General Resources to Plan for Access and Functional Needs Populations

Statistical/Data Websites

• United States Census Bureau – QuickFacts Connecticut
  • QuickFacts provides statistics for states, counties, cities and towns with a population of 5,000 or more. The statistics include topics of people, business, and geography.
• Connecticut Population Statistics
  • Connecticut Population Statistics, published by the Connecticut Department of Public Health, provides detailed information about the population data sources available for Connecticut.
• Data and Language Maps
  • This site from the U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, offers an interactive mapping tool called the Language Map App that helps find the concentration of languages spoken by limited English proficiency individuals in a community.
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Social Vulnerability Index (SVI)
  • The SVI uses 15 U.S. census variables to help local officials identify communities that may need support before, during, or after disasters.
• U.S. Department of Health & Human Services’ emPOWER
  • The emPOWER Program provides federal data, mapping, and artificial intelligence tools, as well as training and resources to help communities protect the health of at-risk Medicare beneficiaries.
• Community Resilience Estimates (CRE)
  • The United States Census Bureau’s CRE uses individual and household characteristics from 2018 American County Survey and data from the 2018 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) to estimate the capacity of individuals and homes to handle the social and economic impacts of a disaster.
• Opportunity Index
  • The Opportunity Index is an annual report developed by Opportunity Nation to show what opportunity looks like in U.S. states and counties. The index includes indicators within the four dimensions of community well-being: economy, education, health and community.

Publications to Help Identify Access and Functional Needs Populations

• Access and Functional Needs Toolkit: Integrating a Community Partner Network to Inform Communication Strategies
  • The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published Access and Functional Need (AFN) guidance in March 2021. The focus of the guidance is on two topics: Communication Planning to Address Access and Functional Needs and Framework for Integrating Community Partners.
• Community Assessment for Public Health Emergency Response (CASPER)
  • This tool helps provide public health preparedness officials and emergency managers with household-based information about communities.
• Special Populations Assessment Tool
  • This tool was created by the CDC to identify groups of individuals who require specialized messages or who may not be reached through usual mass communication routes.
• Public Health Emergency: At-Risk Individuals with Access and Functional Needs
  • Public Health Emergency is a website run by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Office of Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR). This webpage has information about the access and functional needs populations and the Communication, Medical, Independence, Supervision, and Transportation (CMIST) Framework.
• Reaching At-Risk Populations
  • The CDC has three different guidance documents to help emergency planners, managers and other officials identify and engage at-risk populations to plan for emergencies.