The US grant programs for emergencies

The HSGP (Homeland Security Grant Program) for the fiscal year 2017 contributes significantly to NPS (National Preparedness System) implementation through promoting the creation, delivery and sustenance of key capabilities vital to the achievement of America’s NPG (National Preparedness Goal) geared at improving its security and resilience. The provision of key capabilities necessitates integrated community-wide efforts and not the sole, independent endeavors of a particular governmental level or agency. HSGP’s allowable expenses foster attempts at developing and sustaining key capabilities over the Protection, Prevention, Mitigation, Recovery and Response mission domains, with the following prioritized:

· Development and Maintenance of Terrorism Prevention Competences by Law Enforcers
· Development and Upgradation of Key Urban Area and State Fusion Centers

This Homeland Security agency was first established under the 1978 Presidential Reorganization Plan III, and put into service under a couple of Executive Orders (EOs) on 1st April of the following year. FEMA chiefly aims at coordinating disaster response within the nation which tends to overwhelm state and local level resources.

FEMA aids areas and complete states that find themselves vulnerable to a calamity or overwhelmed by it. Moreover, it organizes crisis management functions and devises governmental continuity plans in the event of threats to national security (Burns, 2006). Ever since its institution, the agency has directed various authorities which facilitate its role as the central federal, monetary and technical support source in the emergency management domain (Anderson, 2002). The different kinds of aid the agency offers include training and educational initiatives for improved non-federal authority response, grants, mobile communication, and food, shelter and other material for helping disaster victims fulfil their pressing needs (Burns, 2006).

While the agency does not exert much regulatory power, its underlying directives empower it to institute standards for edifice reconstruction following the issuance of disaster declarations, first responder instrument operations, and the erection of federal structures within localities susceptible to earthquakes (Anderson, 2002). The agency has facilitated terrorism preparedness and response measures within the nation. The OHS or Homeland Security Office instituted under the Bush administration post-9/11 has a comparable, though more holistic, objective linked to terrorism (Anderson, 2002). The American Congress’s discussion on the structure and outlines for homeland security’s federal administration may encompass reflection on the agency’s mission, a novel collection or frame of agency authorities, and how far the mission coincides with assignments considering the new Office.

EMPG aids local and state governmental authorities in sustaining and improving their crisis management initiative’s efficacy (Homeland Security, 2011). The initiative offers formula-based finances to every territory and state in America, in addition to Marshall Islands and Micronesia. The overall finances distributed as part of the grant for the fiscal year 2011 amounted to over 329 million dollars (Homeland Security, 2011).

The reimbursement-based initiative labeled EMPG aims at aiding local level emergency management units in the development and maintenance of a holistic emergency preparedness structure to deal with all hazards (Mass.gov, 2017). Its finances may be availed of by communities in the areas of planning, training, institutional support, exercises and tools (Mass.gov, 2017). Further details on the initiative and on how to apply can be gleaned from the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency Notice of Funding Opportunity.

SHSGP provides 402 million dollars overall for improving local and state capability of implementing individual states’ distinct preparedness report aims and goals. This constitutes one among the foremost measures in the progress of the grant initiatives, planning and processes, from an emphasis on exercises, training, technical aid and loosely affiliated instruments to the delivery of an image of protection, prevention, recovery and response capability (U.S Department of Homeland Security, 2007). Corresponding to the 2007 9/11 Act’s implementing recommendations (Public Law 110-53), states who are recipients of the funds have a legal obligation to ensuring no less than a fourth of appropriated finances are devoted to the preparation, organization, equipment, training, and exercise needed to prevent terrorism.

The UASI caters to the distinctive multidisciplinary planning, tools, instruments, operations, exercise and training requirements of densely-populated, highly-vulnerable urban localities, aiding them in the construction and sustenance of capabilities geared at terrorism-related protection, prevention, recovery and response (Homeland Security, 2011). The initiative finances a total of thirty-one densely-populated, highly-vulnerable urban localities on the basis of risk and efficacy.
Metropolitan Medical Response System (MMRS)

The MMRS initiative aids designated local metropolitans in the sustenance and additional enhancement of regionally integrated holistic mass casualty preparation and response capacity for achieving: appropriate progress in the fulfilment of designated target capacities; successful coordination accompanied by mutually supportive initiative guidance on the part of relevant federal organizations like the HHS (Health and Human Services) department, and greater integration with mass casualty competences and programs across the state (Homeland Security, 2011). The initiative offers formula-based financing to one-hundred-and-twenty-four MMRS jurisdictions.

This constitutes the leading American governmental organization committed to the safeguarding of every citizen’s health and the provision of key human services, particularly for individuals least capable of helping themselves (Grants.Gov, n.d). Its mission involves enhancement of citizens’ wellbeing and health by delivering efficient human and health services and promoting strong, constant scientific advancements to aid public health, social and medical services (Grants.Gov, n.d).
ASPR (the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response)

The ASPR Office under the HHS was established as part of the Pandemic and All Hazards Preparedness Act subsequent to Hurricane Katrina. The objective was to lead America in prevention, preparedness and response activities in relation to public health crises’ adverse health impacts (Lurie, 2015). Its focus includes: planning, preparedness, and response; development of federal crisis medical operation capacity; grants for reinforcing healthcare structure and healthcare organizational capacity in case of medical and public health crises/calamities; and countermeasures research, procurement and advance development (Lurie, 2015). The facility offers federal assistance, comprising medical professionals via ASPR’s National Disaster Medical System, to enhance both state as well as local abilities all through a disaster or an emergency.

CDC represents the Nation’s chief agency for public health, aimed primarily at safeguarding public safety and health by controlling and preventing ailments, disabilities and injuries within the nation as well as across the globe (Grants.Gov, n.d). It concentrates on the development and application of disease prevention and control, paying special attention to contagious diseases, environmental wellbeing, food-borne pathogens, health education, injury prevention, occupational health and safety, and health promotion for improving citizens’ health (Grants.Gov, n.d).

The Emergency Response Department (2017) affirms that the PHEP Grant attempts at bolstering county preparedness, planning, and response efforts in the face of manmade or natural catastrophes potentially affecting public health. The initiative put into action using PHEP Grant funding aims at improving communications systems, facilitating disease surveillance and reporting, and designing and implementing emergency preparedness and mitigation plans (Emergency Response Department, 2017). The initiative’s objective is collaborating with partners in the community, for tackling public health crises and threats like bioterrorism and contagious disease epidemics.

Since the year 2002, PHEP has offered over eleven billion dollars to public health organizations nation-wide (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, 2017). The funding aids health departments in developing and strengthening their capability of successfully responding to diverse threats to public health, such as natural catastrophes, contagious ailments, and radiological, nuclear, biological, and chemical events.