This study examines the failure of FEMA to identify duplication in its grant funding applications and explains why FEMA funding was cut by the U.S. Congress in 2011 as compared to 2010. The GAO Office report is cited in this work along with information from DHS. FEMA is presently charged with developing duplication identification methods.
DHS: FEMA 2010 Compared to 2011
The objective of this study is to compare what happened within FEMA in 2010 and 2011. Toward this end, this study will conduct a review of literature in this area of inquiry.
The United States Congress appropriate more than $34 billion in grant funding for homeland security preparedness from fiscal year 2002 through fiscal year 2012. It is additionally reported that between 2002 and 2012 that Federal Emergency Agency (FEMA) administers grew "from 8…to 17…as the result of congressional and executive branch actions." (Government Accountability Office, 2013, p.1)
The Government Accountability Office reports that FEMA fails to "compare and coordinate grant applications across its preparedness programs to identify potential duplication." (Government Accountability Office, 2013, p.1) Additionally reported is that FEMA has failed to establish "…measurable goals or performance measures for preparedness capabilities to assist in effectively prioritizing national investments through preparedness grant programs." (Government Accountability Office, 2013, p.1)
II. FEMA 2010
The Government Accountability Office reported in October 2010, that FEMA had failed to develop national preparedness capability requirement that were of a measurable nature resulting in the January 2011 establishment of a strategic priority by FEMA Administrator that was referred to as "Whole of Community'. This strategy identified specific requirement and capabilities for ensuring that actions for recovery and response are motivated by the affected community needs in times of catastrophic disaster.
The plan for FEMA is the generation of measurable national preparedness capacity requirements and criteria for evaluation. It is stated that until FEMA has accomplished this that it is not able to "operationalize and implement its approach for assessing local, state, and federal preparedness capabilities to identify gaps for prioritizing investments in national preparedness." (Government Accountability Office, 2013, p.1)
If FEMA fails to address the problems relating to grant applications for preparedness the result is that billions could be spent by FEMA and no method of identifying duplication would be available to prioritize the "development and maintenance of the most important preparedness capabilities." (Government Accountability Office, 2013, p.1)
Summary and Conclusion
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