The materials and information shared in this blog post were originally created, compiled, and shared by SCN.
With organizations and facilities throughout the Jewish community facing conditions unlike ever before, the community’s national “Resumption of Operations and Organizational Reopening Working Group” released initial materials today to support the safe and efficient reopening of the community.
Secure Community Network (SCN) has convened a working group as the official safety and security organization of The Jewish Federations of North America and the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations – is comprised of professionals and subject matter experts from the public, private, non-profit, and academic sectors, representing Jewish Federations, national organizations and synagogue movements as well as security, emergency management, public health, and law enforcement officials, to include individuals who currently work to address security matters within the Jewish community. USCJ is proud to be part of the group.
The purpose of the Working Group is to identify and recommend best practice considerations, policies and procedures related to the resumption of operations and the reopening of organizations and facilities, in light of the current and anticipated environment around COVID-19. The group recognizes that various organizations and facilities are at very different places – both across the country and even in the same communities – with respect to their reopening processes. As such, the Working Group has first focused on framing out the major issues and concerns that organizations should be considering. The below materials represent merely the first of a number of guidance documents that the Working Group has underway, and which it is planning on releasing over the coming weeks. The materials will address various health, safety, security and welfare issues and will culminate with a comprehensive guidance document that offers recommendations on reopening, significantly expanding on the “Overview of Considerations for Resumption of Operations and Organizational Reopening” document released today. The Working Group’s ongoing efforts will seek to provide recommendations for facilities to address the identified considerations. Materials include:
- Overview of Considerations for Resumption of Operations and Organizational Reopening: an easy-to-use document in list form that provides the main questions and considerations that organizations and facilities should take into account when considering when, how and for whom to reopen.
- Low-Cost/No-Cost Facility Security Guidance for Use in Reopening: security must remain a priority for all organizations and facilities as they seek to reopen, particularly in the current environment. This document provides a list of simple security considerations, with limited to no-cost, that organizations should consider implementing prior to reopening.
- Emergency Operations Plan Template: the current pandemic identified issues for many organizations and facilities related to emergency plans and planning processes. This document, designed specifically for the Jewish community, provides a basic template to allow organizations to better plan how they will respond to and recover from any hazard.
Organizations and facilities must consider how to reopen so that they can efficiently and safely resume fulfilling the vital roles they play, from offering educational and social services to spiritual ones, both to the Jewish community as well as the broader community. The SCN working group will continue to identify, design and develop guidance to assist in this.
