as agreed emgt 310

EMGT 310 Authentic Assessment

Attached is a COOP plan which is under development for the Roman District Court. The Court does not have an emergency planner nor any employees with a substantial background in emergency management or planning. One of your first assignments as a newly hired emergency planner for Roman County is to assist the Roman District Court staff in completing their COOP plan. Prior to her retirement, your predecessor provided their staff an orientation to COOP planning and furnished sample templates and guidance to assist them. Those items have now been included as Section 2 of the plan.

It’s evident that the staff has made considerable progress over the last few months and has attempted to adhere to Federal Continuity Directive 1 (Federal Executive Branch National Continuity Program and Requirements) and Continuity Guidance Circular 1 (Continuity Guidance for Non-Federal Entities (States, Territories, Tribal, and Local Government Jurisdictions and Private Sector Organizations) in order to produce a viable plan.

The group that has been developing the plan has requested your Office Director’s assistance in completing the identified items. Your Office Director felt that this would be a good project for you as a probationary employee. His directions to you were:

1. Complete the sections where the court staff identified questions or issues (those items are bracketed and in bold typeface); provide specific details describing how you would accomplish or implement each of your identified changes.

1. Perform a review of the plan to:

1. Identify any areas that conflict with FCD1, CGC1, or the Professional Practices

1. Identify any unrealistic planning or operational assumptions

1. Identify any other items which you feel that have been overlooked in the draft that might result in the ability to function in an actual COOP situation

At your option, you may also incorporate items from DRII’s ten Professional Practices.

Directions:

1. Your changes should be made directly into the provided plan. Any additions should be formatted in bold typeface. All deletions should be struck-through. Explanations (which would not be reflected in the actual plan) on “how” you would accomplish or implement each of your identified changes should be italicized.

1. If you need specific information on an organization, personnel or process that is not provided, you may develop and furnish that information. Please note all such information in your product.

1. Do not try to fill in tables or text inserts with specific information such as names or contact information of team members or addresses of alternate facilities. Your submission will be based upon the concept, processes and procedures reflected in your plan, not specific data.

Assessment:

Adequately addressing the identified questions or issues based upon the material covered in the course is 75% of the assignment (5 points for each of the 15 questions).

Utilizing a “best practice” approach or solution to the above identified questions or issues, identifying and addressing “show stoppers,” missing items, or making substantial improvements to the content (not formatting) is an additional 25% of the assignment.

Appendix A COOP

Comprehensive Emergency Management Program

COOP Plan

Appendix

A

CONTINUITY OF OPERATIONS PLAN

FOR THE

Roman District Court

September 11, 2001

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Security Notice ..................................................................................................................................................... iii

Executive Summary................................................................................................................................................1

Introduction ............................................................................................................................................................1

Purpose ...................................................................................................................................................................1

Applicability and Scope .........................................................................................................................................2

How to Use This Plan.............................................................................................................................................2

Section 1 - COOP Plan Implementation (Concept of Operations) .........................................................................3

Decision Process ................................................................................................................................................4

Planning Assumptions .......................................................................................................................................5

COOP Plan Phases.............................................................................................................................................6

Phase I - Activation.......................................................................................................................................6

Phase II – Alternate Site Operations .............................................................................................................8

Phase III – Recovery/Reconstitution.............................................................................................................8

Section 2 - COOP Plan Templates .........................................................................................................................9

COOP Plan Elements.........................................................................................................................................9

1. Alert and Notification ..............................................................................................................................9

2. Essential Functions ..................................................................................................................................9

3. Order of Succession .................................................................................................................................9

4. Delegations of Authority........................................................................................................................10

5. Alternate Facilities .................................................................................................................................10

6. Communications ....................................................................................................................................10

7. Interoperable Communications ..............................................................................................................10

8. Vital Records, Databases, and Information Systems .............................................................................10

9. Human Capital .......................................................................................................................................11

10. Devolution ............................................................................................................................................11

11. Recovery/Reconstitution .......................................................................................................................11

Training ...........................................................................................................................................................11

Training.......................................................................................................................................................11

Tests ............................................................................................................................................................12

Exercises .....................................................................................................................................................12

Multi-Year Strategic Plan ................................................................................................................................12

COOP Plan Templates .....................................................................................................................................14

1. Alert and Notification ............................................................................................................................14

2. Essential Functions ................................................................................................................................15

3. Order of Succession ................................................................................................................................17

4. Delegations of Authority........................................................................................................................18

5. Alternate Site(s) .....................................................................................................................................19

