DIDRR USA

Why We Started This Collaboration

Emergencies and disasters affect everyone, but not equally. People with disabilities are disproportionately impacted due to systemic inequities, inaccessible services, and exclusion from disaster risk reduction (DRR) processes. Recognizing this, Aim-for-Access and Upstream Access, two Portland-based disability organizations, identified an urgent need to address these gaps.

In their search for effective solutions, they discovered the Person-Centred Emergency Preparedness (P-CEP) framework. Developed in Australia through collaborative co-design, P-CEP empowers individuals with disabilities to actively participate in their own preparedness while fostering partnerships to remove barriers to safety during emergencies. Learn more here: Person-Centred Emergency Preparedness (P-CEP).

Together with the Collaborating4Inclusion research team, we embarked on a journey to bring P-CEP to Oregon, adapting it to local communities to create a more inclusive, community-driven approach to disaster preparedness.

Our Journey: Building a Strong Foundation

Our collaboration began in 2024 with a shared vision: to empower people with disabilities, their families, and communities to prepare for emergencies. Over the past 18 months:

• Training in P-CEP: The Executive Director of Upstream Access joined the Australian P-CEP Certificate Course to learn the framework’s principles and implementation strategies. 
• Launching P-CEP in Oregon: Upstream Access integrated P-CEP into existing programs and secured funding to bring the P-CEP short course to Oregon for four multi-stakeholder groups. These cohorts included people with disabilities, advocates, service providers, government agencies, and emergency personnel. 
• Hands-On Learning: Students from the University of Sydney contributed through internships, conducting interviews and producing case studies to document P-CEP’s U.S. implementation.
• Creating a Learning Community: We developed a Community of Practice to sustain collaboration and knowledge-sharing beyond the training, fostering peer learning and innovation in Oregon. 

Key Insights from Our Work

1. Cultural Adaptation: Customizing P-CEP for the U.S. required addressing unique cultural, systemic, and community challenges. 
2. Collaboration is Key: Including diverse stakeholders—people with disabilities, service providers, and emergency responders—has been crucial for building shared understanding and creating actionable solutions. 
3. Empowering Individuals: P-CEP reframes emergency preparedness in Oregon, enabling people with disabilities to identify their strengths and take ownership of their plans. 
4. Learning Communities Matter: Ongoing peer support and shared learning have been vital for sustaining momentum and expanding P-CEP’s reach. 

Making a Difference in Oregon

Our collaboration has trained and mobilized a growing network of P-CEP facilitators who are driving change across Oregon. These leaders are:

• Supporting individuals with disabilities to create tailored emergency plans based on their needs and strengths. 
• Collaborating with service providers, emergency managers, and community organizations to identify and remove barriers to preparedness. 
• Inspiring community-wide approaches to disaster resilience, fostering social connectedness, and reducing systemic inequities.

Looking Ahead: Scaling P-CEP for the U.S.

What we're working on now:

• Translating P-CEP into Spanish, tailoring a Workbook for the USA context, and embarking on the development of a P-CEP facilitator guide.

Our next steps include:

• Expanding the Learning Community to engage more stakeholders and sustain collaboration. 
• Securing funding to support further implementation and capacity-building. 
• Embedding P-CEP into broader U.S. disaster risk reduction frameworks. 
• Developing new tools and strategies to reach underserved communities, including non-English speaking and immigrant populations. 

Through this ongoing work, we aim to transform emergency preparedness in the U.S., ensuring that people with disabilities are at the center of inclusive and effective disaster