Sonoma County Migrant Worker Alerting Program (MAP)

About the Program

Category: Risk and Emergency Management (Best in Category)

Year: 2022

The Department of Emergency Management (DEM) identified guest farm workers as an underserved population who are hard to reach for alerts. They may not have local cell phones or are housed in poor cell coverage areas, and are unlikely to be subscribed to local alerting systems. Guest workers often use pay-as-you-go plans with carriers that do not participate in the wireless emergency alert program. To ensure have access to critical life safety information DEM partnered with Sonoma County Office of Equity and Department of Agriculture, Jobs for Justice, and Employment Development Department (EDD) to devise a solution. The Migrant worker Alerting Program (MAP) targets agricultural bunkhouses where workers are housed. MAP includes placing a bilingual poster with local information important to situational awareness in a potential disaster, and a NOAA Radio for emergency alerts in each bunkhouse. The NOAA Radio system provides alerts during life threatening situations. The radio emits a loud tone to let workers know there is an emergency situation; the poster provides details of where to get more information. Through the Department of Agriculture, and with the EDD’s housing list, the Poster and Radio are currently being distributed to each property housing migrant farm workers.