Location: Washington, DC Metropolitan Area

The Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (MWCOG) is a regional organization comprised of 20 local governments surrounding the Nation’s capital, including the State of Maryland, the Commonwealth of Virginia, and the District of Columbia.

The COG jurisdiction covers a land area of 3,020 square miles and serves over four million people. The MWCOG region is coincident with the Federally-defined National Capital Region (NCR) and represents one of the highest threat, and most visible, areas of our Nation. Complicating any planning is the enormous presence of the Federal government, which employs over 300,000 people in the region, as well as rigorous Congressional oversight.

Baker developed an integrated evacuation and sheltering plan for the NCR, focused on catastrophic events. Each jurisdiction in the region has evacuation and sheltering plans, but these plans lack uniformity and coordination between jurisdictions. Baker has been tasked with developing and coordinating a regional evacuation and shelter plan. The plan will ensure that current local emergency evacuation and shelter plans are coordinated and all the critical elements are combined into a single plan using a common format. The plan will establish a process and structure for the efficient, coordinated, and effective delivery of assistance to a jurisdiction in times of public emergencies. The plan will also outline how the NCR will work in a collaborative manner both among themselves and with their federal partners.