Office for Citizens with Developmental Disabilities

Since January 2006, the Office for Citizens with Developmental Disabilities (OCDD), along with people with disabilities, their families, advocates, provider agencies, and support coordination agencies, has worked diligently to develop a disaster response system to better meet the needs of people with disabilities in our state. These groups utilized the lessons learned from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita to develop Emergency Preparedness Best Practices Guidelines. The guidelines are applicable across a variety of settings and can provide people with disabilities, their families, provider agencies, and support coordination agencies with valuable information to improve disaster readiness and response.