6. Communications ....................................................................................................................................20

7. Interoperable Communications ..............................................................................................................22

8 . Vital Records, Databases, and Information Systems .............................................................................23

9. Human Capital ………………...............................................................................................................23

10. Devolution ............................................................................................................................................23

11. Recovery/Reconstitution ………………..............................................................................................24

ii

Comprehensive Emergency Management Program

Part II - Appendix A

Security Notice

Disclosure of some or all of the information in this Continuity of Operations (COOP) plan could endanger the lives and/or privacy of court employees, and compromise the security of the court’s essential equipment, services and systems. Distribution of this plan is limited to those individuals who need to know the information to activate and implement the COOP plan. [How do we determine which employees need to be made aware of the plan and procedures?]

The decision to release or to withhold information in this plan must be approved by and coordinated with the Chief Justice/Judge of the Roman District Court.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This Continuity of Operations Plan (Plan) is authorized under the authority of the Roman District Court and is one of the preparedness and operations plans (e.g., IT disaster recovery, shelter-in-place, critical incident, evacuation plans) used to prevent, prepare for, respond to, and recover from a disaster.

This Plan encompasses the Roman Circuit Court (parent court of the Roman District Court) and all personnel and operations of those court offices. It presents a management framework to establish operational procedures to sustain each court office and judicial essential functions if normal operations performed at the courthouse(s) or other court related buildings are not feasible. It also guides the recovery and reconstitution of the court’s operations to pre-event status, focuses on actions that must be initiated after an incident to ensure continued operations of essential functions, and provides for sustained essential functions operations, which could be 30 days or more. The plan recognizes that full recovery and reconstitution of the court’s activities may take weeks or months.

The Management Team member or designee of each programmatic area is responsible for reviewing the COOP annually, beginning in April, at staff meetings throughout each level of the Court to ensure that all staff is aware of and trained on the COOP, particularly as it relates to emergency reporting procedures, securing of facilities and the safety of clients.

INTRODUCTION

A broad range of disruptive events have, in recent years, affected court operations and staff at the state and federal level. For this reason this court has an increased focus on emergency management, preparedness and response planning, and training.

Although the Roman District Court is not required to adhere to guidance for federal or state executive branch agencies, such guidance provides a widely recognized, useful and practical foundation for the courts’ planning efforts. In particular, FCD 1 and CGC 1 were used as guidance for COOP planning efforts that are relevant within this court.

This Continuity of Operations Plan is designed to ensure the safety of staff and the public, establish a means to continue essential operations, establish provisions for the protection of critical equipment, records and other assets, maintain efforts to minimize damage and losses, establish provisions for an orderly response and recovery from any incident; as well as to serve as a foundation for the continuity of leadership, and assure compliance with legal and statutory requirements.

The effectiveness of this Plan is dependent on the preparation, evaluation, implementation, maintenance and the compliance with the preparedness guidelines, which include the following:

· The Preparation of the Continuity of Operations Plan procedures, including:

· The Notification of employees regarding their specific assigned duties.

· The Distribution of the Plan to key employees.

· The Dissemination of information to all staff.

· The Evaluation and ongoing review of the Continuity of Operations Plan.

PURPOSE

The Roman District Court is committed to the safety and protection of its employees, operations, and facilities. In support of this commitment, the Court has critical operations that must be performed, or rapidly and efficiently resumed in an emergency. The changing threat environment and recent events has raised awareness to the need for continuity of operations (COOP) capabilities that will enable us to continue the performance of essential functions across a broad spectrum of emergencies. By planning for operations under such conditions, we hope to mitigate the impact of the incident on our people, our facilities and our mission.

The purpose of establishing a COOP plan within this court is to ensure that the capability exists for each court office and the court as a whole to respond effectively to a broad array of potential operational disruptions. The key purposes of this COOP plan are to:

· Ensure continuous performance of essential functions and operations, whether in the courthouse, at an alternate site, by telecommuting, or some other electronic means.

· Protect court facilities, equipment, records, and other assets.

· Reduce or mitigate disruptions to operations.

· Identify and designate principals and staff to serve as the Emergency Response Team (ERT) to be relocated to alternate facilities or assigned to the primary court facility to perform essential functions.

· Train and cross-train all key personnel responsible for the execution of this plan.

APPLICABILITY AND SCOPE

The plan applies to all court operations and personnel in the Roman District Court and is designed to help court offices respond to any threat, disaster, or emergency that may affect court operations. A broad array of disruption or emergencies may occur within or near the Roman District Court as a result of natural hazards, human-induced hazards or terrorism incidents such as those listed in Figure 1.

