SITUATION & NEED
CCS was hired in early 2025 by Carson City Health and Human Services (CCHHS) to develop an updated and comprehensive Continuity of Operations (COOP) Plan supported by division-level Business Impact Analyses (BIAs). The purpose of this project was to ensure that CCHHS could continue performing mission-critical functions under any circumstances, with or without warning. CCHHS needed a plan that clearly defined essential functions, resource dependencies, activation thresholds, continuity teams, and procedures for alternate operations and reconstitution. The goal was to provide a unified, all-hazards framework that guided leadership, staff, and continuity personnel in preparing for and responding to disruptions that could impede the agency’s ability to serve clients and the community.
CCHHS required:
- A systematic assessment of essential functions across all divisions.
- Documentation of critical resources including staff, sites, supplies, systems, equipment, and essential records
- A structured plan to support leadership decision-making during activation
- Strategies to sustain and rapidly resume essential functions following an emergency
- Integration of BIA dependency summaries and resource analyses into a functional COOP plan.
Because CCHHS supports both Carson City and broader quad-county public health efforts, including Douglas, Lyon, and Storey counties, the COOP plan also needed to account for multi-jurisdictional coordination and impacts
SOLUTION
To meet these needs, CCS collaborated closely with CCHHS leadership and continuity personnel to build a comprehensive and actionable COOP plan supported by detailed BIAs for each division. CCS established a core planning team with CCHHS leadership, division managers, and key continuity staff to guide development of essential function prioritization, resource mapping, and disruption response strategies.
CCS began by reviewing existing continuity materials, including previous planning efforts and initial BIA workbook data. A structured process was designed to align continuity planning with CCHHS’s operational realities and the all-hazards environment. Each division participated in facilitated meetings focused on identifying, describing, and prioritizing essential functions; documenting critical resource dependencies; and outlining potential impacts if functions were disrupted.
CCS developed a tailored data collection strategy that included:
- Business Impact Analysis interviews to identify and prioritize agency functions
- Work sessions to collect data for dependency summaries outlining critical systems, supplies, equipment, facilities, and communication assets required to sustain each essential function.
Using information gathered from the BIAs, CCS supported CCHHS in articulating activation procedures, thresholds, and team responsibilities for continuity response. This included:
- Definition of continuity teams and leadership structure.
- Procedures for relocating to alternate facilities or transitioning to telework.
- Strategies for sustaining operations during prolonged disruptions.
- Guidance for recovery and full reconstitution of services.
CCS consolidated all essential function data including prioritization, dependencies, risks, and strategies into a comprehensive framework to support executive leadership during both anticipated and no-notice emergencies. The result was a unified, interoperable COOP plan informed directly by staff knowledge and the BIA process
CCS carefully developed the BIA tool and facilitated the BIA interviews anticipating that the work conducted for the strike planning would translate to the annual COOP (i.e., blue skies COOP planning) work once the strike planning ceased. Once all essential functions were identified, described, and scored and alternate strategy plans were developed, CCS aggregated these data into one spreadsheet for the Clackamas County Administrator and other leadership. This analysis included all county essential functions (identified for the strike planning), the alternate strategy selected, any noted interdependencies, and potential issues. CCS also provided an aggregated analysis of essential functions BIA scored high to low; an aggregation of those functions that scored high in disproportionate impacts to vulnerable populations; and an aggregation of those functions that scored high in life-safety to staff or community members.
OUTCOME
The resulting CCHHS COOP plan provides a clear, actionable, and scalable plan for responding to any event that disrupts essential health and human services operations. CCHHS now has a structured approach for sustaining services across all divisions and for rapidly resuming operations when disruptions occur
This continuity planning effort has strengthened CCHHS’s ability to:
- Maintain essential functions during emergencies impacting staff, sites, systems, or supplies.
- Prioritize limited resources effectively during disruptions.
- Communicate clear expectations to leadership, division managers, and continuity teams.
- Coordinate with regional partners across the quad-county jurisdiction.
- Support vulnerable populations and ensure life-safety considerations in continuity decisions.
The COOP plan and BIA tools produced through this project also provide a durable foundation for ongoing continuity planning. CCHHS leadership and staff are better equipped to update BIAs, refine essential function strategies, and adjust continuity procedures as operational needs evolve. This strengthened internal capacity enhances long-term organizational resilience and ensures that CCHHS can continue delivering critical health and human services to the community regardless of the emergency.
