Using Cityworks to Track

USING CITYWORKS TO TRACK EMERGENCY RESPONSE FOR FEMA REIMBURSEMENT

How can your organization claim FEMA reimbursements for work done to mitigate the current pandemic? Here’s a quick overview of COVID-19 recovery opportunities and how Cityworks can support your response.

BY DINORAH SANCHEZ, CITYWORKS SUBJECT MATTER EXPERT

When it comes to FEMA reporting with Cityworks, there are three keys for success: documentation, incorporating the workflow into daily operations and annual emergency exercises, and visualizing the data in ArcGIS analytics tools with Cityworks eURLs and Analytics templates. Applying these concepts to the COVID-19 pandemic and interagency response is vital.

States have escalated from emergency declarations to major disaster declarations. The federal declaration opens the opportunity for

FEMA’s public assistance (PA) grants, which reimburse up to 75 percent of costs associated with emergency work. Your organization is responsible for the other 25 percent. You can also request expedited funding to receive half of the estimated and eligible costs upfront.

FEMA defines emergency work as “work that must be performed to reduce or eliminate an immediate threat to life, protect public health and safety, and to protect improved property that is significantly threatened due to disasters or emergencies declared by the President.” Funding is limited to Category B emergency work, which could include overtime costs, distribution of food and other consumables, and emergency operation center (EOC) costs.

In addition to PA grants, other federal government funding sources include Health and Human Services, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Small Business Administration, Housing and Urban Development, and the recent legislation of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act. Regardless of which program you target, the key to successful funding requests is documenting work activities, costs, and explanations of why such actions were taken. The Cityworks core functionality supports compiling work activities and associated equipment, labor, and materials and rolling it up within Project Manager.

With the help of Cityworks and ArcGIS solutions for COVID-19, communities can use the platform to capture EOC and response operations. Whether you are using Cityworks AMS, Cityworks PLL, the Public Access portal, Storeroom, eURLs or Cityworks Analytics, each activity creates documentation that will support costs and actions.

For example, if you are in charge of testing sites, you can easily implement the work order and inspections templates to track observations and costs and then roll them up in Project Manager or analyze them in Dashboards and Cityworks Analytics. And don’t forget core Cityworks functionality such as attachments and labor rates (like overtime) that ease the documentation process while enabling location intelligence. Any relevant documents or directives from local public health officials would be critical to attach at the project or work activity level.

Thinking of other ways to deploy Cityworks for the COVID-19 response? What about managing distribution sites in your community and the associated costs? Or what about tracking and managing volunteers and donations? Our donation templates can assist in tracking donation requests and inventory, all while capturing costs and acknowledgement, which can help reduce the 25 percent non-federal cost share.

Once you’re accurately tracking all this data within a project, it’s easy to expand its use for citizen engagement. You can invite your residents to submit service requests and report on current activity through an ArcGIS Hub powered by Cityworks eURLs.

By combining people, business procedures, and technology, your organization can leverage valuable funding opportunities to support your community. To learn more, visit fema.gov/coronavirus.

3 Tips for Streamlining Reporting with Cityworks

As COVID-19 spreads, municipalities find themselves grappling with an increased need for FEMA reimbursements to support emergency response and recovery. Here are three tips for streamlining the FEMA reporting process with Cityworks.

1. Make the workflows familiar. One key preparation step is to embed your emergency workflows into your daily operations. Are your staff comfortable generating service requests, work orders, or inspections? Are they familiar with the process of capturing comments, costs, pictures, and attachments? Even if the answer to these questions is yes, make sure to incorporate documentation collection as part of your annual emergency exercises so everyone understands his or her role and the importance of the documentation unit.

2. Capture data during the event. Capturing associated event costs is crucial to requesting FEMA’s Public Assistance (PA) grants. While some organizations have internal costs for equipment, FEMA reimburses according to its own fee schedule at the time of the event. The Cityworks local government templates database, available online at MyCityworks.force.com, includes the latest FEMA schedule rates. By using accurate FEMA rates during an event activation, you can rest assured your organization will be in compliance.

3. Visualize event data. The data you collect during an event can have incredible value beyond FEMA reporting. With the help of Cityworks and ArcGIS, you can reinvest it to inform both your operations and your community. For example, event layers can help keep field staff informed while Cityworks eURLs can extend your information into Esri tools such as Operations Dashboard and WebApp Builder.