§ 23-A — County registry of disabled persons; notice

§ 23-a. County registry of disabled persons; notice. 1. In each\ncounty having a local disaster preparedness plan pursuant to section\ntwenty-three of this article, in order to meet the special needs of\npersons who would need assistance during evacuations and sheltering\nbecause of physical or mental handicaps, it is recommended that each\nchief executive maintain a registry of disabled persons located within\nthe county. The registration shall identify those persons in need of\nassistance and plan for resource allocation to meet those identified\nneeds. To assist the chief executive in identifying such persons, the\ncounty department of health, or such other county department or agency\nas designated by the chief executive, shall provide voluntary\nregistration information to all of its special needs clients and to all\nincoming clients as part of the intake process. The registry shall be\nupdated annually. The registration program shall give disabled persons\nthe option of pre-authorizing emergency response personnel to enter\ntheir homes during search and rescue operations if necessary to assure\ntheir safety and welfare during disasters.\n 2. Upon the establishment of a voluntary registry of disabled persons\nas provided in subdivision one of this section, the chief executive\nshall make such registry available to the appropriate county, state and\nfederal agencies for their use in delivering services in the event of a\nlocal or state disaster. The chief executive shall, upon the request of\nthe state emergency management office, provide such registry information\nto such office. The chief executive may, at his discretion, use the\nregistry information for local disaster preparedness only in\ncoordination with other political subdivisions of the state.\n 3. Upon the establishment of a voluntary registry of disabled persons\nas provided in subdivision one of this section, at least semi-annually,\neach chief executive shall cause to be published in a newspaper of\ngeneral circulation within the county a notice of the availability of\nthe voluntary registration program.\n 4. All records, data, information, correspondence and communications\nrelating to the registration of disabled persons as provided in\nsubdivision one of this section are confidential, except that such\ninformation shall be available to other county chief executives for\nlocal disaster preparedness only as the chief executive of the county\nmaintaining such registry deems necessary. Provided, however, the\nindividual file of a person having registered with the registry of\ndisabled persons shall be made available to that person upon request.\n 5. All community-based services providers, including home health care\nproviders, shall assist the chief executive by collecting registration\ninformation for people with special needs as part of program intake\nprocesses, establishing programs to increase the awareness of the\nregistration process, and educating clients about the procedures that\nmay be necessary for their safety during disasters.\n 6. A county shall not be liable for any claim based upon the good\nfaith exercise or performance or the good faith failure to exercise or\nperform a function or duty on the part of any officer or employee in\ncarrying out a local disaster preparedness plan.\n