Disaster Resilience Internship Jobs (NOW HIRING)

Compensation Range:

Our full-time positions come with an array of excellent benefits including comprehensive healthcare coverage, a pension plan, flexible spending accounts and even a tuition reimbursement program.

At Lancaster County, we understand the importance of work-life balance. That's why we offer paid time off for sick, vacation and holidays, an employee assistance program, and family medical leave.
If you're passionate about making a difference, apply today to join us in serving the community!

Job Description:

JOB SUMMARY

This position serves as Lancaster County's lead planning specialist for community resilience and disaster recovery and has primary responsibility for the following critical areas:

• The Community Resilience Coordinator leads community resilience outreach and public-private partnership development. The position leads Lancaster County's implementation of Pennsylvania Act 33 of 2023 school preparedness initiatives, including the County Safe Schools' Collaborative and a countywide emergency preparedness planning approach for public, nonpublic, private, and charter schools, intermediate units, early childhood education programs, and day care facilities. The position coordinates schools, law enforcement, fire, emergency medical services, emergency management, and other school-safety partners to develop, maintain, exercise, and improve all-hazards emergency operations and disaster response plans.

• Serves as the primary point of contact for access and functional needs planning and technical assistance. Leads countywide disaster shelter, mass care, mass evacuation, emergency housing, and reunification planning with municipalities, schools, nongovernmental organizations, faith-based organizations, human-services partners, and private-sector partners. Planning shall address shelter-site identification and readiness, agreements, accessibility, transportation, feeding, household pets and service animals, functional needs support services, resource requirements, and coordination of the FEMA Community Lifelines, including Food, Hydration, Shelter; Health and Medical; Safety and Security; and other lifelines relevant to Lancaster County's agricultural and business communities.

• Serves as liaison to volunteer organizations within the County, including, but not limited to, the Fire Police Task Force, Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM), Medical Reserve Corps (MRC), Citizen Corps, Community Emergency Response Team (CERT), American Red Cross, County Animal Response Team (CART), and Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (VOAD).

• Leads and administers Lancaster County EMA's Duly Enrolled Volunteer program in accordance with applicable Commonwealth requirements, including enrollment and credentialing, records management, training and qualification tracking, readiness, assignment, activation, accountability, safety, deployment documentation, demobilization, and after-action improvement.

REPORTING RELATIONSHIPS

• The Community Resilience Coordinator/Volunteer Liaison reports to the Emergency Management/HAZMAT Operations Manager or to the DPS Deputy Director in the absence of the EM/HAZMAT Operations Manager.

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS

• Develop and maintain the Lancaster County EMA's website information related to emergency preparedness, community resilience, and health preparedness education.

• Provide technical assistance to public and private subscribers of the Lancaster County public notification system to include email and phone support and contact list maintenance.

• Leads and oversees County-wide emergency management volunteer programs, including needs assessment, recruitment, enrollment, credentialing, training, qualification tracking, placement, supervision, activation, accountability, documentation, recognition, retention, and sustainment. Programs include CERT, MRC, VOAD, Citizen Corps, CART, Duly Enrolled Volunteers, and LEMA volunteer and internship programs.

• Serves as the County's lead planning specialist for disaster recovery. Develops, maintains, and coordinates Lancaster County disaster recovery plans, recovery frameworks, functional annexes, policies, procedures, and planning documentation covering short-, intermediate-, and long-term recovery. Coordinates recovery priorities, roles, decision-making structures, community lifelines, recovery support functions, unmet-needs processes, and integration with mitigation, continuity of operations, and continuity of government programs.

• Coordinates post-disaster recovery planning with County departments, municipalities, state and federal agencies, nonprofits, community organizations, and private-sector partners. Supports recovery needs assessments, recovery task forces, community engagement, after-action reviews, corrective-action tracking, and the transition from response operations to organized long-term recovery.

• Leads Lancaster County's school disaster-planning coordination under Pennsylvania Act 33 of 2023 and other applicable requirements. Organizes and supports the County Safe Schools' Collaborative; promotes consistent countywide practices; provides technical assistance; and coordinates plan review, training, drills, exercises, and improvement planning with school entities and emergency-response partners.

