York County Special Needs Registry

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 email York County Human Services / Alternatively you can email the York County Office of Emergency Management

Forms and 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 (PDF) - (to be signed before a Special Needs Registry map can be returned to the municipality for use)
  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?
  7. How many resident sign-up sheets should I collect before having maps created?
  8. Who updates the ECRIN resident information?
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