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COVID-19 UPDATE:
Now more than ever, it is crucial that state and local recovery programs continue to serve disaster-impacted households. To meet the training needs of these programs remotely, SBP is conducting a series of webinars with a special lens on how to run a successful recovery program in the time of COVID-19. Our team will provide instruction on leadership, outreach and intake, and common pitfalls of a recovery program.

Contact our Advise team at advise@sbpusa.org to register for our upcoming webinars.

Disaster recovery programs are a complex environment with very high stakes. Without clear and focused leadership, the predictability around recovery resources can create immeasurable suffering for those most in need, and push them beyond their breaking point.

Across the country more than 100 state and local governments are operating long-term disaster recovery programs to meet the needs of millions of vulnerable Americans who are affected by disasters each year. In 2018, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development granted $89.70 billion in federal recovery funds through Community Development Block Grant - Disaster Recovery. However, it routinely takes years for these funds to impact survivors due to a variety of factors.

The primary challenge is how little programmatic direction disaster recovery leaders receive. Granting agencies within the federal government provide resources to state and local governments but offer little information or advice in the way of program design and execution. Disaster impacted states and communities often become siloed, and lack the communication network required to share the most effective techniques and best practices. This information gap leaves many leaders without the tools they need to assess need, action plan, contract for services, or implement and scale recovery efforts.

At SBP, we know that the only way to navigate complexity is with strong leadership focused on clear and specific outcomes. With each new disaster, it has become clear that some of the same pain points were surfacing. We knew that to see real improvement that it wasn’t enough to just tell recovery leaders and operators to become better at goal setting — we needed to show them.

The Leader Practitioner Course is Born

To address these challenges, SBP developed the Leader Practitioner Course, combining firsthand experience and insights from those who have lead state recoveries, like JR Sanderson, the former director of the South Carolina State Recovery Office. The three-day, in-person course brings government leaders and operators together in one room, to learn, interact and gain clarity around some of the biggest challenges facing their recoveries. Thanks to generous support from the WalMart Foundation, SBP will offer this training quarterly and will invite state and local governments from impacted communities across the country to attend.

At SBP we believe that if you do something well, you must share it. This course provides effective, practical approaches to long term recovery leadership and practice. We aim to share it with 100% of disaster impacted communities and leaders.

Find out more at/contact: training@sbpusa.org