Abt Associates Expands Emergency Management Support Services To the Federal Government and Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Nov. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Abt Associates continues to broaden its expertise and capabilities in delivering emergency management consulting and support services with three recently awarded contracts to support the work of the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) Office of Regional Operations, the National Commission on Children and Disasters and the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA). The value of the combined contracts is approximately $1.5 million over three years.

For FEMA's Office of Regional Operations, Abt Associates will provide a range of consulting services designed to enhance coordination between FEMA headquarters and the ten FEMA Regional Offices where disaster preparedness, response and recovery efforts take place. Such services range from mission planning and analysis to leadership training and executive coaching. The Office of Regional Operations is responsible for coordinating FEMA's policies and programs with the Agency's Regions and other regional partners.

Under a contract with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), Abt Associates will provide support to the National Commission on Children and Disasters, most notably helping the Commission prepare a final report that will advise the President and Congress on children's needs as they relate to preparation, response and recovery from disasters. The company will also provide facilitation support to the Commission's stakeholder outreach initiatives, field hearings, and public meetings.

For WMATA, the company will support the updating and strengthening of its Pandemic Preparedness Plan. As part of this initiative Abt Associates will improve WMATA's preparedness for responding to pandemics including a resurgence of the H1N1 influenza virus. The company will also develop a communication and outreach campaign to keep WMATA employees and passengers informed of appropriate steps to take to mitigate the spread of disease.

"These new contracts closely align with our expertise in the areas of emergency preparedness and planning as well as public health," said Kim Fletcher, Vice President of Emergency Management and Homeland Security Programs at the company. "Abt's multidisciplinary capabilities spanning research, evaluation, training, and implementation, as well as subject matter knowledge, make us well-suited for these assignments."

Abt Associates provides comprehensive emergency management services through all phases of the emergency management cycle, including preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation. In the past year the company has provided support to emergency management clients at all levels of government including the Department of Homeland Security, FEMA, HHS, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Small Business Administration, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, and the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments.

Abt Associates, an employee-owned company, applies scientific research, technical assistance, survey, and consulting expertise to a wide range of social, economic and health policy issues; international development; clinical trials and registries; and complex business problems. Founded in 1965, the company provides services to U.S. federal, state and local governments; universities and foundations; media; and major corporations. In fiscal year 2009, the company had revenue of $264 million. Its staff of over 1,300 is located in Cambridge, Massachusetts; Atlanta, Georgia; Bethesda, Maryland; Durham, North Carolina; Lexington, Massachusetts (Abt Bio-Pharma Solutions, Inc.); New York, New York (Abt SRBI); and in Africa, Asia, Central Asia, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East.