Community Risk Assessment: What is it and Why should you care?
A Community Risk Assessment (CRA) is a systematic process of identifying, analyzing, and
evaluating potential hazards and vulnerabilities within your community. It's about understanding
the threats that could impact residents, infrastructure, and the environment, and then
determining the likelihood and consequences of those threats. In addition, your CRA can help
identify potential areas of vulnerability to residents and where to target interventions and
community relationships.
Key Components of a CRA:
● Hazard Identification: Pinpointing potential dangers, including natural disasters
(floods, wildfires, earthquakes), technological hazards (chemical spills, infrastructure
failures), and human-caused threats (crime, terrorism).
● Vulnerability Analysis: Assessing the community's susceptibility to these hazards, as
well as susceptibility to personal risks. This includes examining factors like
demographics, building stock, economic conditions, and social supports.
● Risk Analysis: Evaluating the probability and potential impact of each identified
hazard. This involves estimating the severity of potential losses (lives, property,
economic damage).
● Capacity Assessment: Determining your community's resources and capabilities to
mitigate, prepare for, respond to, and recover from disasters. This includes evaluating
the effectiveness of your existing response systems.
Why is a Community Risk Assessment Important?
A CRA is crucial for building a safer and more resilient community. It provides the foundation
for:
● Informed Decision-Making: CRAs enable local governments, businesses, and
residents to make data informed decisions about risk reduction and preparedness.
● Effective Resource Allocation: By prioritizing risks, communities can allocate
resources efficiently to address the most pressing needs..
● Targeted Prevention and Mitigation: CRAs help identify specific measures to
reduce the likelihood and impact of disasters, such as building codes, early warning
systems, and public education campaigns.
● Improved Emergency Response: Understanding potential hazards and
vulnerabilities allows for the development of effective emergency response plans and
procedures.
● Enhanced Community Resilience: By fostering a culture of preparedness, CRAs
empower communities to bounce back quickly from negative events.
● Increased Public Awareness: A well-performed and well-published CRA helps the
public understand the risks that they face, and how they can best prepare themselves
and support first responders.
● Grants and Accreditation: Many grant and accreditation programs require a current
CRA to be eligible for participation.
In essence, a CRA is a proactive approach to community safety. It shifts the focus from reacting
to disasters to anticipating and mitigating them, creating a more secure and sustainable future
for all.
Our team of Community Risk Reduction (CRR) specialists can provide support throughout the
CRA process. We can assist your agency in gathering relevant data, including demographic
information, hazard maps, and historical incident reports. We offer guidance on utilizing
established methodologies and best practices for conducting a comprehensive and accurate
risk assessment.
Once your CRA is complete, we can guide your next steps: from facilitating stakeholder
meetings to developing clear and actionable risk reduction plans, we support your agency to
effectively understand and address the unique risks facing your community.
Contact any of the CRR staff below to get started!
● Southeast Region: Melissa Neff- Melissa.Neff@state.co.us 720-916-0491
● Southwest Region: Bryce Jenkin -Bryce.Jenkin@state.co.us 720-916-0461
● Northeast Region: Kim Spuhler – Kim.Spuhler@state.co.us 720-916-0367
● Northwest Region: Dane van Loon- Dane.vanloon@state.co.us 720-916-4678