Evaluating the new FEMA post PKEMRA

In 2002, with the creation of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and more than 20 other agencies/entities became part of a new organizational entity. Subsequent performance failures by FEMA, specifically preparation for and response to Hurricane Katrina, led to a number of internal and external reviews and investigations to determine the causes of these failures and to identify potential solutions. Congressional concern led to the passage of PL109-295, the Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act of 2006, which set in motion a series of expectations and provided considerable resources for FEMA’s ‘transformation’. Since then, FEMA has sought to improve its overall performance as the ‘new FEMA’. These transformation efforts include activities to better integrate preparedness and response programs with particular reference to FEMA’s 10 regional offices. This presentation will provide the status of and an independent assessment of preparedness and response integration with a focus on FEMA’s 10 regional offices and provide recommendations on the integration, synchronization, and strengthening of preparedness programs between FEMA and its regional offices