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Attachment A FY05 HOMELAND SECURITY GRANT PROGRAM H. Public Awareness and Citizen Participation Citizens are a critical component of homeland security, and to have a fully prepared community, citizens must be fully aware, trained, and practiced on how to detect, deter, prepare for, and respond to emergency situations. Recent surveys indicate that citizens are concerned about the threats facing the nation and are willing to participate to make their communities safer, yet most Americans have low awareness of federal, state, and local emergency preparedness plans, are not involved in local emergency drills, and are not adequately prepared at home. Informed and engaged citizens are an essential component of homeland security and the mission of Citizen Corps is to have everyone in America participate in making their community safer, stronger, and better prepared. To achieve this, state, county, local, and tribal Citizen Corps Councils have formed nationwide to help educate and train the public, and to develop citizen /volunteer resources to support local emergency responders, community safety, and disaster relief. In support of this mission, all SHSP and UASI award recipients must work with their state and local Citizen Corps Councils to more fully engage citizens through the following: • Expand plans and task force memberships to address citizen participation. Develop or revise state and local plans, such as EOPs, to integrate citizen /volunteer resources and participation, and include advocates for increased citizen participation in task forces and advisory councils. • Awareness and outreach to inform and engage the public. Educate the public on personal preparedness measures, alert and warning systems, and state and local emergency plans via a range of community venues and communication channels. • Include citizens in training and exercises. Provide emergency preparedness and response training for citizens, improve training for emergency responders to better address special needs populations, and involve citizens in all aspects of emergency preparedness exercises, including planning, implementation, and after action review. • Develop or expand programs that integrate citizen /volunteer support for the emergency responder disciplines. Develop or expand the Citizens Corps Programs (Volunteers in Police Service (VIPS), Medical Reserve Corps (MRC), Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT), Neighborhood Watch, and Fire Corps), activities of the Citizen Corps affiliates, and ad hoc opportunities for citizens to support emergency responders year -round and during a disaster. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY I OFFICE FOR DOMESTIC PREPAREDNESS 55