About the York County Special Needs Registry (formerly ECRIN):

We've changed our name! Please note that the Evacuating County Residents In Need (ECRIN) program will be transferring it's name over to the York County Special Needs Registry!

The York County Special Needs Registry is a voluntary, community outreach service to assist elected officials and emergency responders in municipalities across York County in obtaining important information on special needs residents living in their communities.

The Special Needs Registry also assists residents by ensuring that all emergency response units (fire, police, EMA, etc) have access to the same information about each person -- thus decreasing confusion during an emergency situation. This standardized information decreases safety risks to both responders and residents in emergency situations.

The system is entirely voluntary -- elected officials in each municipality determine whether they want to participate, and residents signing up for the service must also sign a form.

Under state law, municipalities are required to keep information on special needs persons in their area, and the Special Needs Registry provides an organized system to do so. Also, state law requires group living arrangements to provide their own emergency plan. Therefore, the Special Needs Registry is a resource for residents with special needs who have no reliable source of assistance in the event of an emergency. The Special Needs Registry can be used for more than just evacuation purposes -- the information it provides is also helpful in any emergency situation (fire, chemical spill, police incident, etc).

The York County Special Needs Registry program consists of a paper resident sign-up sheet, an excel spreadsheet (where the resident data is entered to provide an electronic copy), as well as a GIS mapping program which is accessed using a free, download-able mapping utility. The mapping portion of the program allows emergency responders to quickly view the area in question, and gather basic information on special needs folks in that area.

Contact the York County Special Needs Registry:

If you have questions, comments, or concerns about the York County Special Needs Registry, please contact us: humanservices@old.yorkcountypa.gov / oem@ycdes.org

Forms & Documents:

The following documents should assist you in learning more about the York County Special Needs Registry, as well as implementing the program in your local municipality.

York County Special Needs Registry Resident Sign-Up Forms

York County Special Needs Registry Pamphlets

Municipal Special Needs Registry Documents

  • GIS Agreement (to be signed before a Special Needs Registry map can be returned to the municipality for use)

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ):

1. What is the 'GIS Agreement'? Where can I find that document?

2. What should I do after I've collected paper copies of the Resident Sign-Up Form?

3. Where do I get the Excel form?

4. Will County staff enter my resident information into the required Excel spreadsheet for me?

5. The first block of the required Excel spreadsheet asks for an ID Municipal Number -- how do I fill that in?

6. In the Township/City/Borough field on the required Excel spreadsheet, do I put the municipality name or the mailing address? (Ex: Mailing address is York -- municipality is Manchester)

7. How many resident sign-up sheets should I collect before having maps created?

8. Who updates the resident information?

9. How often should information be updated?

10. How do I get a map created?

11. How do I get help with the Special Needs Registry?

12. How do municipalities get residents to sign up? How do they advertise the program?

 

What is the 'GIS Agreement'? Where can I find that document?: Please refer to the GIS Agreement document that is linked above on the page. The GIS Agreement is a required document that must be signed by your municipality's elected official prior to the creation of your intial Special Needs Registry GIS map. This document provides security for the uses of the data contained in the map.

What should I do after I've collected paper copies of the Resident Sign-Up Form?: Once you've received copies of the Resident Sign-Up Form, your municipality will need to type that information into the required Excel spreadsheet that was distributed to each municipality. Once your data is typed into the Excel spreadsheet, you can begin the process for having your data mapped.

Where do I get the Excel form?: If your municipality does not have a copy of the required Excel form, you may use the following contact information to receive it:

Email: humanservices@old.yorkcountypa.gov / or / oem@ycdes.org

Phone: Shen Kreiser, York County Emergency Management, (717) 840-2990

Will County staff enter my resident information into the required Excel spreadsheet for me?: No. It is the municipality's responsibility to enter resident data from the paper sign-up sheet, to the required Excel spreadsheet.

The first block of the required Excel spreadsheet asks for an ID Municipal Number -- how do I fill that in?: Please refer to the Municipal Codes information. Find your muncipality name, and then enter the two-digit code for your municipality in the "ID Municipal Number" field. Please make sure you choose the code associated with your municipality's name -- NOT the mailing address of your citizens! (Ex: Mailing address is York, PA -- but municipality is West Manchester Township. Choose West Manchester Township's code.)

In the Township/City/Borough field on the required Excel spreadsheet, do I put the municipality name or the mailing address? (Ex: Mailing address is York -- municipality is Manchester): The Township/City/borough field should reflect your mailing address (Ex: citizen living in Manchester Township still has a mailing address of York -- put York in this field)

How many resident sign-up sheets should I collect before having maps created?: The answer to this is at the discretion of each municipality -- there is no set amount of residents required to have maps created.

Who updates the ECRIN resident information?: Updates are the responsibility of each municipality. How information is updated (phone calls to participating residents, advertisements in newsletters or at community events, mailings) is also up to the individual municipalities.

How often should information be updated?: This is at the discretion of the municipality. Some municipalities may do it once every six months, while others may prefer to do it once a year.

How do I get a map created?: Once you feel you have collected enough resident sign up sheets, have entered all of your resident data into the Excel spreadsheet, and have had your elected official sign the GIS Agreement you can use the following contact information to begin the mapping process:

Email: humanservices@old.yorkcountypa.gov / or / oem@ycdes.org

Phone: Kelly Blechertas, York County Human Services, (717) 771-9347

            Shen Kreiser, York County Emergency Management, (717) 840-2990

How do I get help with the Special Needs Registry?: Please use the following contact information if you have questions about any part of the ECRIN process:

Email: humanservices@old.yorkcountypa.gov / or / oem@ycdes.org

Phone: Kim Sellers, York County Human Services, (717) 771-9347

            Shen Kreiser, York County Emergency Management, (717) 840-2990

How do municipalities get residents to sign up? How do they advertise the program?: Several municipalities have published the resident sign-up form and information on the program, in their semi-annual newsletters (York City, West Manchester Township, Dillsburg Borough, and Manchester Township, to name a few), while others have done mailing inserts with the annual tax bill (West York Borough), or published information about it in the local newspapers (Yoe Borough). Some municipalities are also planning on advertising the program at community events.

To date, the mailing included in the annual tax bill seems to have generated the most responses.