According to fiscal year 2008 Homeland  Security Grant Guidance, the program is to bring together community and  government leaders, including first responders, nonprofit organizations,  and other community stakeholders. The  Division also supports the efforts of non-DHS federal “partner programs,”  such as the Medical Reserve Corps, that promote preparedness and the  use of volunteers to support first responders. FEMA Faces Challenges Measuring Performance of Citizen Corps Programs and the Ready Campaign

FEMA faces challenges in measuring the performance of local community  preparedness efforts because it lacks accurate information on those  efforts. FEMA is also confronted with challenges in measuring  performance for the Ready Campaign because the Ready Campaign is not  positioned to control the placement of its preparedness messages or  measure whether its message is changing the behavior of individuals. FEMA includes the  number of Citizen Corps councils, CERTs, and Fire Corps established  across the country as its principal performance measure. However, FEMA  faces challenges ensuring that the information needed to measure the  number of established, active units is accurate. However, 12 of the 17 registered councils  we contacted during our site visits were active and 5 were not. One state official responsible  for the Citizen Corps council and CERT programs in the state estimated  that as little as 20 percent of the registered councils were active, and the  state subsequently removed more than half of its 40 councils from the  national Web site. Some change in the number of active local programs can be expected,  based on factors including changes in government leadership, voluntary  participation by civic leaders, and financial support. FEMA officials said that FEMA plans to adopt a new online registration  process for Citizen Corps councils and CERTs in 2010, which will likely  result in some programs being removed from FEMA’s registries. They said  that FEMA expects to use the new registration process to collect more  comprehensive data on membership and council activities. The Ready Campaign Faces Challenges Measuring Performance Because It Is Not Positioned to Control the Distribution of Its Preparedness Messages and Measure Whether Its Message Effects Individual Behavior

Currently, the Ready Campaign measures its performance based on  measures such as materials distributed or PSAs shown. We  will continue to assess FEMA’s efforts to measure the performance of the  Ready Campaign as part of our ongoing work. FEMA Has Not Developed a Strategy Encompassing How Citizen Corps, Its Partner Programs, and the Ready Campaign Are to Operate within the Context of the National Preparedness System

While DHS’s and FEMA’s strategic plans have incorporated efforts to  promote community preparedness, FEMA has not developed a strategy  encompassing how Citizen Corps, its partner programs, and the Ready  Campaign are to operate within the context of the national preparedness  system. NPD has not clearly articulated goals for FEMA’s community  preparedness programs or a strategy to show how Citizen Corps, its  partner programs, and the Ready Campaign are to achieve those goals  within the context of the national preparedness system. In April 2009,  we reported that NPD had not developed a strategic plan that defines  program roles and responsibilities, integration and coordination  processes, and goals and performance measures for its programs. We  reported that instead of a strategic plan, NPD officials stated that they  used a draft annual operating plan and Post-Katrina Act provisions to  guide NPD’s efforts. NPD’s draft operating plan also does not include other key  elements of an effective national strategy, such as how it will measure  progress in meeting its goals and objectives; the roles and responsibilities  of those who will be implementing specific programs within the  Community Preparedness Division, such as Citizen Corps or Fire Corps; or  potential costs and types of resources and investments needed to meet  goals and objectives needed to implement civilian preparedness  programs. In our April 2009 report we recommended that NPD take a more strategic  approach to implementing the national preparedness system to include the  development of a strategic plan that contains such key elements as goals,  objectives, and how progress in achieving them will be measured. However,  NPD officials did not state when the strategy will be completed; thus, it is  not clear to what extent it will integrate Citizen Corps, its partner  programs, and the Ready Campaign.
Why GAO Did This Study

By preparing their families and property before an event, individuals can reduce a disaster's impact on them and their need for first responder assistance, particularly in the first 72 hours following a disaster. By law, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), located in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), is to develop a national preparedness system (NPS)--FEMA includes community preparedness programs as part of the NPS. FEMA's budget to operate these programs made up less than one half of 1 percent of its $7.9 billion budget for fiscal year 2009. These programs include the Citizen Corps program and its partner programs, such as Fire Corps, and rely on volunteers to coordinate efforts and assist first responders in local communities. DHS's Ready Campaign promotes preparedness through mass media. This testimony provides preliminary observations on (1) challenges FEMA faces in measuring the performance of Citizen Corps, its partner programs, and the Ready Campaign and (2) actions FEMA has taken to develop a strategy to encompass how Citizen Corps, its partner programs, and the Ready Campaign operate within the context of the NPS. This testimony is based on work conducted from February 2008 to October 2009. GAO analyzed documents, such as FEMA's strategic plan, and compared reported performance data with observations from 12 site visits, selected primarily based on the frequency of natural disasters. The results are not projectable, but provide local insights.

What GAO Found

FEMA faces challenges measuring performance for Citizen Corps, partner programs, and the Ready Campaign because it does not have a process to verify that data for its principal performance measure--the registered number of established volunteer organizations across the country--are accurate and the Ready Campaign is not positioned to control the distribution of its message or measure whether its message is changing individuals' behavior. FEMA faces challenges ensuring that the information needed to measure the number of established, active volunteer units is accurate. For example, officials representing 17 councils GAO contacted during its site visits stated that 12 were active and 5 were not. FEMA officials said that the new online registration process FEMA plans to adopt in 2010 will result in some programs being removed from FEMA's registries. They said that FEMA expects to use the new process to collect more comprehensive data on membership and council activities. FEMA counts requests for literature, Web site hits, and the number of television or radio announcements made to gauge performance for the Ready Campaign, but FEMA does not control when its message is viewed because it relies on donated media, such as air time for television and radio announcements. Because changes in behavior can result from a variety of factors, including other campaigns, it is difficult to measure the campaign's effect on changes in individuals' behavior. FEMA's challenges measuring the performance of community preparedness programs is compounded by the fact that it has not developed a strategy to encompass how Citizen Corps, its partner programs, and the Ready Campaign are to operate within the context of the NPS. In April 2009, GAO reported that FEMA's National Preparedness Directorate (NPD), which is responsible for community preparedness, had not developed a strategic plan. GAO reported that instead of a strategic plan, NPD officials stated that they used a draft annual operating plan and Post-Katrina Act provisions to guide NPD's efforts. However, the plan's objectives do not include key elements of a strategy, such as how NPD will measure its progress meeting goals and objectives or the potential costs and types of resources and investments needed. GAO recommended that NPD develop a strategic plan to implement the NPS that contains these key elements. FEMA concurred with GAO's recommendation and told GAO that it is taking actions to strengthen strategic planning. FEMA officials stated that they are reviewing implementation plans and policy documents, such as the National Preparedness Guidelines, and that community preparedness is a key element being considered in this process. FEMA has not set a date for completion of the National Preparedness System strategy, and the extent to which Citizen Corps, its partner programs, or the Ready Campaign will be included in the final strategy is not clear. GAO will continue to assess FEMA's efforts related to community preparedness programs as part of its ongoing work. FEMA provided technical comments on a draft of this testimony, which GAO incorporated as appropriate.