National Emergency Training Center 16825 S. Seton Avenue Emmitsburg, MD 21727-8998 R0629 Dear National Fire Academy Student: By now you should have received an email notification from the National Emergency Training Center (NETC) Admissions Office. This notification indicates your acceptance into the U.S. Fire Administration (USFA), National Fire Academy (NFA) “Youth Firesetting Prevention and Intervention” (YFPI) course. Congratulations on your acceptance into the USFA’s/NFA’s YFPI course. The purpose of the course is to provide you with the knowledge and skills necessary to identify children and adolescents involved in firesetting and how to establish programs to meet their needs. The course framework guides you through the process of developing a comprehensive strategy to combat the misuse of fire and incendiary devices by youths. Attached is a pre-course assignment, which is a prerequisite for attending this course. You are to bring the completed assignment with you to class. This class is a six day class which starts on Sunday at 8 a.m. Subsequent classes will meet daily from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., with evening classes possible. The course materials for this course are now available in a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) format which will function on any electronic device. If you own an electronic device (laptop computer, tablet, etc.) and are familiar with its document reader functions, we are asking you to download the Student Manual (SM) before you travel to Emmitsburg and bring the preloaded device with you. Please see the page following this letter for complete instructions on successfully downloading your course materials. Please note: If you plan to bring/use an iPad, you may experience issues saving/storing/printing course assignments since there is no USB/thumb drive capacity for these devices. The NFA classroom environment is computer based. Increased numbers of students and instructors are bringing laptop computers or other electronic devices to campus; you are responsible for the security and maintenance of your equipment. The NFA cannot provide computer software, hardware (which includes disks, printers, scanners, monitors, etc.), or technical support for your device. For your convenience, we do provide surge protector power strips at each classroom table. Should you need to access the Student Computer Lab, it is located in Building D and is available for all students to use. The lab is open daily with a technician available Monday through Thursday from 1700 to 2100 (5 p.m. to 9 p.m.) and on Saturdays from 0800 to 1200 (8 a.m. to noon). The lab uses Windows 7 and Office 2013 as the software standard. If you need additional information related to your course’s content or requirements, please contact Mr. Michael Weller, Fire Prevention Management Curriculum Training Specialist, at (301) 447-1476, or by email at [email protected]. Good luck, and I hope to see you on campus. Sincerely, Eriks J. Gabliks, Superintendent National Fire Academy U.S. Fire Administration Enclosures National Fire Academy Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) Course Materials/Download Instructions The first step is to download ADOBE Reader to your device. This will enable you to read and manipulate the course materials. ADOBE Reader can be used to comment and highlight text in Portable Document Format (PDF) documents. It is an excellent tool for note-taking purposes. For Laptops and Computers ADOBE Reader can be downloaded from www.adobe.com/downloads/. It is a free download. Please note that depending on your settings, you may have to temporarily disable your antivirus software. For Tablets and Other Similar Hand-Held Devices ADOBE Reader can be downloaded onto devices such as iPads, android tablets, and other hand-held devices. ADOBE Reader for these types of devices can be found in the device’s Application Store using the search function and typing in “ADOBE Reader.” Follow the instructions given. It is a free application. Note: In order to have the editing capabilities/toolbar, the document needs to be “opened with ADOBE Reader.” There should be a function on your device to do this. After you have successfully downloaded the ADOBE Reader, please use the following Web link to download your R0629, “Youth Firesetting Prevention and Intervention” (YFPI) Student Manual (SM). (You may copy/paste this link into your Web browser.) https://nfa.usfa.fema.gov/ax/sm/sm_r0629.pdf Note: Please make sure you download the ADOBE Reader first. To open the SM, you will need to open the ADOBE Reader and then open the SM through the ADOBE Reader in order for the note-taking tools to work properly. If you need assistance, please contact [email protected]. YOUTH FIRESETTING PREVENTION AND INTERVENTION YOUTH FIRESETTING PREVENTION AND INTERVENTION (R0629) PRE-COURSE ASSIGNMENT YOUTH FIRESETTING PREVENTION AND INTERVENTION YOUTH FIRESETTING PREVENTION AND INTERVENTION Welcome to the National Fire Academy’s (NFA’s) Youth Firesetting Prevention and Intervention (YFPI) course. This six-day course will give you the knowledge, skills and abilities to perform many of the job performance requirements as outlined in National Fire Protection Association 1035, Standard on Fire and Life Safety Educator, Public Information Officer, Youth Firesetter Intervention Specialist and Youth Firesetter Program Manager Professional Qualifications. Youth Firesetter Intervention Specialist practitioners provide services at the program delivery level. They help identify children involved in firesetting, conduct program intakes, provide screenings to identify risks of future firesetting, deliver educational intervention, perform followups, and evaluate program services. Youth Firesetter Program Manager leaders help develop, implement, lead and evaluate a YFPI program. In addition, the program leader must be proficient in all of the skills required for a Youth Firesetter Intervention Specialist. The target audience for this course is anyone who will perform leadership duties within a YFPI program. Leaders can be volunteer and career firefighters, fire investigators, fire and life safety educators, and allied professionals from criminal justice, mental health, social services, and juvenile justice. Whether or not your community currently has a youth firesetting prevention and intervention program, an important prerequisite before you attend this course is to explore the past history, current experience, and projected future impact of youth firesetting at the local level. Investing the time to do this task will prepare you for a successful class experience. You will continue to use this information after your departure from NFA, most specifically, as you process the YFPI culminating assignment that calls for producing a plan to create a youth firesetting prevention and intervention program in your community. Units 2 and 3 are included in the pre-course assignment to allow you time to read these units and become familiar with the material before class. You are encouraged to bring a laptop or other electronic device that will allow you to process class activities. To achieve the optimal benefits of the course, we ask that you perform research in advance of the course. Please come prepared to use the following information pertinent to your community and organization: • Is your community urban, suburban, rural or a mixture? YOUTH FIRESETTING PREVENTION AND INTERVENTION • How many youth firesetting incidents does your organization handle per year? • What types of youth firesetting incidents do you handle most frequently? • Are there areas of your community where incidents of youth firesetting occur more frequently? If so, where? • Are there particular age groups that represent a greater problem than others? If so, please identify them. YOUTH FIRESETTING PREVENTION AND INTERVENTION • What is the minimum age at which your jurisdiction can file criminal charges against a youth for fire-related incidents? • If charges can be filed, what is the average number of youth who are charged per year? • On average, how many injuries caused by youth firesetting does your community experience per year? How many deaths? • On average, how much property loss is associated with youth firesetting per year? YOUTH FIRESETTING PREVENTION AND INTERVENTION • If your organization currently has a YFPI program, please bring copies of the various documents that are used to support it, such as: - YFPI program mission statement. - Intake and screening forms. - Lesson plans for youth firesetting educational interventions. - Program operating procedures. - Release of information and consent forms. - Confidentiality agreements and waivers of liability. - Budget. • What educational programs are offered by your organization that feature content aimed at reducing the occurrence of youth firesetting and the resources that are invested into the programs? • If your organization currently has a YFPI program, what agencies are you already working with to collaborate on the disposition of youth firesetting cases? • If your organization does not have a program, please consider what local agencies you should be collaborating with and whom from those agencies you should be working with. YOUTH FIRESETTING PREVENTION AND INTERVENTION • Who are the people from your organization who are (or should be) involved with the components of the YFPI program, such as: - Identification of youth in need of services. - Intake of youth/families. - Screening process. - Educational interventions. - Follow-up to program services. - Program evaluation.