By David Lewis
Writing for the NVFC
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) established the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant program to provide financial assistance to help fire departments increase staffing levels by hiring full-time paid firefighters or to recruit and retain volunteer firefighters. Since the initiation of this grant program, more than $5 billion has been awarded to fire departments across the U.S. to enhance staffing levels.
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The SAFER grant program establishes a minimum allocation of 10% of funding each year to be awarded to volunteer fire department recruitment and retention (R&R) programs. To put that into dollars, if the annual allocation for SAFER is $350 million, then a minimum of $35 million must be awarded for volunteer R&R. Each year, the grant program receives approximately 500 applications from departments and special interest organizations requesting approximately $200 million in funding for R&R projects. Only about one-quarter of those applications will be awarded funding. So, the question is: how can you best compete in this arena with so many other applicants looking for a portion of the available funding?
Your secret to success is to propose a balanced program that excites the peer reviewer when they review and score your grant application. What does that really mean? Nutritionists advise us that a healthy diet requires a balanced plate: one-half of our plate is fruits and vegetables, one-quarter is protein, and one-quarter is grains and carbs. Well, why can’t we design a similar plate for our recruitment and retention program?
Let’s start with some basic allocations. First, a portion of the R&R plate should be set aside for program/project management. Identify someone in the department who has the time and the skills to manage the SAFER grant projects. If you don’t have someone in the department, then consider hiring an outside person or organization to manage the program. And those costs can be allocated in the grant request. Second, you need to have a marketing plan. You need to send a message to the public (for recruitment) about the need for volunteers, and also to your members (for retention) about the value of their services to the department and to the community. Without a program/project manager and without a marketing plan, our plate is just filled with junk food.
What should the rest of the plate look like? Is your department’s primary problem one of recruitment, or a problem with retention? For most of us, our staffing challenges are a combination of both. So, let’s start with recruitment. That begins with the marketing challenge noted above. You need to identify the means to let people know that your department needs volunteers, and you need to let them know what benefits becoming a volunteer means to them personally as well as the community. Once you invite them in, you need to provide them with a physical, training, a duty uniform, and personal protective equipment. All of these items can be built into your SAFER budget request.
Once members are on board, the retention challenges begin. How do you keep them interested and how do you incentivize them to become the best that they can be? The SAFER program provides a multitude of options for developing a complete retention program. Your first step is to survey your membership to find out what entices them the most. Are they interested in college tuition assistance, health insurance, exercise equipment or gym memberships, or awards and incentives for operational performance? Each of these benefit programs are eligible for funding through SAFER.
Have you ever considered sending members to national level conferences, such as the Fire Department Instructors Conference (FDIC), Fire-Rescue International (FRI), the Volunteer and Combination Officers Section (VCOS) Symposium in the Sun, or the National Volunteer Fire Council’s Training Summit? These are typically outside of budget consideration for many departments but can be built into your SAFER retention program. Attending these conferences provide opportunities to build new leadership capabilities, advance firefighting skills, and network with vendors and other fire service personnel from across the country.
SAFER also allows you to budget the costs for association membership for your members. Perhaps membership in the National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC), the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC), the Fire Department Safety Officers Association (FDSOA), and/or the International Society of Fire Service Instructors (ISFSI) is attractive to your members. Membership allows access to resources and benefits of those organizations and also provides additional networking opportunities outside your local area. Using the NVFC as an example, an individual membership costs $21 per year per member. Membership provides a $10,000 Accidental Death and Dismemberment (AD&D) insurance coverage, access to mental health resources similar to an employee assistance program through the First Responder Helpline, all courses free in the NVFC’s Virtual Classroom, participation in networking with other members through the Volunteer Voices online community, scholarships to attend NVFC’s annual Training Summit, and many other resources. For just a little over $1,000 per year, a department of 50 members can provide this large range of resources to enhance their training levels and encourage additional participation in your department.
Success through the SAFER grant program has to be viewed beyond just hiring of paid firefighters or posting a sign in front the fire station stating, “Volunteers Needed.” Your path to success is built on a foundation of planning what is best for your members, the department, and the community. Start now in designing your balanced “plate” of project initiatives that provide the recruitment AND the retention incentives needed to help your department meet staffing requirements for safe and efficient mission performance.
For additional information on the SAFER grant program, visit: https://www.fema.gov/grants/preparedness/firefighters/safer
David Lewis is the Maryland director for the National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) and is the vice chair of the NVFC Homeland Security Committee. He is an active member of the Odenton (MD) Volunteer Fire Company, previously serving as assistant chief and as president. David is a past president of the Anne Arundel County Volunteer Firefighters Association and the Maryland State Firemen’s Association, and currently serves as first vice president of the Cumberland Valley Volunteer Firemen’s Association. He is active as an instructor for the NVFC, the National Fire Academy, and the Maryland Fire and Rescue Institute, delivering training programs and conference presentations across the U.S.
