Arizona Division of Emergency Management (ADEM)

State government is responsible to provide citizens of the state with the most efficient and effective services possible, including the need to be prepared for potential disruptions of essential government services. The mission of the Continuity of Operations Planning Program (COOP) is to improve state government’s preparedness, response and recovery capability from natural disasters and technological emergencies of all kinds. The COOP Task Force is to coordinate and periodically review state government business continuity plans to ensure they are current, effective and responsive to maintain organizational readiness.

CONCEPT OF OPERATIONS
Business Continuity Planning is predicated upon building a recovery plan that is focused on the restoration of agency Critical Business Functions after a triggering event. Agencies may need additional assistance, personnel or resources from other agencies or jurisdictions to sustain these vital functions.

State agencies have structured their Business Continuity Plans around maintaining organizational support for these critical functions that were self-reported in their continuity plans. These functions were defined as functions that have a direct and immediate affect on the general public in terms of the loss of life safety, loss of property, and or the ability of government to maintain services.

State agencies, boards and commissions, with one or more functions in the State Emergency Response and Recovery Plan (SERRP), may not be able to maintain their emergency support functions (ESF) as a result of the impact of the disaster on their facilities, thus adversely impacting personnel and/or disrupting organizational capability. Agencies may use cross-leveling or trained staff from other facilities to maintain the continuity of their operations during periods of disruption. During an emergency the Arizona Department of Administration (ADOA), Office of Emergency Management should be notified when a critical shortage of personnel or resources will occur in the next 24-hour period. The State Emergency Operations Center (SEOC) may be able to assist in providing additional emergency workers, support staff or resources to fill vital roles under these conditions. These resources may be available to the SEOC by Mutual Aid with other jurisdictions or by other states thru the Emergency Management Assistance Compact (EMAC) during Presidentially Declared disasters.

PROGRAM OVERVIEW
The Business Continuity Task Force has been in existence since 2003, assisting state agencies, boards and commissions develop and evaluate their Business Continuity Plans (BCP). The Task force is comprised of representatives from the Government Information Technology Agency (GITA), the Department of Administration (DOA) and The Department of Emergency and Military Affairs (DEMA). The Department of Emergency and Military Affairs has been directed to serve as the lead state agency in this assignment. In January 2008, reference to the program was changed to Continuity of Operations Planning (COOP) to be consistent with Federal Government and FEMA naming conventions and training programs.

Phase 1, 2002-2003 called for state agencies, boards and commissions to complete a BCP pursuant to Executive Order #2003-05, dated January 13, 2003. Plans were to identify critical, essential and administrative business functions. A good foundation to the planning process was established.

Phase II, 2005-2006 built upon previously completed work, required agencies to update Phase I plan information and added new support material. The Guidance document created by the BCP Task Force provided step-by-step procedures to complete the BCP revision process and included sample outlines, project worksheets and checklists. A new component of the plan included preparedness staff training and required the agency to conduct a tabletop exercise to test the functionality of their plan. An “all-hazards” approach was employed to enhance agency capability to respond to and recover from a wide spectrum of business disruptions. Public health and safety remained the primary focus along with the protection of property and the conservation of State resources.

Phase III, 2006-2007, BCP strategic direction focused on gap closure (especially critical business function validation), and began plans to move to a web based system supporting plan maintenance and reporting in an electronic format with secure access. This tool will check resource dependencies between agencies generate reports and provide immediate access to plans during any disruption or event. This phase will continue to refine and develop mature plans with an emphasis on training and exercising.

COORDINATION FUNCTIONS, COOP TASK FORCE AND
LEADERSHIP TEAM
The Adjutant General, Department of Emergency and Military Affairs, leads the COOP Leadership Team and provides direction and guidance to the COOP Task Force. The ADOA Director and GITA Director have also been appointed to the Leadership Team. The Task Force consists of a representative from ADOA, GITA and the Continuity Program Manager and Planner at ADEM.

COOP Task Force meets weekly under the direction of the COOP Leadership Team.
Agency plans are to be updated annually following the Program Guidance document developed by COOP Task Force.
Each agency is responsible for maintaining its plan and to appoint a Continuity Coordinator (CC) as the primary contact responsible for the agency COOP program. The CC is to update the plan according to requirements established by the COOP Task Force.

RELATIONSHIPS WITH OTHER EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS ENTITIES, DOCUMENTS, OR PROCESSES

State of Arizona, Emergency Management System (city, county, state, federal and tribal)
Governor’s Emergency Preparedness Oversight Council (EPOC)
CIO Council
Statewide BCP/DR Committee
SERRP (document maintained at ADEM)
Technology Infrastructure Security Assessment (TISA) system, GITA

Phase I – primarily IT focused data collection completed in 2003. Statewide readiness scorecard was produced and shared with state leadership with next steps identified.

Phase II – Validation of Phase I plans and addition of a basic emergency preparedness plan components. Statewide readiness report has been completed and shared with leadership. Program is in the process of sharing results with corrective actions with agency leadership.

Phase III – Identified statewide critical business functions which reside in 18 agencies. The criterion for statewide critical business functions was life safety and those functions mandated by statute. These functions must be maintained 24/7. Gap closure plans were completed for the agencies with these functions.

Creation of Continuity Coordinator designation as primary COOP point of contact in each agency.

Governor Executive Order #2003-05
NFPA 1600 Standards (National Fire Protection Association)
FEMA current standards for COOP (Continuity of Operations – COOP)
Emergency Management Best Practices
NIMS/ICS federal regulations to support the Federal National Response Plan
EMAP Accreditation Standards Baseline Assessment
State of Arizona infrastructure protection program

LEAD AGENCY
Department of Emergency and Military Affairs (DEMA),
Division of Emergency Management (ADEM)
Operations Section (Ops)
Continuity Program Office

CONTACT
For additional information regarding the Continuity of Operations Planning, please contact us for your area of interest.