ODP Information Bulletin
                              No. 29


          TO:       All State Administrative Agency Heads
          All State Administrative Agency Point of Contact

          FROM:     C.H. "Butch" Straub II
          Director

          SUBJECT:  Technical Assistance for Developing a State Strategy

By now, many states have started or completed their assessments and are beginning to compile all
the information for preparation of their state strategy.  The Training and Technical Assistance
Division has developed a training session on "Developing a State Strategy" to assist states in this
preparation.

This training session will facilitate and assist states in formulating information required for
submission to our office for the development of the state's Three-year Statewide Domestic
Preparedness Strategy.  The goal of this training session is to enhance the ability of the state to
develop and implement a domestic preparedness plan to respond to Weapons of Mass Destruction
(WMD) terrorism incidents.  The following are a description of the training session modules:

                    Module One:         Statewide Domestic Preparedness Strategy Overview: Determine the
                    critical tasks the state must perform in order to produce a Statewide
                    Domestic Preparedness Strategy.

                    Module Two:         Organize at State Level: Determine the organizational structure for
                    the process of decision making on the  Statewide Domestic
                    Preparedness Strategy.

               Module Three:  Determining Jurisdictions: Identify and define the jurisdictions to be used in
               the development of the  Statewide Domestic Preparedness Strategy.

               Module Four:   Jurisdictional Assessments/Strategy Instructions: Develop guidance and
               instructions for jurisdictions to use when conducting assessments.

                    Module Five:        Analyze Jurisdictional Assessments and Information: Receive, process, and
                    analyze jurisdictional assessments and additional information.

                    Module Six:         Prioritize Jurisdictions: Develop a method of prioritization for all
                    participating jurisdictions' needs regarding the  Statewide Domestic
                    Preparedness Strategy effort. 

               Module Seven:  Develop Three-year Statewide Domestic Preparedness Strategy: Assists in
               the identification of information for inclusion in the  Statewide Domestic
               Preparedness Strategy.

               Module Eight:  Administer the DOJ Grant Award for State: Develop the process that will
               be used to administer the Fiscal Year 99, Fiscal Year 00, and Fiscal Year
               2001 DOJ equipment grant.

The length of this training session is two days.  It can be taken in its entirety or certain modules
can be requested to meet the needs of the state.  The target audience is state administrative
agency personnel or state planners who will be involved in the state strategic planning process.

During Module Six: Prioritize Jurisdictions, the state will learn how to utilize the prioritization
tool which assists with the ranking of all participating jurisdictions.  This includes the
identification of priorities, weighting factors, and the normalization of all values.  In the near
future, this tool will be available on-line for all states to use.

Attached is the State Strategy Technical Assistance Fact Sheet that explains all of the training
sessions offered to assists states in the assessment and strategy development process.  You will
also find instructions on how to request technical assistance from our office.  If you have any
questions, please feel free to contact, Gabrielle Meszaros-Parada, TA Coordinator, at 202-307-
6061 or email her at Meszaros@ojp.usdoj.gov.