Miami Dade College's School of Justice Receives Grant for Disaster Training
Thanks to a grant from FEMA, Miami Dade College's School of Justice will help lead an effort to train others in survival during a disaster.
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- Website - School of Justice
Miami, Tuesday, October 14, 2008 - The Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) awarded Miami Dade College’s (MDC) School of Justice at North Campus a $240,000 Citizens Preparedness grant as a part of a national initiative to deliver innovative training programs vital to preparing the nation’s citizens for survival during a disaster. The grant, which will be disbursed over the next three years, is a joint effort between MDC and four other “lead” colleges throughout the country.
“MDC North Campus is honored to be one of five institutions working to prepare our communities in such a critical area of need,” said Dr. José A. Vicente, North Campus President.
Out of 220 proposals submitted, 11 were funded. The grant emphasizes the development, as well as delivery, of courses in areas such as citizen preparedness and participation as well as citizen evacuation and/or Shelter-in-Place. The five lead colleges will jointly train 40 other colleges per year. MDC also plans to provide classes to South Florida residents.
“Our goal is to have at least 500,000 people trained in how to survive a disaster situation,” said J. Graham Smart, interim director of the MDC School of Justice.
During the past five years, similar grant funding has enabled the development of 52 training programs, targeting areas such as: community outreach; vulnerable populations and special needs; intelligence, information sharing and fusion centers; cyber-terrorism; agriculture terrorism; regional collaboration and continuity of operations planning; transit, port and infrastructure protection; rural communities; and mass casualty.
MDC’s School of Justice serves more than16,000 students a year in a multiplicity of areas related to law enforcement, corrections, in-service tactical training, citizen’s emergency response training, incident command systems, and domestic preparedness.
For more information, please contact: J. Graham Smart at 305-237-1238.
Media-only contacts:
Juan Mendieta, 305-237-7611, jmendiet@mdc.edu, MDC communications director
Sue Arrowsmith, 305-237-3710, sue.arrowsmith@mdc.edu, media specialist
Tarnell Carroll, 305-237-3359, tcarroll@mdc.edu