Figure 1: Potential Threats That May Require an Emergency Management Response

This plan provides a framework to continue these essential functions in the event that an emergency at the Court or in the region threatens operations or requires the relocation of select personnel and functions. The COOP Plan presents an approach to begin continuity operations within 12 hours of activation; continue essential functions within the identified recovery time objectives; and maintain essential functions for up to 30 days. [Some services that we provide like emergency protection orders can’t wait 12 hours; what should we do about things like that?]

This COOP Plan has been distributed internally within the Court and with those external agencies that may be affected by its implementation. The COOP Plan has been coordinated with supporting and supported jurisdictions and agencies.

HOW TO USE THIS PLAN

Appendix A is organized into two sections:

• Section 1: COOP Plan Implementation

• Section 2: COOP Plan Templates Overview

This appendix also underscores the importance of a robust and defined training program, for without it, there is no assurance the COOP plan is viable

Appendix B contains the blank COOP plan templates for the court as a whole and each court office covered by this plan.

Accompanying appendices offer references such as a glossary, checklists, maps to alternate sites, memoranda of understanding, draft orders and scripted messages.

SECTION 1 - COOP PLAN IMPLEMENTATION (CONCEPT OF OPERATIONS) This section provides an overview of the framework to implement the COOP Plan. It includes high-level information particular to Roman District Court operations and the essential functions of each court office required to be performed in a disaster or other disruption. It also provides the framework and decision process for how the court will implement the plan and how it will address each of the COOP Plan elements. Figure 2 graphically illustrates the COOP Plan activation decision and response process.

Figure 2: Sample Decision and Response Flow

Chart

Emergency Pending or Occurs

EmeEmerrgencgencyy PendPendiningg oror OccOccuurrss

19

Initial response to emergencies will be outlined and should be followed based on the Administrative and Emergency Procedures

Immediately

Immediately

Immediately

An individual or ERT will make an initial assessment as to whether or not the primary facility needs to be closed

Does emergency cause the closure of primary facility?

No Yes

No

Yes

Yes

Handle the emergency situation as outlined in the Critical Incident Procedures

Yes

Is the length of the closure minimal and acceptable?

Address emergency and resume full operations in as soon as practicable in the primary facility

Address emergency and resume full No

No

operations in primary facility

Can full operations in primary facility be recovered in approximately 30 days?

An individual or group will assess whether or not full operations in the primary facility can be recovered within 30 days of Plan activation

Immediately

Activate COOP and begin the process toward performance of Plan essential functions in a predetermined and temporary alternate facility

Yes No

Immediately

No

Yes

Perform mission essential functions under the COOP Plan on a temporary basis

Perform essential functions under the COOP Plan on a temporary basis

Immediately begin efforts to recover full operations in approximately 30 Days in a long-term alternate facility

Return to full operations in the primary facility

Full operations in a long-term alternate facility initiated

Decision Process

An emergency requiring the activation of the COOP plan may occur either with or without warning.

With Warning. It is expected that in many cases, the Court will receive a warning of at least a few hours prior to an incident. This will enable full execution of the COOP Plan with the complete and orderly alert, notification, and deployment of key personnel to assembly sites or pre‐identified deployment locations before the incident takes place. Notifications will occur through pager, email, telephonic, and other mass notification methods, using standard procedures developed by the Court.

Without Warning. Execution of the COOP Plan following an incident that occurs with little or no warning will depend on the severity of the event and the number of personnel affected. COOP team personnel should expect to be alerted at all hours, depending on the nature of the emergency. Notifications will include a specified report time and location. This communication may occur through pager, email, telephonic, and other mass notification methods. Under certain circumstances, in‐person notification may be necessary.

A sudden emergency, such as an explosion, fire, act of violence, or prisoner incident, may require the evacuation of a courthouse with little or no advance notice. Courthouse evacuation and response to other critical incidents will be accomplished in accordance with existing critical incident, evacuation, and other emergency procedures for the building.

The COOP is not an evacuation plan; rather, it is a deliberate and pre-planned movement of designated staff (Emergency Response Team) to an alternate site. In the event of a pandemic, only the Emergency Response Team likely will remain in the court facility to ensure delivery of essential functions. The outline that follows provides an overview of the sequence of events for the Roman District Court COOP plan activation and execution.

An Emergency Response Team (ERT), comprised of the chief justice/judge and court leadership serves as the leadership group. This team is comprised of an Advance Team responsible for preparing and maintaining the alternate site(s) for the arrival of the leadership group and the Essential Functions Team. The Essential Functions Team is responsible for the performance of the prioritized essential functions identified in this plan.

