Volunteers have a need for some type of liability coverage. Liability coverage is a critical issue not only to individual volunteers who may be injured in the execution of their duties, but also to local and state government programs that will not or cannot use volunteers who do not have liability coverage.

Current programs often have restrictions on liability coverage where volunteers are covered while carrying out only a limited number of activities. These limitations create confusion at the local level and are a deterrent to the use of volunteers throughout all phases of emergency management.

At the National level FEMA should develop and implement a volunteer liability coverage program that would provide coverage for trained government (local, state, federal) affiliated volunteers while participating in all phases of the emergency management cycle, such as:

• Preparedness/Resilience- Participating in preparedness fairs, public outreach, training etc
• Response- Supporting local government and first responders
• Mitigation-Supporting local government in mitigation awareness, education, and implementation projects
• Recovery- Supporting local government and partner organizations in long term recovery efforts

Volunteer mutual aid between jurisdictions, would be greatly facilitated by the introduction of a national program.

A Federal level volunteer liability program is important because it would remove one of the largest barriers to volunteer utilization at all levels of government. The introduction of a standardized volunteer liability program would make volunteers a viable resource in all phases of emergency management.