On September 30, 2019, Governor Jared Polis signed the 2019 State Emergency Operations Plan. The purpose of the Colorado State Emergency Operations Plan is to outline general guidelines on how the state carries out its response and recovery responsibilities to address an emergency or disaster event. This plan can only be activated through the issuance of a Gubernatorial Executive Order. Adoption of the plan through this order identifies that the director of the Office of Emergency Management within the Colorado Department of Public Safety’s Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management will lead state disaster or emergency response and recovery efforts. Once the plan is activated, all state departments and offices are mandated under the authority of the Colorado Disaster Emergency Act (C.R.S. 24-33.5-701) and this plan to carry out assigned activities related to mitigating effects of an emergency or disaster and to cooperate fully with each other, the Office of Emergency Management, and other political subdivisions in providing emergency assistance. The Office of Emergency Management is responsible by statute to create a comprehensive emergency management program that includes policies, plans, and procedures that address the preparation, prevention, mitigation, response, and recovery from emergencies and disasters. Statute notes that the office shall prepare, maintain, and keep the program current in order to meet the needs of the state; a specific requirement for the frequency of updates is not indicated.

CDPHE was part of the design of the State Emergency Operations Plan (SEOP) and would participate as an executive branch state agency should the SEOP be activated.  CDPHE's Office of Emergency Preparedness and Response coordinates planning contributions to the State Emergency Operations Plan, both through ongoing collaboration with the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, and by maintaining the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) Emergency Support Function 8 (Public Health and Medical Services Annex) to the State Emergency Operations Plan. Title V leadership in Colorado are not named in the Incident Management Structure in the State Emergency Operations Plan.

Although the SEOP for Colorado does not explicitly address the needs of the entire MCH population, there are components that relate to some cohorts with the MCH population. For example, the Colorado Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management includes an Access and Functional Needs plan and resources, including a coordinator and future regional planning staff. The Access and Functional Needs plan coordinator is a partner and resource to promote and strengthen inclusive, whole community planning in Colorado, including people with disabilities, rural communities, non-English speaking communities and other people who may have additional needs related to emergency preparedness and response. CDPHE’s Office of Emergency Preparedness and Response staff are key collaborators in this workgroup and also convene a Community Inclusion workgroup.

Office of Emergency Preparedness and Response’s Community Inclusion Workgroup

This workgroup aims to support inclusive emergency preparedness and response through fostering relationships between community leaders and traditional emergency partners. It is a network that connects routinely to share relevant resources and updates and promote problem-solving that improves the state’s ability to care for all Coloradans' health and well-being during disasters, and especially those with access and functional needs. Participants in the workgroup include a CYSHCN team member to represent the needs of children and youth with special healthcare needs and their families in the emergency preparedness and response planning process, state and local emergency and community-based organizations from around the state including local public health, local emergency managers, University of Colorado’s Center for Inclusive Design and Engineering, the Colorado Commission for the Deaf, Hard of Hearing, and Deaf-Blind, county-based equity and emergency committees, the State Unit on Aging, Colorado Respite Coalition, the Colorado Department of Human Services, the Colorado Department of Local Affairs, and the Access and Functional Needs Program from the Colorado Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management.
 

During quarterly meetings in 2020, the completion of a number of surveys, and resource sharing communications, this workgroup elevated the needs of the CYSHCN population through the COVID-19 pandemic and  identified and shared resources for local public health partners working with CYSHCN. The results from a survey of families conducted by CDPHE’s CYSHCN team in spring of 2020 were shared with CDPHE’s Office of Emergency Preparedness and Response. Results included insights into the experiences of children and youth with special health care needs and their families across the state throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. MCH  CYSHCN staff also presented the results from the survey to the workgroup in May 2021, inviting participants to consider how they can leverage their positions and networks to strengthen systems and reduce negative impacts of disruptions experienced by CYSHCN and their families in the future. In addition, pandemic emergency response resources shared out by the workgroup were disseminated to the statewide MCH-funded care coordination network via an online compilation of resources that was updated regularly through the spring and summer of 2020.

In July 2022, CDPHE’s Office of Emergency Preparedness and Response will train MCH-funded care coordinators on How to be Prepared for Everything, and MCH staff will be included as optional participants. The author, Aaron Titus, has provided MCH staff with all the worksheets from the book, which MCH will translate into other languages to expand access to more communities. MCH-funded care coordinators are in a unique position to help families with children with medical complexity “prepare for everything” by incorporating key strategies in the development of shared plans of care for their clients and families. To promote sustainability, this train-the-trainer model is also being offered to local public health agency staff  tasked with working with the community and/or local emergency planning. The CYSHCN team will also be including the training in future orientation sessions for new MCH-funded care coordinators.

Expert Emergency Epidemic Response Committee

The Governor’s Expert Emergency Epidemic Response Committee under the authority of the Colorado Disaster Emergency Act (C.R.S. 24-33.5-701) includes the Executive Director, the Chief Medical Officer, the Chief Public Information Officer, the Emergency Response Coordinator,  the State Epidemiologist for the Department of Public health and Environment; the Attorney General or the Attorney General's designee; the President of the State Board of Health or the President's designee; the President of the State Medical Society or the President's designee; the President of the Colorado Health and Hospital Association or the President's designee; the State Veterinarian of the Department of Agriculture; the Director of the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management; and the Executive Director of the Department of Local Affairs or the Executive Director's designee. In addition to the state members of the committee, the Governor appoints to the committee an individual from each of the following categories: a licensed physician who specializes in infectious diseases; a licensed physician who specializes in emergency medicine; a medical examiner; a specialist in post-traumatic stress management;  a director of a county, district, or municipal public health agency; a hospital infection control practitioner; a wildlife disease specialist with the division of wildlife; and a pharmacist member of the State Board of Pharmacy. The Executive Director of the Department of Public Health and Environment serves as the chair of the committee.

Continuity of Operations Plan

Lastly, all executive state agencies, including CDPHE, are required to have a Continuity of Operations Plan to ensure that mission essential functions continue to be performed during a wide range of emergencies, including localized weather-related events (tornadoes, floods, blizzards, etc), long-term power outages, law enforcement activities, acts of terrorism, etc. CDPHE’s Continuity of Operations Plan was updated in 2020. This Continuity Plan works in conjunction with CDPHE’s Internal All-Hazards Emergency Response Plan and provides a framework to minimize potential impact and allow for rapid recovery following a disruption. This plan outlines the management framework and establishes the operational procedures needed to sustain essential functions and services for a period of 30 days or until normal operations can be resumed. It applies to the full spectrum of threats and emergencies that may affect the Department. This Continuity of Operations Plan also establishes policy and guidance to ensure the execution of the essential functions for the Department in the event that an emergency at the agency or in its service area threatens or incapacitates operations, and/or requires the relocation of selected personnel and functions. The Continuity of Operations Plan is scheduled to be updated in late 2022 and will include a thorough review process to determine what updates need to be made since the plan was activated for the Department's COVID-19 response.

All new and current employees are trained on the contents of the Continuity of Operations Plan and their responsibilities as CDPHE employees. Services deemed as critical services in the CDPHE Continuity of Operations Plan that directly support the MCH population include vital statistics records, newborn screening and WIC services. The plan includes detailed procedures for each of these programs to continue operations during any type of emergency.