Court Emergency Response Team

Emergency Team Roster

Following an incident so severe that the courthouse is rendered unusable or inaccessible, or if such an event appears imminent, the chief justice/judge will direct the court administrator to activate the COOP Plan. The court administrator will notify each court office that the plan is to be executed.

Following a decision to activate the court COOP plan, the court administrator and designee will ensure that all judges and office managers are notified, and that office managers execute their respective internal alert and notification plans. Simultaneously the justices’/judges’ chambers will execute their internal alert and notification plans.

The court administrator has the responsibility for the Roman District Court COOP Plan execution which includes:

· Phase I–Activation and Relocation

· Phase II–Alternate Site Operations

· Phase III–Recovery and Reconstitution

Based on alternate site capacity, it is unlikely that all judicial officers and the Emergency Response Team will move to the same relocation site. Some justices/judges and court personnel may be relocated to multiple alternate sites or they may perform the functions from home.

Court personnel who are not part of the Emergency Response Team may be directed to remain at home pending further instructions.

Planning Assumptions

This plan assumes four basic scenarios that may cause a disruption of normal court operations. Examples of these scenarios are contained in Figure 3. The scenarios are:

· Courthouse only is affected

· Courthouse and immediate vicinity are affected

· Geographic region is affected

· Pandemic Influenza

Figure 3: Examples of Planning Scenarios

Building on these planning scenarios, the plan incorporates the following assumptions:

· The worst-case scenario is the loss of access to the courthouse.

· Supreme Court, Courts of Appeal, and the Trial Court COOP Plans will be coordinated if the courts are co-located in one alternate site.

· The Emergency Response Team will be available to provide leadership, and continue court office essential functions.

· The sheriff’s office will provide security to the judges, staff, and court facilities.

· Once relocated to an alternate site(s), judges will adjust their dockets to assume matters from others who may not have survived or are unavailable.

· Activation of the COOP plan may be required at any time e.g., business hours or non-business hours. Following activation, the Emergency Response Team members may be required to travel from their home or other non-duty location(s) directly to an alternate site.

· Some or all information and communications systems may be degraded or unavailable

· COOP activation does not affect the pay or benefits of court personnel.

· Emergencies or threatened emergencies can adversely impact the Court’s ability to continue essential functions and provide support to the day‐to‐day operations

· There will be a sufficient number of surviving and available senior managers with adequate supporting personnel to continue the essential functions of the Court

· When an emergency incident occurs that impacts essential Court functions, the Court will implement the COOP Plan

· Communications capabilities, transportation, and other infrastructures will be sufficiently intact to allow implementation of this plan

· Court personnel and federal, state, local, private, and military resources will be available as necessary to continue essential functions

· Recovery of a critical subset of the University’s functions and application systems will occur and allow essential operations to continue

· A disaster may require student, faculty, staff, patients, and the public to function with limited support services and some degradation of service, until a full recovery is made.

COOP Plan Phases

Phase I - Activation

The COOP plan is activated by a significant event or by the receipt of information regarding a credible threat that jeopardizes the safe and continuous operations of the court and/or the court’s ability to continue to perform essential functions at the primary facility. The extent to which activation will be possible depends on the warning received, whether personnel are at the court or another location, and the extent of damage to the affected court facility and surrounding areas.

The following positions, in order of priority, are each authorized to direct responses to emergencies including evacuation (partial or total), and closing of court operations:

· Chief Justice/judge

· Court Administrator

· Sheriff

· Building manager

The positions listed above are referred collectively as the “Leadership Group.” They will report to the designated assembly point as they learn of an emergency which may require any evacuation or activation of the COOP plan. The team should first report to Assembly Point 1 (Main Street Armory); if that site is unavailable the second location is Assembly Point 2 (City Library); and the third location is Assembly Point 3 (Central Fire Department).

If the disruption or crisis event occurs during office hours and the COOP plan is activated, all court personnel will be alerted and notified by the automated notification system, and the Emergency Response Team will be directed by a court executive to relocate immediately to an alternate site. Non-essential personnel may be directed to go home or move to other designated location(s) to await further instructions. Each court manager must account for personnel within his/her court office.

If the event occurs during non-office hours, most court personnel will be located at home, which also requires alert, notification, and accountability procedures.

The court executive is responsible for communicating with staff so they know what to do, where to go, and what to expect. Emergency notification may be communicated through a variety of means including:

· Public announcement system