• Leads disaster shelter and mass-care planning, including shelter capability assessments, site planning, partner agreements, staffing models, accessibility and functional-needs integration, feeding, transportation, reunification, household-pet and service-animal support, resource management, exercises, and continuous improvement.

• Maintains complete and auditable records for Duly Enrolled Volunteers and coordinates their training, qualification, readiness, activation, deployment accountability, safety, demobilization, and documentation in accordance with 35 Pa.C.S. 7706 and applicable Commonwealth and County policies.

• Provides continuity and recovery planning support to public and private partners in developing continuity of operations and business continuity plans for critical infrastructure, long-term care facilities, schools and day care facilities, businesses, nongovernmental organizations, and other community groups.

• Serve as the LEMA liaison to various community volunteer organizations within Lancaster County, including but not limited to the Rotary Club, American Red Cross, Lancaster Ministries, and the Water Street Ministries.

• Work directly with community agencies, as well as County Government Services liaisons, to develop and maintain plans focused on supporting County residents with access and functional needs, and serve as the County liaison to the South Central PA Task Force Access and Functional Needs Subcommittee

• Serves as a department Duty Officer (DO) on a rotating schedule

• Works with Local, State and Federal Agencies, as required

• Availability to work uncommon tours of duty, including after-hours, weekends and holidays as needed

• Other duties as assigned by the EM/HAZMAT Operations Manager or DPS Deputy Director

OTHER REQUIREMENTS

• Must take on-call (duty officer) time as part of the emergency management 24/7 operations.

• Deliver presentation to and interact with small and large groups.

• Must obtain training certificates in IS-100, IS-200, IS-700x and IS-800x within the first two months of employment.

• Must obtain training certificates in ICS-300 and ICS-400 within the first two years of employment.

• Must complete PA Emergency Management Agency County Associate Certification within the first year of employment.

• Must complete PA Emergency Management Agency County Professional Certification within four years of employment.

• Must complete other training and certification as determined by the Department Director or designee.

QUALIFICATIONS REQUIRED

• Bachelor's Degree in a related field (Emergency Management, Public Safety, Environmental Health, etc.), and preferred one (1) year of relevant experience in Emergency Management; Or

• High School Diploma and any combination of relevant education and emergency management workforce experience that adds up to five (5) years.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES

• Strong organizational and public speaking skills.

• Applicable knowledge of the Incident Command System and Emergency & Recovery Support Functions

• Basic concepts, terminology and procedures related to emergency management planning and response.

• Basic elements of effective emergency operations planning.

• Federal, state and local agencies involved in emergency management planning and response.

• Principles of preparing effective training and educational materials and exercises.

• Knowledge of all-hazards school emergency operations planning, Pennsylvania Act 33 of 2023 school-safety coordination, and collaborative planning with school entities and emergency responders.

• Knowledge of disaster sheltering, mass care, evacuation, reunification, access and functional needs, volunteer and donations management, and community lifeline stabilization.

• Knowledge of disaster recovery planning, recovery support functions, continuity planning, mitigation integration, community engagement, and long-term recovery coordination.

• Ability to lead multidisciplinary planning committees, facilitate complex planning processes, manage volunteer programs and records, conduct exercises, and translate lessons learned into corrective actions.

• Methods of record keeping and standard report preparation

REQUIRED LICENSES/CERTIFICATIONS/CLEARANCES

• Valid Driver's License with clean driving record for the last 5 years.

• Successful completion of criminal background checks

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS/WORK ENVIRONMENT

• Ability to lift 40 pounds

• Ability to work 12+ hour shifts

• Availability to work weekends and holidays

• Person may participate in field operations and capable of walking extended distances in less than ideal

• conditions (ie: floods, mud, wind storm aftermath, snow, damage assessment)

• This position has been identified as having the potential for exposure to Hepatitis B. Access to training and a voluntary vaccination against Hepatitis B is provided.

The County of Lancaster offers comprehensive benefits to our employees. Read more about our benefits here.
Lancaster County Government provides Equal Employment Opportunity for all persons regardless of race, religion, age, sex, national origin, genetic information or disability. The County also observes all applicable laws regarding Veterans status. The County reflects this action in all areas of employment and compensation practices and policies. Employment with the County is based upon the ability to perform the job as well as dependability and reliability once an individual is hired.