 In coordination with the Ad Council and Sony Pictures, FEMA’s Ready Campaign recently released a Public Service Advertisement, “Ghosts Don’t Plan Ahead, But You Can.”
This PSA and promotional posters were developed by Sony Pictures in celebration of the theatrical release of “Ghostbusters: Afterlife.” The posters use footage from the film to encourage emergency preparedness planning for individuals and families.
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Child care providers must keep the children they care for safe during emergencies.
Talk with your own care provider about the measures they have in place to keep children safe. And if they’re looking for resources, the newly revised FEMA independent study course, “Preparedness for Child Care Providers (IS-36),” can help.
This free web-based online course covers multiple hazards and risks that may affect childcare providers and the children they serve. By completing this course, child care providers will learn how to create a customized emergency plan that includes actions such as identifying staff responsibilities when an emergency happens.
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 In May 2021, for the second time in their 60-year history, Peace Corps Response Volunteers deployed domestically to serve communities in need across the United States.
The Peace Corps mobilized to support FEMA's mission to enhance access to the COVID-19 vaccine. This three-month mission called upon nearly 160 Peace Corps members from the 7,000 volunteers recalled from their duty stations due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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On Nov. 29, FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell swore in Anne Bink as the agency’s Associate Administrator of the Office of Response and Recovery.
Bink was appointed by President Biden earlier this year. In her new position, she will oversee the areas of response, recovery, logistics and field operations.
“I’m excited and humbled to lead and work alongside a group of dedicated and talented emergency managers,” said Bink. “FEMA, along with our federal, state and local partners, continues working in challenging times, as preparing for and responding to severe weather is a year-round exercise. I am committed to working alongside the administrator, our FEMA team and partners in helping people before, during and after disasters.”
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The Office of Equal Rights (OER) and the Office of the Chief Component and Human Capital Officer (OCCHCO) congratulate the newest members of FEMA’s Inclusive Diversity Council (IDC).
Established in 2019, this employee-led group champions the improvement of workplace culture, diversity inclusion and employee engagement, and serves as an advisory board to OER, OCCHCO and senior leadership.
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We are excited to announce the arrival of OneDrive, the Microsoft solution that allows your files to be saved in the cloud and available from all FEMA devices, and the retirement of home drives.
OneDrive has been configured for all personal network file storage (i.e., home drives) within FEMA. Saving to home drives will be disabled on Jan. 1, 2022, at which point OneDrive will replace Home Drives as the primary location to save files.
Each employee and contractor is responsible for saving their home drive files to OneDrive on or before Jan. 31, 2022. Access and visibility to home drives will be disabled on Feb. 1, 2022.
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The Federal Benefits open season closes Dec. 13.
Open season is your opportunity to elect, review, renew, change or terminate your participation in the Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) Program, the Federal Employees Dental and Vision Insurance Program and Federal Flexible Spending Accounts.
Most FEHB plans will see benefit and rate changes for the upcoming year. Some plans are dropping out of the program and others are changing their service areas or coverage options.
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 The U.S. Fire Administration and the National Fire Protection Association are once again teaming up to promote winter fire safety through their campaign, “Put a Freeze on Winter Fires.”
The goal of the campaign is to educate the public on increased fire risks during the winter months.
December, January and February are the leading months for home fires. Many of these fires are caused by cooking, heating and holiday decorations such as lights, Christmas trees and candles.
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All citizens of the world are entitled to education, freedom of expression and religion, protection from mistreatment and other inequalities regardless of race, gender, religion, disability or ethnicity.
Unfortunately, around the world and even closer to home, many people continue to face discrimination, oppression and prevention of access to their basic human rights.
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No matter how you make your Combined Federal Campaign CFC pledge, it’s important to use the correct ZIP and CFC unit codes. That way, your pledge of funds or volunteer hours will be your pledge will be applied correctly towards meeting FEMA’s pledge goal.
Tip: The correct ZIP code to use is where your office of record, or the one you report to, is located, not your home zip code. The correct zip code to use can be found in block 22 of your SF-50 “Notification of Personnel Action.”
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Just announced: you can showcase your talent and the cause you care about in the 2021 DHS CFC Talent Show.
Send your entry and the required forms no later than Dec. 15 to the DHS CFC leadership team.
The top five videos will be featured in the Talent Show Virtual Finale. The first-place component takes the coveted DHS CFC Talent Show Trophy and bragging rights!
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On Oct. 29, 2021, FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell signed “FEMA Directive 112-13: Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) Revision 1.”
This revision to the October 2019 version of the directive reflects the best practices and lessons learned over the first two years of OPR operations. The revision addresses and formalizes jurisdictional areas and processes surrounding misconduct and harassment responsibilities between OPR, the Office of Equal Rights (OER) and the Office of Chief Component Human Capital Officer (OCCHCO). Collectively, the revision represents a more mature policy document as OPR continues its efforts to advance FEMA’s stated priorities around culture improvement.
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 This is the last call for completing the Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (FEVS), an annual survey administered by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.
This year, the survey went to approximately a third of our FEMA workforce who were randomly selected.
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FEMA Weekly will not be published on the following dates:
If you have content you would like to share in the Weekly, please be sure to plan according to this schedule.
Questions? Send an email to fema-employee-communications@fema.dhs.gov.
San Juan, Puerto Rico:
I have been enjoying birding for a couple of years. The pandemic forced me to do birding in my backyard, which I hadn’t done in a while and to my surprise, there was more bird activity than I had imagined, from Pearly-eyed thrashers and Red-legged thrushes to American Kestrels and Red-Tailed hawks. This helped me appreciate more my time at home. I hope you like this picture of an Antillean Mango Hummingbird (I believe, they are confusing and I’m just an amateur bird watcher!). Submitted by Carlos Alfredo Ortiz Carmona, Infrastructure Division Directorate – Public Assistance, PDMG – Public Building Section
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When this 1996 fictional film was released on video, it featured a public service announcement from then FEMA Director James Lee Witt, explaining how to prepare for tornadoes. Which film was it?
- Into the Storm.
- The Wizard of Oz.
- The Perfect Storm.
- Twister
Find the correct answer here.
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Can I receive a deployment request if I have approved PANA upcoming?
DTS has a feature that, if activated by a reservist, allows a responder to receive deployment requests that conflict with upcoming pre-approved non-availability (PANA).
Accepting a deployment request that conflicts with upcoming PANA is optional; declining a deployment request that conflicts with upcoming will not count as a declination against the reservist.
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