Back-Up Community Supports
Recommendation #422
, #422 Target Agencies/Organizations
Recommendation
Investments need to be made at the community level to provide back-up community supports for persons with disabilities in disaster affected areas whose abilities to function independently are dependent upon maintaining access to social and medical services.
Background
Many persons with disabilities require personal services that allow them to respond or react to disasters in similar ways as persons without disabilities. These modifications may be social networks, in which individuals take responsibility for others in their midst of need for help; transportation networks, in which accessible vans or buses are widely available to all in need of them; or specialized medical networks, in which extended services provide personal care or use of medical devices such as wheelchairs, ventilators, or glucose monitoring equipment. Efforts need to be made by CILs in conjunction with community agencies to provide back-up services that allow persons with disabilities to resettle or maintain earlier levels of independence through continued social services.
