For the Long Haul: Public-Private Partnerships for Long-Term Disaster Recovery
Creators: name: Williams, Darien
Publisher: name: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries
Year: 2018

description: The purpose of this report is to understand public-private partnerships (P3s, PPPs) as they relate to long-term disaster recovery. This is achieved through the exploration of case studies that describe the  organizational structures, funding models, and lessons learned. Recommendations found in this report are based on case investigation, primarily aimed at public-sector officials and existing partnerships attempting to address common challenges faced across organizations and geographies. This investigation focuses on long-term recovery, as opposed to mitigation, preparedness, or response.  Long-term recovery is distinguished by its duration, involving processes taking place months or years following an event. One of the primary constraints in recovery decision-making involves addressing the tension between speed and deliberation (Olshansky, 2006). ‘Building back quickly’ may involve the active engagement of fewer stakeholders because of the increased time it takes to deliberate and gather input. In  contrast, increased deliberation and inclusion of multiple stakeholders  can mean those involved in projects mindfully address the range of needs which can lead to a more protracted process.  The challenge is to strike the appropriate balance spanning multiple stakeholders, including those in both the public and private sectors.  . Robust public-private partnerships offer an arrangement to address deliberation needs by quickly involving multiple stakeholders that have organized in-advance of a disaster. Public-private partnerships formed post-disaster often involve the short-term, publicity-oriented donation of resources as widely cited in the literature (Berg, A. 2016, Busch 2013, Quero 2012).  Less is known about how PPP’s address long-term recovery issues and associated challenges, which requires a different level of commitment from public and private entities. The examination of PPPs engaged in long-term recovery efforts shows there are distinct incentives, challenges, and outcomes.There are instances of the private sector aiding community recovery without direction from government agencies, as in the example of big box retailers with “command centers,” tracking hurricanes and other hazard events as a state emergency operation center (EOC) would. This type of careful planning leads to a deployment of resources to store locations leading to an expedited recovery process. Only since 2010 have FEMA and state entities officially begun to let business representatives observe their joint-field office and EOC activities . This is but one example of businesses working independently towards recovery-oriented goals. The implication here, that many businesses participate in recovery processes that go un/underreported, is important when considering the potential linkages that could be made through public-private partnership.  It also highlights potential lessons that could be shared with others involved in recovery in order to improve the process.The World Bank defines public-private partnerships as an arrangement where entities “combine the skills and resources of both the public and private sectors through sharing of risks and responsibilities… enabling governments to benefit from the expertise of the private sector, and allowing them to focus instead on policy, planning, and regulation by delegating day-to-day operations.”  This report attempts to fill the gap in the understanding of partnerships by examining cases across each Recovery Support Function (RSF) category as defined by the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) National Disaster Recovery Framework (NDRF) . The NDRF, initially released in 2011, serves as a “guide to promote effective recovery,” through outlining core principles, roles and responsibilities of coordinators and stakeholders, offering a coordinating structure for “pre- and post-disaster recovery planning.”  RSFs include:•Economic Recovery•Infrastructure Systems •Health & Social Services •Housing •Natural & Cultural Resources•Community Planning & Capacity Building Through accessing external resources as well as drawing from internal recommendations, SDRP aims to learn from case examples and disseminate potential public-private partnership best practices. Candidate cases were aligned with FEMA Recovery Support Functions and selected based on depth of information available, as well as knowledge yielded through phone and in-person interviews. All interviews with partnership representatives have been de-identified unless otherwise noted.