Choose a primary meeting place, a backup in another direction or area, and an out-of-area place for situations that separate the household or make a familiar location unusable. Write down the route, access details, a contact, and the date you will review the plan. A place that works for one household or one season may not work after a move, a road closure, a transportation change, or a new access need. If local authorities issue evacuation, sheltering, or route instructions, follow those directions instead of traveling to the ordinary meeting place.
Give the household more than one place
A meeting plan works in layers because the same event can affect different parts of a community. A place near home may be useful for a short separation. A place farther away may be needed when a neighborhood is closed or people cannot return. FEMA's Family Emergency Plan includes fields for neighborhood, out-of-neighborhood, and out-of-town meeting places, along with phone numbers. Those fields are a useful way to put the plan on paper.
Start by naming a primary place that household members can identify and reach using their actual arrangements. This might be a location inside the home, a nearby public place, or another agreed point. The name alone is not enough. Record the exact address or a map reference, the entrance to use, and what each person should do if the place is closed.
Choose a backup that is not exposed to the same likely problem as the primary place. A different direction can help when a road, bridge, school, workplace, or neighborhood is affected. It does not make the backup suitable by itself. Confirm the current access, hours, closure information, and local instructions for the actual site before relying on it.
An out-of-area place gives the household another option when local roads or services are disrupted. It could be the home of a trusted person, a community location, or another place whose operator has agreed to the arrangement. Ask before listing a specific building, shelter, hotel, or care facility. A meeting plan does not promise that a facility will be open, accept the household, or provide transportation.
Ready.gov describes meeting places as safe, familiar, and accessible, and points households toward places inside the home, in the neighborhood, and outside the local area. Ready.gov's planning information is a starting point for the layers. The conditions at a named place still need to be confirmed for your household and the situation.
Choose for the people who will use the plan
Accessibility is part of the location decision, not a detail to add after the place is chosen. Check the route, entrance, surface, lighting, stairs, doors, restrooms, seating, and communication options that matter to the people who may use them. The CDC's access-planning information can help households think about barriers and practical changes. Ask the site operator about current features rather than assuming a label or past visit tells you enough.
Transportation changes the choice as well. Write down whether each person expects to walk, drive, use public transit, share a ride, or rely on another person. Record a second route when the first depends on one bridge, highway, elevator, or transit line. If someone needs a driver, a lift, a mobility device, extra time, or an accessible vehicle, name who will help and how that person will know the plan has changed.
Children, older adults, school schedules, work shifts, and care appointments can make a single daytime meeting point impractical. A child may be released only to listed adults. A person receiving care may have a facility-specific release procedure. Include the instructions that change who can travel, who can receive someone, and how a separated household member will confirm the next step. Ask the school, care provider, or other responsible organization about its current process.
Pets and service animals need their own access notes. Record whether an animal travels with a particular person, needs a carrier or harness, or depends on a handler's supplies. Ask any site operator about animal rules before adding the place to the plan. Service-animal access and pet policies can involve different questions, so keep those details separate. Service animals and emergency planning covers related access planning for a working animal.
Do not assume the fastest route is usable for everyone. A route with a steep curb, stairs, poor lighting, heavy traffic, or no place to wait may be a poor fit even when the distance is short. Write the actual route and the adjustment that a person needs. If the route cannot meet a household member's needs, select a different place or arrange a confirmed alternative before an incident.
Record the details that make a place usable
A written plan should answer the questions someone will have when a phone is lost, a person is tired, or the usual entrance is closed. For each place, record:
- the exact name, address, cross streets, or map reference;
- the entrance, accessible route, meeting point, and any access note that matters;
- the route each person expects to use and a backup route;
- the hours, closure contact, or operator information when relevant;
- the household contact who can confirm a change;
- who checks whether the place is open and how that update is shared;
- what each person should do if the place is closed, crowded, or inside a restricted area.
Keep these details on paper as well as in a phone. The household contact sheet can hold the people and numbers your household actually uses, including an out-of-area contact and a short instruction for confirming a changed location. Give each person enough information to act without needing access to one particular device or account.
A paper map can show a meeting point, route, alternate direction, and nearby landmarks. Mark the location in a way that is clear to the people who will use it. Using a paper map when your phone is unavailable explains how an offline reference can support a household plan. A paper map cannot show live traffic, current road closures, or a changing hazard boundary, so use current official information before traveling.
Keep the written record short enough to update. A long description can hide the one fact someone needs, such as a locked entrance or a change in who picks up a child. Use plain language, large enough print for the readers, and the household's preferred language or communication format. If a person needs audio, captioning, relay support, a visual description, or another format, record the support that has been arranged.
Check a place before people travel toward it
Before a planned practice or a real separation, confirm the place's current status. Check the operator, local emergency-management authority, transportation service, school or care provider, and current road information that apply to the location. A site that is familiar may be closed for construction, weather, an event, a utility problem, or a hazard nearby.
