	Background

The Homeland Security Act established the Office of National Capital  Region Coordination within the Department of Homeland Security. One of the ONCRC mandates is to coordinate with federal,  state, local, and regional agencies and the private sector in NCR on  terrorism preparedness to ensure adequate planning, information sharing,  training, and execution of domestic preparedness activities among these  agencies and entities. In advance of our March 2006 testimony, Office of the National Capital  Region Coordination officials provided us with several documents that  they said when taken as a whole constituted the basic elements of NCR’s  strategic plan, such as a November 2005 document containing information  on NCR strategic goals, objectives, and initiatives and February and March  2006 documents related to homeland security grant program funding. The NCR Strategic Plan Contains Desirable Characteristics, but Additional Information Could be Provided

The plan’s structure contains the six characteristics and related elements  that we identified in earlier work as desirable in a national strategy that  would also be useful for a regional approach to homeland security  strategic planning. The core plan includes information on purpose, scope, and  methodology; goals and objectives; problem definition and risk  assessment; implementation and sustainment of the strategic plan,  including organizational roles, responsibilities, and coordination; and  alignment with other strategies and planning efforts. However, the substance of the information within several of the six  characteristics could be further strengthened as the plan is reviewed and  revised to enable the NCR jurisdictions set clear priorities and sustain  their collaborative efforts. As I will point out, several of our observations  regarding improvements are the same as those we provided in our March  2006 testimony. Other sources of information for the strategic planning included  the National Capital Region Program and Capability Enhancement Plan,  the Nationwide Plan Review, and the National Preparedness Goal and  related target capabilities. In revising the plan, NCR officials might consider two observations. First,  although the plan recognized the importance of the Nationwide Plan  Review’s specific phase 2 findings for the NCR emergency plans and the  status of catastrophic and evacuation planning, it did not reflect specific  NCR findings. The NCR homeland security strategic plan includes the region’s four long- term homeland security strategic goals and related objectives for the next  3 to 5 years. The NCR plan defines objectives as being key, measurable milestones  along the path toward reaching each goal. Many objectives include  language such as “strengthen,” “enhance,” “increase,” “improve,” and  “expand.” These objective statements have their own measures to define  performance. Our earlier testimony also stated that a strategic plan could be improved  by (1) expanding the use of outcome measures and targets in the plan to  reflect the results of its activities and (2) limiting the use of other types of  measures. For example, initiative milestones for objective 1 under goal 1 (planning  and decisionmaking) reflect actions to be taken before September 2006  when the new plan was approved. The plan itself notes that the priorities for  preparedness in the homeland security plans for Virginia, Maryland, and  the District of Columbia reflect unique assessments of the threats and  vulnerabilities across each jurisdiction and have varying strategic plan  priorities. The NCR has made considerable progress in developing its first strategic  plan. Although we have noted some remaining limitations and areas of  potential improvement, the NCR strategic plan provides the basic  foundation for regional preparedness, including what is in case of a  catastrophic event. Now, the challenge is ensuring that initiatives to  implement the goals and objectives are funded, completed, and  appropriately assessed to determine if they have achieved the NCR’s  strategic goals while continually monitor the plan’s implementation to  determine what adjustments are needed for continuing improvement.
Why GAO Did This Study

Among other things, the Office of National Capital Region Coordination is to coordinate efforts within the National Capital Region (NCR) to ensure execution of domestic preparedness activities. In our May 2004 report and June 2004 testimony before the House Government Reform Committee, GAO recommended that the NCR develop a strategic plan to establish and monitor the achievement of regional goals and priorities for emergency preparedness and response. GAO subsequently testified on the status of the NCR's strategic planning efforts before the Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, the Federal Workforce, and the District of Columbia in July 2005 and March 2006. The Subcommittee asked GAO to provide comments on the NCR's strategic plan, which the NCR partners approved in September 2006. In this testimony, GAO discusses its assessment of the recently completed NCR homeland security strategic plan and the extent to which the new plan includes desirable strategic plan characteristics and how the substance of the plan might be further strengthened when the plan is reviewed and possibly revised.

What GAO Found

A coordinated strategic plan to establish and monitor the achievement of regional goals and priorities is fundamental to implementing a coordinated approach to enhancing emergency preparedness and response capacities in the NCR. In March 2006, GAO observed that the NCR's strategic plan could benefit from addressing all six characteristics GAO considers to be desirable for a regional homeland security strategy. These characteristics were used to evaluate the final plan. These include, for example, goals, subordinate objectives, activities, and performance measures; resources, investments, and risk management; and organizational roles, responsibilities, and coordination. The NCR approved its strategic plan in September 2006. The NCR homeland security strategic plan includes all six characteristics we consider desirable for a regional homeland security strategy. To illustrate, the plan includes regional priorities and presents the rationale for the goals and related objectives and initiatives. This includes information on how the plan addresses national priorities and targeted capabilities from the National Preparedness Goal, an Emergency Management Accreditation Program assessment of local and regional preparedness and emergency management capabilities against recognized national standards, and the Department of Homeland Security's Nationwide Plan Review of emergency plans. The plan structure is more streamlined, containing an overview, core plan, and detailed appendix with information on factors such as risks, costs, and roles and responsibilities. However, the substance of the information within these six characteristics could be improved to guide decision makers. Two examples: (1) the plan does not reflect a comprehensive risk assessment for the region, which, when completed, may result in changes in some of the priorities in the current plan; and (2) although the NCR plan defines objectives as being key, measurable milestones for reaching each goal, many objectives include language such as "strengthen," "enhance," "increase," "improve," and "expand" rather than more specific performance measures and targets. Several of our observations regarding potential plan substance are the same as those we provided in our March 2006 testimony. The NCR has made considerable progress in developing its first strategic plan. Although GAO has noted some remaining limitations and areas of potential improvement, the NCR strategic plan provides the basic foundation for regional preparedness, including what is needed in case of a catastrophic event. Now, the challenge is ensuring that initiatives to implement the goals and objectives are funded, completed, and appropriately assessed to determine if they have achieved the NCR's strategic goals while continually monitor the plan's implementation to determine what adjustments are needed for continuing improvement.