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FAQs for State Coordinators

Index of FAQs

FAQs

What are my responsibilities in the registration process?

As the Citizen Corps or CERT Program State Coordinator, you have three main responsibilities:

  1. Inform the Citizen Corps Councils and CERT Programs in your state about the need to re-register, and encourage Councils or CERT Programs that have not previously registered to do so.
  2. As Citizen Corps Councils and CERT Programs register, review the submitted information and approve or deny the submission for posting on the website. 
  3. Provide assistance to local Citizen Corps Councils and CERT Programs, which may include answering questions about completing the registration questions, helping Councils and CERT Programs log into the system, and reporting any major issues encountered to your FEMA Regional Community Preparedness Officer.

For more information on how to approve or deny Citizen Corps Councils, please visit this page and click on the State Council Administrator How To Guide (not yet available).  You may also scroll down to the guidance on how to approve and what are the approval criteria for Councils questions below. 

For more information on how to approve or deny CERT Programs, please visit http://www.citizencorps.gov/cert/registry.shtm and click on the State CERT Administrator How To Guide (not yet available).

 

 What will happen to all the previously registered Councils and CERT Programs in my state?

All local Councils and local CERT Programs that registered prior to 2011 will be archived and will not be displayed on the National Citizen Corps / CERT websites.  Every Citizen Corps Council and CERT Program is required to re-register if they wish to have a listing in the Citizen Corps or CERT directory.

The list of approved Councils and CERT Programs in your state that registered prior to 2011 will be provided to you in an excel spreadsheet prior to launching the new registration process.  This historic database will be also be archived at FEMA headquarters. 

 

Do I need to re-register to have approval authority for my state?

FEMA will pre-load existing accounts for all Citizen Corps and CERT Program State coordinators before the registry launch. Passwords will remain the same for all State and Regional users.

 State Coordinators will still have the ability to assign administrative rights (rights for approving or denying pending submissions) to other users.

 

Are states expected to complete registration profiles for Councils and CERT Programs? 

States are not expected to complete a profile at this time.  A reporting function for the data in the registry will be developed in the near future after the launch and states will have the ability to aggregate data from all local Councils and Programs.

    

 What is an appropriate Local Sponsoring Organization?

In some communities, there may be an existing organization that may serve as a Council. Some are Local Emergency Planning Councils (LEPCs), some are part of the City's homeland security task force, and others are part of existing civic or volunteer committees that already form a key part of the local government structure.  Citizen Corps Councils will leverage existing resources and most communities already have a strong team that brings together leadership from a broad range of community sectors, for example, emergency services, volunteer groups, business, education, and civic organizations.  If the local government has a structure that works to represent such a range of community sectors  and is willing to take on the additional Citizen Corps responsibilities, then they should use it.

 

Where can I find guidance on how to approve a Council or CERT Program?

For more information on how to approve or deny Citizen Corps Councils, please visit this page and click on the State Council Administrator How To Guide (not yet available).  

For more information on how to approve or deny CERT Programs, please visit http://www.citizencorps.gov/cert/registry.shtm and click on the State CERT Administrator How To Guide (not yet available).

 

What are the approval criteria for Councils or CERT Programs?

The review by the state should include verifying the Council or CERT Program point of contact and verifying the sponsoring organization’s endorsement.

 

A CERT Team wishes to register. Should I approve the submission?

No, the registry is only for CERT Programs. CERT Programs are typically at the city-wide, county, or tribal level and are comprised of many neighborhood CERT Teams. If a CERT Team tries to register, please contact the jurisdiction's local, county, or tribal CERT Program coordinator.

 

How do I manage and track the new submissions for registration?  

When you log-in with your password, you will be directed to the Citizen Corps Council Administration web page. There is an “In This Section…” navigation box on the right side of the page, that allows you to manage Councils, manage CERTs, and manage users.  If you click on manage Councils or manage CERTs, you will see a listing of all submissions for your state, divided into four categories: Newly Requested, Pending Approval, Approved and Denied.

 

What is the difference between a Council or CERT Program that is Newly Requested, Pending Approval, Approved, or Denied?

All Councils and CERT Programs who submit a registration profile are organized into four categories:

An automatic email will be sent to the local Council or CERT Program to acknowledge their initial submission and to notify them when an approval or denial decision has been made.  

 

I am a state coordinator who may be unable to approve Councils or CERT Programs for an extended period of time (e.g. vacation time or extended leave of absence etc.). Who should I contact to act on my behalf?

If a representative within your state agency is not available, please contact the FEMA Regional Community Preparedness Program Manager for your state.  You may give them authority to approve or deny Councils and CERT Programs on your behalf.

 

There is a question about registration I cannot answer. Who should I contact for further assistance?

Please contact your FEMA Regional Community Preparedness Program Manager.  You may also send an email to citizencorps@dhs.gov for Council-related questions or to cert@dhs.gov for CERT Program questions.

 

What additional assistance will be provided to ensure each Council and CERT Program in my State is aware of this effort? 

 

To support the launch of the new online registries the Individual and Community Preparedness Division support contractor, ICF Macro, will make calls to points of contact for all Citizen Corps Councils and CERT Programs currently on-file.  Call center experts will let local points of contact know about the registration effort and provide the direct website link.  If the point of contact is no longer the appropriate contact for a Council or CERT Program, ICF Macro will ask to be referred to the most current or appropriate contact and will telephone that individual to encourage his/her participation in the registration process. In addition, ICF Macro will send an email with the link to the registration website to all confirmed Citizen Corps or CERT points of contact on request.