, and social services networks
  • To restore capacity, and reconnect, impacted communities to health and social services

The top three HSS RSF mission priorities:

  • Help state agencies understand and describe extent of HSS recovery issues
  • Identify short-term courses of action for meeting immediate recovery needs
  • Support affected states in developing and implementing recovery plans

The 9 Core Mission Areas of the HSS RSF:

  • Public Health
  • Health Care Service Impacts
  • Environmental Health Impacts
  • Behavioral Health Impacts
  • Food Safety and Regulated Medical Products
  • Social Service Impacts
  • Referral to Social Services/Disaster Case Management
  • Long-Term Recovery Impacts to First Responders
  • Children in Disasters (Schools, Children & Youth)
List of sections - Section 1: The HSS Recovery Support Function (checkmark), Section 2: HSS Recovery Coordination (arrow), Section 3: HSS Recovery Operations, Section 4: HSS Recovery in Practice