More than 7,000 welcome packets were mailed this week to our Disaster Assistance Employees who successfully applied to become members of our new Reservist Program. These packets contained each reservist’s appointment letter assigning their position and cadre; and a “Conditions of Employment” form that must be signed and returned by Sept. 23, 2012.

During the transition of our disaster workforce this summer, we implemented a three-level review process for all applicants.  The process consisted of a preliminary review of applications to determine basic qualifications; applicants were then reviewed by recommendation panels with in-depth knowledge of the FQS job requirements by cadre; and final selection decisions by the selection panel. This Phase 1 hiring process for the Reservist Program ensured that all DAEs who applied to the Reservist Program were offered a position within the limitations of force structure.

Each new member of the Reservist Program will be certified as either a “trainee” or a “qualified” employee within the cadre they are assigned. This was done to ensure that during future disaster deployments, a trainee can always be paired with more qualified employees so that adequate training and experience can be gained. This of course benefits the employee, as well as the disaster survivors and impacted communities as they begin their recovery process.

If an employee is deployed to a disaster area and unable to receive the welcome packet, they may contact the call center at 855-FQS-FEMA (377-3362) or send an email to FEMA-FQS-Program@fema.dhs.gov.

It is our hope that through this transition, we are better equipped to fulfill our mission to build, sustain and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, and recover from and mitigate all hazards.