The magnitude of the grassroots response to China's massive earthquake has been striking, particularly since the Chinese government's general distrust of civil society has not encouraged public-private cooperation to date. Whether this represents a turning point remains to be seen.

In 2005, the outpouring of service from individuals, community organizations and faith-based groups following Hurricane Katrina was similarly impressive. If the scale of the service was surprising in that instance, the response capacity of civil society should never again be an afterthought in free nations' planning for emergencies.  

Some steps have been taken to better incorporate these groups into preparedness strategies in the United States, but much more needs to be done to coordinate between government and the private sector. A conference sponsored by the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives taking place today in New Orleans is engaging these themes. In 2006, an office was established within the Department of Homeland Security with responsibility for including community and religious groups in DHS initiatives and pre-disaster planning sessions.

Last year at The Heritage Foundation, we issued a report called "Grassroots Disaster Response: Harnessing the Capacities of Communities" on the need for greater public-private cooperation in this area. We argued for improved national response and coordination systems, and that the greatest advance that America could make in preparing for disasters is to build better individual-based programs, a culture of preparedness, and resilient and self-reliant communities.

In the wake of Katrina, national-level organizations, including the federal government and nongovernmental agencies such as the Red Cross and the Salvation Army, were unable to mobilize effectively during the first 72 hours. In contrast, local community networks in many cases provided more immediate and effective relief.

The character of community and faith-based groups equips them with unique capacities to address crisis situations.  Local groups and churches have infrastructure in place for rapid response. They are also often linked to national and even international networks that can provide enormous assistance. After Hurricane Katrina, 9,000 Southern Baptist Relief volunteers from 41 states aided survivors in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia, serving over 10 million meals and helping with cleanup.

Community organizations and churches can engender trust and respect in post-disaster relief efforts and provide insight for external emergency responders. Local groups' situational knowledge lends itself to adaptability when post-disaster confusion and ambiguity make improvisation crucial. Community and religious groups also have staying power to deal with long-term issues, while most government and other emergency responders withdraw once the most urgent needs have been met.

Government agencies should work with civil society groups to better integrate government and private plans for disaster preparedness, including these focus areas:

Community-Based Planning: Emergency management plans should be developed with direct community involvement to produce better plans and greater local confidence in them. These should identify roles and responsibilities and inventory material and human resources.

Emergency Communications: Identifying, educating, and empowering trusted local spokespersons will enable effective transmission of information during crises.

Needs Assessments and Situational Awareness: Community residents are an important source for collecting and reporting information when communications are interrupted and access to the disaster area is limited. Preparing citizens to know what information is needed and how to organize and communicate it can better ensure situational awareness in an emergency.

Medical Self-Help: Expanding capacity for basic medical self-evaluation and treatment will allow scarce medical assets to be focused on the greatest needs.

Mental Health Response and Long-Term Health Monitoring: Stress and trauma frequently result in mental health problems among both victims and responders, and some effects may not become apparent for months. Grassroots efforts make for more resilient responses and effective long-term monitoring.

When government agencies work effectively alongside faith-based and community organizations, their coordinated efforts can provide more efficient, effective assistance in crises, along with greater sources of comfort and hope.