Human Services & Education Policy Steering Committee

Calvin Ball’s appointment to the Howard County, Md. Council in 2006 launched a county government leadership career that will have lasted more than 20 years when he leaves office after two terms as the county’s first African American executive. 

Two overlapping disaster recovery efforts are now unfolding in Washington: a sweeping executive-branch review of FEMA and a bipartisan legislative push to reform the agency through Congress. County officials should understand both tracks, what they could mean for local governments and where each stands today.

Counties that suffer major damage during natural disasters would benefit dramatically from a FEMA Act proposal to do away with reimbursement and instead offer counties recovery grants up front.

Participants in NACo's Public Health Leadership Academy focused on building trust between public health professionals and elected leaders.

Bank failures in the news in 2023 gave Suffolk County, N.Y. county an incentive to upgrade its own bank program and create a more streamlined collateral reporting process.

As FEMA resumes and restructures its Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities grant program, counties are reassessing projects that were put in limbo during its cancellation and creating new hazard mitigation gameplans ahead of its upcoming funding cycle.