EDITORIAL COMMENT: The officers of PAVOAD and the editors of this Update are doing our best to bring you the best and most up-to-date information available about meetings, training, and much more. Please verify that trainings, etc. you would like to attend are still being held and send us an email at pavoad4@gmail.com if you find we need to make corrections. Thanks!
🔵🔵 C3 (Bucks-Mont Collaborative, Interagency Council of Norristown, Tri-County Community Network) will host the webinar, “What the New PA Budget Means for Health & Human Services” on Tuesday, January 6, 2026, from Noon to 1 PM ET. The featured speaker will be PA DHS Secretary, Dr. Valerie Arkoosh, who will unpack PA’s recently passed state budget and what it means for the health and human service sector. Register.
🔵🔵 Lutheran Disaster Response invites everyone to a virtual gathering to learn about joining or building a team to do rebuild work following a flood or other disaster. The date is Wednesday, January 7, 2026. There are two opportunities: 10 AM to noon or 7 – 9 PM ET. Learn more. Register.
🔵🔵 AWR 209: Working with The Media: A Course for Rural First Responders will be presented on Monday, January 12, 2026, at the Luzerne County Emergency Management Building, 185 Water Street, Wilkes Barre, PA 18702, from 8 AM to 5 PM ET. AWR 209 is a DHS/FEMA-certified, 8-hour, tuition-free course designed to provide rural first responders with the skills and knowledge to quickly adopt the role of public information officer (PIO) if/when needed and to communicate with the public through the media. Many rural first responder organizations do not have a full or part-time PIO on staff. Register. Deadline for registering is December 29, 2025. FEMA S.I.D. REQUIRED. Register for your FEMA Student Identification Number by visiting https://cdp.dhs.gov/femasid.
🔵🔵 MGT 335: Event Security Planning for Public Safety Professionals will be presented om January 13 and 14, 2026, from 8 AM – 5 PM ET, at the Susquehanna County Public Safety Center, 210 Public Way, Suite 3, New Milford, PA 18834. MGT 335 is a DHS/FEMA-certified, tuition-free, 16-hour course designed to educate small and rural community public safety personnel, as well as local officials, regarding security concerns and considerations involved with planning any event. This course enables participants to recognize and plan adequate strategies and security measures to prevent or mitigate security incidents which may occur during scheduled events. This course reinforces the importance and magnitude of security planning required to execute a safe and effective event regardless of the size. Register. Deadline for registering is December 30, 2025. FEMA S.I.D. REQUIRED. Register for your FEMA Student Identification Number by visiting https://cdp.dhs.gov/femasid. The noon meal will be provided.
🔵🔵 The NEPA Task Force Against Human Trafficking, in partnership with Safe Monroe, invites you to a free, full day professional training: Building a United Front Against Human Trafficking– on Thursday, January 22, 2026, from 8 AM – 3:30 PM at the Northampton Community College – Pocono Campus. This training is designed to equip professionals across all sectors with the knowledge and tools to recognize, prevent, and respond to human trafficking in our communities. Lunch is provided courtesy of Monroe County District Attorney’s office. Continuing education credits are available. For more information: Jennifer Kosakevitch, Task Force Consultant at jkosakevitch@gmail.com. Register.
🔵🔵 The American Logistics Aid Network (ALAN) will hold their next Non-Profit Logistics Forum on Thursday, January 22, 2026, at 4:00 pm ET. The theme will be Logistics Ready. With the right set of knowledge, tools, relationships, and plans, organizations can be ready and equipped to respond when called on. This call will focus on becoming Logistics Ready as we start a new year with new challenges to overcome. Please register here.
🔵🔵 The National VOAD Community Preparedness Committee will present the webinar, “How to Establish a CERT for your Organization,” on Tuesday, March 17, 2025, from 7 – 8:30 PM ET. Don Sowers, Tennessee CERT coordinator, will describe the process of starting a CERT program in your organizations.
🔵🔵The Salvation Army has recently launched new Emergency Disaster Services training courses that are designed to equip faith and community leaders with tools to build stronger, connected communities, fostering resilience and empowering service. These free courses are self-paced and available in both English and Spanish. Read a press release here and access the training website here!
🔵🔵The Lehigh Emergency Services Training Academy (LESTA) was established to coordinate the delivery of training to all fire and rescue services, EMS and Law Enforcement within Lehigh County, PA. Through partnerships with several public safety training organizations, LESTA seeks to provide high-quality programs for firefighters and rescue personnel and is committed to meeting the training needs of all first responders in Lehigh County. Out of county students: It is LESTA’s policy not to turn away out of county students if in-county (LEHIGH) students are given priority. Read the latest Training Newsletter.
🔵🔵 AWR-423-W: Mass Care Shelter and Relocation Communication (Web based) is available on TRAIN. The estimated time of completion is 1.5 hours. This web-based course provides participants with an understanding of messaging for shelter and evacuation operations and reviews at-risk populations and messaging for the whole community. By the end of the course participants will be able to fulfill the following learning objectives:
- Identify multiple effective communication strategies for individuals and households about where to find information on evacuation and shelters.
- Identify the ways in which age- and culturally-appropriate warning and notification systems, evacuation protocols, and coordinating services for at-risk individuals are developed and disseminated in multiple platforms and multilingual, multicultural formats.
- Compare messaging approaches that can differ between jurisdictions and subpopulations
Access the course via TRAIN.
🔵🔵 The Lakeside Global Institute is a collegiate-style professional development training. The training both nurtures and supports individuals to grow in self-awareness while learning research-based information in many fields of study. Trainings sponsored by The CHG Charitable Trust beginning January 2026 are now open for registration. Learn more about the Intensive Courses and Workshops.
🔵🔵 PEMA is providing the in-person course L-105 Public Information Basics (BPIO) at various sites throughout 2026. Click this link to learn more on Train PA! Prerequisites: IS-29 Public Information Officer Awareness Click here is see the listing of sites and other information.
🔵🔵 You can access the Bucks County Community College’s Training Catalog here.
🔵🔵 You can view the Lehigh County Emergency Services training schedule here.