Project Description:
Project Research & Education in Disaster and Disability (REDD)
During FY 2019 Project REDD continued to address the needs of people with disabilities affected by Hurricane Harvey. In Fall of 2018, Project REDD was awarded funding from both the Red Cross and Rebuild Texas, in collaboration with the Center for Disaster Philanthropy. This funding allowed Project REDD was able to continue to serve people with disabilities recovering from Hurricane Harvey through Project ReDiscovery, which is a collaboration between the Center on Disability and Development at Texas A&M University and the Texas Center for Disability Studies at the University of Texas. Project ReDiscovery incorporates the REDDy Directory (REsources on Disaster and Disability), which was a project co-funded by AIDD and AUCD in 2017, into its training.
The purpose of Project ReDiscovery is to provide training, technical assistance, and educational materials to long-term recovery committees, disaster case managers, emergency managers, VOADs, community-based groups, and disability-related organizations in the State of Texas on the support and resource needs of individuals with disabilities or other access and functional needs affected by Hurricane Harvey. The objectives of this project will are:
1. To develop training materials, toolkits, and resource guides addressing the needs of individuals with disabilities or other access and functional needs impacted by Hurricane Harvey.
2. To train and provide technical assistance to long-term recovery committees, disaster case managers, VOADs, community-based groups, and disability-related organizations on the current needs of and resources available for individuals with disabilities or other access and functional needs impacted by Hurricane Harvey.
3. To disseminate developed training, educational materials, and resource guides and evaluate feasibility of use for future disasters.
Project activities target all counties affected by Hurricane Harvey. The project gives particular attention to rural counties in Texas as they were reported to be underserved and under resourced following Hurricane Harvey (Texas Observer, 2017). Training, workshops, and meetings are conducted onsite in the affected counties, while technical assistance and project presence are both in Austin and in College Station. Materials and online training are disseminated to long-term recovery committees, disaster case managers, VOADs, community-based groups and disability-related organizations in all counties and cities affected by Hurricane Harvey.
Over 2018-2019, Project REDD staff participated in publishing several articles, including two with trainees:
Sweet, K., LeBlanc, J., Stough, L. M., & Sweany, N. (accepted for publication June 10, 2019). Community building and knowledge sharing by individual with disabilities using social media. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning. [5-yr IF=3.055]
Stough, L. M., Kang, D. & Lee, S. (2018). Seven school-related disasters: Lessons for policymakers and school personnel. Educational Policy Analysis Archives, 26(100), http://dx.doi.org/10.14507/epaa.26.369
Stough, L. M. & Ducy. E. M. (2019, June). Evacuating under fire: Children with special healthcare needs in disaster. Research Counts. Boulder, CO. Natural Hazards Center. https://hazards.colorado.edu/news/research-counts/special-collection/evacuating-under-fire-children-with-special-healthcare-needs-in-disaster
Project REDD also engaged in a number of presentations:
Ducy, E.M., Fishback, S., Stough, L.M. (2019, April). The Northern California wildfires: Perceptions from parents of children with disabilities. Poster presentation at the Sonoma State University Faculty & Graduate Symposium, Rohnert Park, CA.
Stough, L. M., & Sweet, K. S. (2019, March). Including people with disabilities. Presentation at the Texas Emergency Management Conference, San Antonio, TX.
Stough, L. M., & Lee, S. (2019, February). An examination of grounded theory methods used in top-ranked educational journals. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Southwest Educational Research Association, San Antonio, TX.
Stough, L. M., Kang, D., & Ducy, E. M. (2018, November). Reactions of children with disabilities and their families experiencing disaster or terrorism. Presentation at the annual meeting of the Association of University Centers on Disabilities, Washington, D.C.
Stough, L. M., Sharp, A. N., & Sweet, K. (2018, November). The REsources for disasters and disability (REDDy) directory. Presentation at the annual meeting of the Association of University Centers on Disabilities, Washington, D.C.
Stough, L. M. & Sweet, K. (2018, November). Mobile tips for first responders Responding to Hurricane Harvey. Poster at the annual meeting of the Texas Emergency Medical Services Conference, Fort Worth, TX.
Stough, L. M. (2018, July). The vulnerability of children in school-related disasters. Presentation at the International Research Committee on Disasters Researchers Meeting, Broomfield, CO.
Stough, L.M., Lee, S, & Kang, D. (2018, July). Seven school-related disasters. Poster presentation at the Natural Hazards Workshop, Broomfield, CO.
Project REDD maintains communication with the Texas Governor's Office on Disability, the State of Texas Office of Emergency Management, Texas Disability Rights, Texas Interfaith Disaster Response, Central Texas Voluntary Agencies Active in Disaster, Gulf Coast Voluntary Agencies Active in Disaster, the National Center on Post Traumatic Stress Disaster, the University of Texas Southwest Medical School, the Texas Department of Health and Human Services, the Independent Living Research Utilization center at The Institution for Rehabilitation Research Memorial Hermann Hospital, and the American Association on Health and Disabilities as well as other organizations. Project REDD has established linkages with other UCEDDs who are also conducting research in this area including UCEDDs at the University of New Mexico, the University of Kansas, Utah State University, the University of Wyoming, the University of Southern Mississippi, the Temple UCEDD, and the University of Delaware UCEDD. Project REDD responds on a weekly basis to emails or calls from fire departments, police departments, MHMR offices,
Total Funding FY 2019: $341,339
Center on Disability and Development Core Grant: $5,000
Stough, L. M. (2018). Disability and disaster long-term recovery training (D2 LTRT) in inclusion and support of individuals with disabilities. American Red Cross. 9/2/2018-8/31/2019. $249,769. Role: Principal Investigator.
Stough, L. M. (2018). Individuals with disabilities: Disaster recovery resources and training. Rebuild Texas & Center for Disaster Philanthropy. 10/1/2018-3/31/2019. $86,570. Role: Principal Investigator.
