National Congress for Secure Communities - Washington, D.C., December 17-18, 2007

The National Council on Readiness and Preparedness is hosting the National Congress on Secure Communities in Washington, DC on December 17-18, 2007.  Originally planned for February of 2007, the Congress has been moved to the new date to better coordinate with agencies and participating organizations.  The Congress will bring together federal, state and local officials, first responders, members of the media, business leaders, non-profit organizations, academic experts, and other community leaders as Delegates to the Congress.  The Delegates, and Alternates who are not able to attend but are connected via the Internet, will help develop simple, effective ways to leverage the assets of the private and community sectors into the local public sector preparedness and response plan during the first 72 hours of crisis.

Symposium and Congress Planning Hotel Reservation Information

The Congress planning partners will convene at the Hyatt Regency, four blocks from the US Capitol and 4 blocks from Union Station.  A block of overnight rooms will be reserved for the evening of December 15, 16 & 17 for participants on a first-reservation basis.  There are other hotels nearby, but Partners are encouraged to reserve their rooms at the Hyatt in order to take advantage of the discount rate and qualify for grants.  All activities take place at the hotel.

Click Here after September 30, 2008 to reserve your room at the Hyatt.

The Congress planning session will provide community stakeholders an opportunity to work together and develop plans that augment the local public sector capability with community sector assets, so that the community can survive the first 72 hours of a national or large-scale crisis.

The National Blueprint for Secure Communities, is a collection of best practices and practical ideas from across the country. These ideas are intended to leverage the private sector and community organization assets into the local public sector response during the early hours of a crisis. Developed in partnership with the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, the Blueprint is a continually evolving document, providing ideas that can be customized for any particular locale.

About the National Congress

Subject matter experts from government, business, community and media will help lead the general session. This is intended primarily to be an open forum to discuss how communities, state and local officials, the corporate and non-profit community and the federal government can use the Blueprint ideas to begin working together. Second, some barriers result from laws that prevent cooperation; and institutional cultures need to be modified to overcome a "stovepipe" mentality both in and outside of government. Lastly, more and better communication between all stakeholders is necessary. The delegates will examine not only the barriers to community security, but also the type of legislation required to overcome those barriers.