Measuring Preparedness: Assessing the Impact of the Homeland Security Grant Program
Abstract
Since the creation of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in 2003, DHS has awarded over 28.7 billion dollars in grant funds to state governments, local governments, territories, and tribal entities to enhance prevention, protection, response, and recovery efforts. Yet, the homeland security community continues to struggle with measuring the impact these investments have had on improving preparedness. The 2009 "Federal Preparedness Report" highlighted that the nation lacks risk-based performance metrics, accurate data, and analytical tools to measure how these investments have improved preparedness. This thesis outlines the challenges of measuring preparedness across the numerous federal funding streams, assesses the prevalence of these factors, and proposes five recommendations for improving the capacity to answer how prepared we are, how prepared we need to be, and how we close the gap between the two. The research for this thesis was conducted using a hybrid approach including a national survey of homeland security professionals and a case study of the United Kingdom's preparedness structure. The intent of these two methodologies was to identify universal challenges faced by federal, state, and local stakeholders; explore the prevalence of these difficulties; and provide recommendations for improving the capability to measure the impact of the Homeland Security Grant Program (HSGP).
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 01, 2009
- Accession Number
- ADA496923
Entities
People
- Pamela N. Broughton
Organizations
- Naval Postgraduate School