Fugate detailed FEMA's progress on these guides in a letter to House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), which was publicly released Tuesday. The letter, dated Oct. 15, specifically addressed questions from Thompson regarding guidance for assisting disabled populations during a disaster but provided information on general disaster planning topics as well.

Thompson requested an update in September on FEMA's progress in implementing provisions of the Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act (Public Law 109-295) relating to assisting disabled populations after a report from the National Council on Disabilities found that disabled individuals remain vulnerable in the course of disaster preparations and response.

The chairman inquired as to whether FEMA had considered setting up regional disability coordinators to support the disability advisor in its headquarters. FEMA plans to "carefully consider" the idea over the next few months, Fugate replied.

However, the agency would like to avoid dealing with the needs of disabled individuals in a stovepipe fashion and to integrate planning for their needs into overall FEMA responsibilities, Fugate noted.

But FEMA has made some specific advancements in disaster assistance programs in recent months for general and disabled populations, he highlighted.

FEMA introduced a Web-based National Shelter System to support government and non-governmental agencies providing shelter and management operations, allowing them to track shelter capacity including shelters for those with disabilities.

The agency also had worked with the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to identify the needs of populations likely to use shelters and to then make recommendations to state and federal partners on services and programs.

FEMA also is developing tools to help integrate functional needs support into state plans for disaster preparedness, response and recovery

Meanwhile, it has undertaken some actions to support disabled individuals such as establishing a network of functional needs support services in each FEMA Regional Office, setting up a cache of durable medical equipment to augment equipment at shelters, and developing training for shelter managers to support disabled individuals using shelters for the general population.

Fugate anticipated release of documentation to provide disability standards for state and local governments titled "Guidance on Planning for the Integration of Functional Needs Support Services in General Population Shelters" in January 2010.

FEMA has collaborated with the HUD and the Office of Health Affairs at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to ensure that the agency is maintaining temporary housing accessible to the disabled. FEMA has a base inventory of 4,000 mobile trailers, 10 percent of which are compliant with accessibility standards. FEMA policy requires 15 percent of individual lots in disaster housing sites have designs to accommodate disabled residents. FEMA is still refurbishing units used in response to Hurricane Ike and acquiring new ones to meet its goals, Fugate said.

FEMA has been making strides in providing communications to deaf people by purchasing communications equipment and deploying it to its disaster recovery centers and shelters where disaster victims may gather, the FEMA chief said.

Fugate pointed to overall improvements in FEMA's communications with to those with hearing and visual impairments by citing the assignment of 16 sign language interpreters to recovery centers in California and Iowa after recent disasters in those states. Furthermore, FEMA developed disaster guides and forms in Braille and large print formats for the visually impaired, expanded sign language and Braille support up to 21 languages, provided sign language interpreters for internal meetings and the 2009 National Conference on Community Preparedness, and provided Web captioning on calls between constituency groups and FEMA leaders.

FEMA's Office of External Affairs established a new bulk purchasing agreement in the past month to provide translation and interpretation services for those with limited English language capabilities and special communications needs, Fugate revealed. The purchase agreement has one base year and four option years with funding up to $9.9 million to support language needs for written translations, interpretations, transcription and close captioning, sign language, Braille transliteration, desktop publishing/formatting, and Web services.

Fugate also revealed that anticipated disaster guidance on pets and evacuation planning would be forthcoming.

He anticipated release of a FEMA comprehensive planning guide on household pets and service animal plans in late 2009.

Currently, FEMA provides technical assistance to states for evacuation planning. But FEMA is working with states and cities to develop model evacuation planning guidance and templates, to include ground, aviation and maritime operations. Fugate predicted completion of those evacuation guides in March 2010.