Do not declare a place safe from its name, distance, or past use. Ask what access is available now, whether the entrance and route are open, and whether the operator has instructions for a closure. If the site matters because it is a shelter, hotel, school, workplace, or care setting, ask whether the household can use it and what identification, release, animal, or transportation rules apply.
Official instructions control during an active event. If authorities direct evacuation, sheltering, avoidance, or a route change, follow that direction even if the household's ordinary meeting place is closer or more familiar. A meeting place is a way to reconnect when the plan applies. It is not permission to enter a closed area or cross a route that authorities have restricted.
The household can keep one short routine for updates. Name the official channel that will be checked, who is responsible for checking it, and how the change will reach people who are apart. Alerts, warnings, and message backups explains how to compare an official message with a forwarded copy and pass along the issuing authority, affected area, action, and update time.
If a person is in immediate danger, use emergency services as directed for the location. Do not send someone toward a meeting place just to complete the plan. The priority is the current protective instruction and the person's immediate safety.
Use this compact worksheet
Fill in one copy for the household, then make a copy that each person can reach. Leave blanks for details that must be confirmed locally instead of guessing.
| Plan field | What to write down |
|---|---|
| Primary place | Exact name, address or map reference, meeting point, and person responsible for checking it |
| Backup place | A different direction or area, access details, closure contact, and what changes the choice |
| Out-of-area place | Agreed location outside the local area, operator or host contact, and alternate way to reach it |
| Route | Expected route, backup route, transportation method, accessible entrance, and map reference |
| Contact | Household contact, out-of-area contact, official update channel, and how a changed plan is shared |
| Access notes | Mobility, communication, childcare, care, pet, service-animal, language, or timing details that affect use |
| Review date | Date for the next routine review and the event or change that requires an earlier review |
Write what happens if the primary place is unavailable. For example, the instruction might tell people to remain where they are, move to the backup only when an official route is open, or contact the out-of-area person for a new location. Use the instruction that fits your household and confirm it with the people responsible for the place. Do not create a rule that conflicts with an evacuation or shelter order.
Review the plan when life or the area changes
Set a routine review date that the household can maintain, then review sooner after a move, construction, a school or care change, a new work schedule, a transportation change, or a new access need. Add a review after a new pet or service-animal need, a seasonal hazard, or an update from local emergency management. A changed phone number or out-of-area contact also calls for a quick check.
Ask each household member to name the primary and backup places without looking at the sheet. Have them show where the information is stored and explain what they would do if the primary place were closed. Practice in a low-risk setting, such as walking through the route or describing it from the map. The point is to find missing details while no one is under pressure.
After the practice, ask what was hard to remember or reach. Update the route, entrance, contact, animal note, or communication format that caused confusion. Record the new review date and tell every person where the current copy lives. An old copy should be marked as outdated or removed from the places where someone might mistake it for the current plan.
Keep location details private
A meeting plan contains addresses, schedules, phone numbers, access needs, and information about children, pets, or care. Share only the details a person needs to reconnect. Avoid posting a full household location, travel route, door code, identity information, or personal contact list in a public group.
Store paper copies where household members can reach them without leaving sensitive information in plain view. Protect digital copies with the household's normal account and device safeguards. When an out-of-area person holds a copy, tell them what information they should keep private and how they will hear about a change.
Privacy should not make the plan unreachable. Choose a storage place that works when the phone is unavailable and that the people who need the information can use. Remove old addresses and contacts when the plan changes. A current, limited record is more useful than a widely shared file that includes details no one needs.
Frequently asked questions
Should a household choose one meeting place for every situation?
No. Use layers for different distances and conditions, such as a primary place, a backup in another direction, and an out-of-area place. The right layer depends on the current official instruction, the people involved, transportation, and whether the location is open and reachable.
How far away should the backup meeting place be?
Choose a backup based on the roads, access needs, transportation, and hazards that affect your household rather than a fixed number of miles. The place should not depend on the same road, facility, or likely hazard as the primary, and you should confirm its route and current access before relying on it.
Can a school, shelter, hotel, or public building be the meeting place?
It can be considered only after the operator and the responsible local authority confirm the conditions that matter. Ask about hours, entry, releases, capacity, animal rules, transportation, and what happens during a closure. Do not assume a familiar public building will accept the household during an emergency.
What should people do if they reach the meeting place and it is closed?
Follow the written closure instruction and current official directions. The plan may direct people to stay put, use the backup, or contact the out-of-area person for an updated location. Do not enter a restricted area or travel along a closed route to finish the plan.
Make the next check today
Write the primary place, backup place, out-of-area place, route, contact, access notes, and review date on one sheet. Ask each person to name the first two places and show where the current copy is kept. Then confirm one detail with the operator or local authority, such as the entrance, hours, route, or closure contact. The household will have a plan it can revise as people, transportation, area conditions, and hazards change, with enough detail to act without guessing.