These grants are a  means of achieving an important goal—enhancing the ability of first  responders to prevent, prepare for, respond to, and recover from terrorist  incidents with well-planned and well-coordinated efforts that involve  police, fire, emergency medical, public health, and other personnel from  multiple jurisdictions. During fiscal years 2002 through 2005, the State Homeland Security  Grant Program and Urban Areas Security Initiative program accounted for  about 69 percent of total ODP grant funds. GAO supports a risk-based approach to homeland security. ODP Grant Award Procedures

Over time, ODP has modified its grant application processes and  procedures for awarding grants to states, governing how states distribute  funds to local jurisdictions, and facilitating reimbursements for states and  localities. For the statewide grant programs, ODP has allowed the states flexibility in  deciding how the grant programs are structured and implemented in their  states. For the first round of the urban area grants in fiscal year 2003, the  grants were made directly to the seven urban areas identified as  recipients. Some state and local officials’ ability to spend grant funds was  complicated by the need to meet various state and local legal and  procurement requirements and approval processes, which could add  months to the process of purchasing equipment after grant funds had been  awarded. Some states, in conjunction with DHS, have modified their procurement  practices to expedite the procurement of equipment and services. ODP has responded by establishing a new Homeland Security  Preparedness Technical Assistance Program service to enhance the grant  management capabilities of state administrative agencies and by surveying  states to identify their technical needs and best practices they have  developed related to managing and accounting for ODP grants, including  the procurement of equipment and services at the state and local levels. Accountability for Effective Use of Grant Funds

In distributing federal funds to states to assist first responders in  preventing, preparing for, and responding to terrorist threats, the federal  government has required states to develop strategies to address their  homeland security needs as a condition for receiving funding. ODP found, however, that, while  the worksheets reflected the number and cost of specific items that states  and localities planned to purchase, neither states nor ODP had a reporting  mechanism to specifically assess how well these purchases would, in the  aggregate, meet preparedness planning needs or priorities, or the goals  and objectives contained in state or urban area homeland security  strategies. In addition to the ISIPs, ODP now requires the states to  submit biannual strategy implementation reports showing how the actual  expenditure of grant funds at both the state and local levels was linked by  projects to the goals and objectives in the state and urban area strategy. On March 31, 2005, DHS issued a document entitled “Interim National  Preparedness Goal” that reflects the department’s progress in developing  readiness targets, priorities, standards for preparedness assessments and  strategies, and a system for assessing the nation’s overall level of  preparedness. DHS’s task of defining a national preparedness goal and translating that  definition into capabilities that are meaningful and readily transferable to  the wide variety of local jurisdictions around the nation is still not  complete.
Why GAO Did This Study

In fiscal years 2002 through 2005, the Office for Domestic Preparedness (ODP) within the Department of Homeland Security managed first responder grants totaling approximately $10.5 billion. The bulk of this funding has been for statewide grants through the State Homeland Security Grant Program and urban area grants through the Urban Areas Security Initiative. This testimony provides information on the history and evolution of these two grant programs, particularly with respect to ODP grant award procedures; timelines for awarding and transferring grant funds; and accountability for effective use of grant funds.

What GAO Found

Federal first responder grants are a means of achieving an important goal--enhancing the ability of first responders to prevent, prepare for, respond to, and recover from terrorist and other incidents with well-planned, well-coordinated efforts that involve a variety of first responders from multiple jurisdictions. ODP has led federal efforts to develop these capabilities in part through its management of federal first responder grants. ODP has modified grant award procedures for states and localities. ODP developed procedures and guidelines for awarding the State Homeland Security Grant Program and the Urban Areas Security Initiative grants to states, and for determining how states and localities could expend funds and seek reimbursement for first responder equipment or services they purchased. As part of this process, ODP gave states some flexibility by allowing them to determine how grant funds were to be managed and distributed within their states and whether purchases would be made locally or at the state level. Congress, ODP, states, and localities have acted to expedite grant awards by setting time limits for the grant application, award, and distribution processes and by instituting other procedures. Nevertheless, the ability of states and localities to spend grant funds expeditiously was complicated by the need to fulfill state and local legal and procurement requirements, which in some cases added months to the purchasing process. Some states have modified their procurement practices, and ODP is identifying best practices to aid in the effort, but challenges remain. ODP has taken steps to improve accountability in the state preparedness planning process, in part by requiring states to update homeland security strategies. In tandem with this effort, ODP revised its grant-reporting method, moving away from requiring states, localities, and urban areas to submit itemized lists of first responder equipment they plan to purchase towards a more results-based approach, whereby grant managers at all levels must demonstrate how grant expenditures are linked to larger projects that support goals in state homeland security strategies. As part of a broader effort to meet mandates contained in Homeland Security Presidential Directive 8, addressing national preparedness goals for all hazards, ODP has taken steps to ensure more assessments of first responder needs are conducted on a national basis. Finally, ODP recently issued interim national preparedness goals that reflect the department's progress in developing readiness targets, priorities, standards for preparedness assessments and strategies, and a system for assessing the nation's overall level of preparedness. However, DHS's task of finalizing these goals and translating them into capabilities that are meaningful and readily transferable to the wide variety of local jurisdictions around the nation is still not complete.