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Continuity Program

The Washington Emergency Management Division’s Continuity Program ensures the uninterrupted delivery of essential government services during disruptive events. As the state’s first dedicated continuity initiative, the program provides strategic leadership, technical guidance, and training to support Continuity of Operations and Continuity of Government (COG) planning across state, local, tribal, and external partners. Through inclusive collaboration and alignment with federal standards, the program helps agencies build adaptive, accessible continuity plans tailored to their agency’s mission. The Continuity Program also supports statewide continuity training and exercises, coordinates the Continuity Community of Practice, and drives continuous improvement in continuity by advising the Interagency Continuity Committee.

The program supports entities by providing tools, templates, one-on-one assistance, professional development, policy guidance, compliance monitoring, exercise development, and help with after-action reviews. They host an annual exercise, quarterly planner meetings, and offer training to support various continuity programs.

Explore the resources below to strengthen your organization’s continuity capabilities and contribute to a more resilient Washington.

Continuity of Government

Continuity of Government (COG) ensures that essential state functions remain operational during catastrophic emergencies that impact multiple agencies. In Washington, many critical services—such as payment processing, public safety coordination, and emergency communications—are deeply interdependent. Disruption in one agency can cascade across others.

To safeguard these functions, agencies must proactively plan, communicate, and coordinate as a unified system. COG is not just an individual agency responsibility—it’s a shared commitment to preserving government operations, protecting public trust, and ensuring that Washington’s communities continue to receive vital services when they need them most.

Enduring Constitutional Government

ECG is the result of a cooperative effort among the executive, legislative, and judicial branches in Washington to preserve the framework under which people are governed. ECG focuses on the ability of the branches of government to coordinate with each other and execute constitutional responsibilities, provide for orderly succession and appropriate transition of leadership, and support essential functions during an emergency.>Interagency Continuity Committee

Interagency Continuity Committee 

The Washington Interagency Continuity Committee is a collaborative body dedicated to strengthening continuity planning across state government. By bringing together continuity and information technology disaster recovery professionals from multiple agencies, the committee fosters coordinated solutions to shared challenges and provides a trusted forum for strategic planning, resource sharing, and policy alignment. The Committee acts in an advisory capacity to The Adjutant General (TAG). The TAG, as chair of the iCOOP committee, will advise the Office of the Governor on issues of state government continuity.

State agencies can access iCOOP meeting minutes, planning tools and continuity resources here*. These materials support agencies in building resilient operations and maintaining essential functions during disruptions.

*internal link not for public access

Continuity References and Links


For continuity-related questions, technical assistance, or support: EMDcontinuity@mil.wa.gov