¶ … Justification "It is only by conducting additional evaluations that not only cover these issues, but also involve all stakeholders and address limitations of existing data sources, that policymakers will have the information they need to identify and quantify needs and develop more effective case management programs for future disasters," pointed out the U.S. Government Accountability Office (USGAO) in its 2009 report to Congress after the federal management of hurricanes Rita and Katrina (2009a, p. 35). Nonetheless while the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) concurred with the USGAO's recommendations, and despite what appears to be some progress at the time of publication (USGAO, 2009a, p. 35), the overall recommendations appear as yet unaddressed, according at least to an undated USGAO Office of Public Affairs Web site describing the findings (USGAO 2009b). The 2009 report lists a variety of areas where performance could be improved, indicating future evaluation may continue to deliver productivity improvements that may save lives and forestall hardship for American citizens until 100% success rates can be achieved. USGAO's second recommendation was to make sure whatever FEMA planning outcomes resulted from analysis, that the result "includes practices to enhance and sustain coordination among federal and nonfederal stakeholders" (USGAO, 2009a, p. 36). This recommendation suggested "such an evaluation would assess whether those most in need received services, client outcomes, factors that contribute to those outcomes, and the role of specific services such as direct assistance," among other components (USGAO, 2009a, p. 36). The report goes on to list examples like...

Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) warns watershed managers that water "security planning is critical because of the increased threat of terrorism and other intentional attacks since 9/11" and "requires careful planning and preparation" (USEPA, 2006, p. 4). My interest and coursework has all been aimed at a goal to contributing toward public safety after graduation, particularly focusing on domestic bioterrorism, and analyzing past failures and successes will further prepare me to contribute to this essential facet of national security to the degree my achievement enables me to serve. As a recently foiled amateurish but potentially menacing attack against a Cleveland bridge suggests, intent to commit domestic terrorism persists (Pelofsky and Palmer, 2012, n.p.), and as we have learned from the Oklahoma City Bombing prior to 9/11 just for example, not all these threats end up detected or incompetent.
Purpose statement for research study

The purpose of this research is to identify criteria federal agencies use to evaluate disaster response, and identify the most and least successful examples from multi-agency collaborations particularly regarding but not limited to ground and drinking water contamination. This will require identifying prior incidents, identifying and reviewing available (public) evaluation…