DHS Performance Program Helps Fusion Centers Assess Capabilities and Address Gaps, and DHS Has Plans to Further Evaluate Capabilities through Exercises

		Fusion Center Assessment Process Is Systematically Assessing Capabilities and Monitoring Progress; Most Centers Are Achieving Baseline Capabilities

As the cornerstone of DHS’s efforts to evaluate how fusion centers are  meeting designated standards for the four critical capabilities and four  enabling capabilities, the fusion center annual assessment process is  serving to assess and monitor capability development for both individual  fusion centers and the National Network. A center may report the successful completion of  such activities and improve its overall assessment scores, but the scores  do not reflect if the center effectively administered these activities or if  they resulted in any considerable impact. Federal Agencies Have Defined Fusion Center Expectations and Developed Measures to Assess Homeland Security Contributions

		Federal Agencies Have Developed a Combination of High-Level Strategic Guidance and Specific Capability Expectations for Fusion Centers

Over the past decade, Congress has enacted laws and federal agencies  have issued guidance and related documents that help to define  expectations for fusion centers, which have evolved from high-level  guidance focused on terrorism-related information sharing to more  specific guidance that defines expectations for fusion center capabilities,  operations, and functions. DHS Has Developed New Performance Measures to Assess Fusion Center Contributions to Homeland Security

In coordination with fusion centers and federal partners, DHS has  developed 45 performance measures designed to capture standardized  data to assess the impact and contribution of fusion centers on  information sharing and homeland security. Federal Agencies Reported Deploying 288 Personnel to Fusion Centers in 2013 and Generally Defined Roles and Responsibilities

		Federal Agencies Reported Deploying 288 Personnel to Fusion Centers in 2013

SLPO produces an annual Fusion Center Federal Cost Inventory report  that shows the number of federal personnel agencies report that they  deployed to fusion centers—either full- or part- time—as well as the non- personnel support agencies provided. These factors include the extent to which  the fusion center mission aligns with the FBI’s mission, particularly  related to counterterrorism—for example, both organizations share  information on terrorism-related activities;
FBI management participates in the fusion center governance  structure;  the fusion center operates in an accredited secure work environment  and has a process to receive, handle, store, and disseminate  classified information;  the fusion center is capable of receiving, analyzing, disseminating,  and gathering information that contributes to the understanding of the  current threat environment; and  the fusion center immediately shares all emerging, terrorism-related  information with the FBI, such as suspicious activity reports. ICE headquarters officials did not plan to develop additional guidance to  help govern field office personnel deployments. DHS also issued the Implementation Guidance for the  Federal Resource Allocation Criteria Policy in September 2014. According to the document, this guidance is designed to assist federal  agencies in planning and tracking resource deployments. Grant Reforms Are Helping DHS Track Fusion Center Projects, but DHS Cannot Accurately Account for Total Funding Provided to Centers

		Grant Reforms Are Helping DHS Ensure That Requests for Federal Funding to Support Fusion Centers Are Aligned with Expected Capabilities

In fiscal year 2011, FEMA initiated a requirement that each fusion center  complete DHS’s annual baseline capabilities assessment to be eligible for  HSGP funding, and federal officials began reviewing the grant requests to  ensure that proposed projects target the achievement or sustainment of  identified capabilities. To address this issue, FEMA is planning additional efforts to help states  better categorize fusion center projects and improve the reliability of grant  reporting. Development of a  specific mechanism to ensure that states act in accordance with the  forthcoming guidance could provide FEMA reasonable assurance that  fusion center projects are properly classified and accurately account for  total grant funding provided to centers. As these  centers continue to mature, it remains important for DHS to identify the  results that centers are achieving and how federal agencies can help  support and leverage these centers. DHS grant funding also remains an important component of  federal support to fusion centers, but to date, FEMA has not been able to  accurately account for and report on the amount of funds it has provided  to centers. Recommendation for Executive Action

To help provide reasonable assurance that data states report on the  amount of federal grant funding used to support fusion centers is reliable,  we recommend that the FEMA Administrator implement a mechanism to  verify that states act in accordance with the proposed grant reporting  guidance, when implemented. DHS concurred with our recommendation that FEMA develop a  mechanism to verify that states act in accordance with proposed  guidance to help ensure that data reporting on the amount of federal  grant funding used to support fusion centers is reliable. We are sending copies of this report to the Secretary of Homeland  Security; the Attorney General, the Commissioner of Customs and Border  Protection, the Director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and  appropriate congressional committees.
Why GAO Did This Study

Fusion centers play a key role in sharing threat information among all levels of government and the private sector. Federal agencies support these centers by providing personnel, funding, and other assistance. GAO was asked to assess how federal agencies are accounting for ongoing support provided.
This report addresses the extent to which (1) DHS has helped centers assess capabilities and address gaps, (2) the federal government has defined its expectations for centers and assessed their contributions to homeland security, (3) federal agencies have deployed personnel to centers, and (4) DHS grant reforms have improved accountability for federal funds that support centers.
GAO analyzed the results of center assessments, documents on center expectations, guidance for deploying personnel, and grant requirements. GAO also interviewed DHS and FBI officials who work with centers, and directors, staff, and deployed personnel at 10 of 78 fusion centers. GAO selected centers based on geographic location and other factors. Interviews are not generalizable, but provided insights on center capabilities and federal support provided.

What GAO Found

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is helping state and major urban area fusion centers assess baseline capabilities—such as the ability to receive, analyze, and disseminate threat information—and address capability gaps through an annual assessment process, resources it provides to centers to mitigate gaps, and an exercise program to evaluate capabilities in practice. Results of the 2013 annual assessment show that centers achieved an average score of about 92 out of 100, which generally indicates that centers have policies and procedures in place to implement key information sharing activities. The scores do not reflect if these activities have resulted in specific homeland security impacts. All 10 fusion center directors GAO contacted said that the annual assessment is a useful tool to identify capabilities and monitor progress.
Since 2004, the federal government has issued guidance and related documents that define its expectations and key roles for fusion centers and also has taken steps to assess their contributions to homeland security. For example, DHS has developed 45 performance measures to help assess fusion center contributions, which generally align with attributes of successful measures. The measures include outputs—such as the number of intelligence products—and outcomes, such as how products have influenced key partners' security decisions.
In 2013, federal agencies deployed a total of 288 personnel to fusion centers. The two agencies that provide the most support—DHS's Office of Intelligence and Analysis (I&A) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)—have developed nationwide guidance to help these agencies make fusion center support decisions and generally identified key roles and responsibilities for personnel deployed to centers. Other DHS components, including U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, have not developed such guidance and generally defer to field-level management to make deployment decisions. However, in September 2014, DHS issued guidance that is designed to assist federal agencies in planning and tracking resource deployments to fusion centers.
DHS reforms to the Homeland Security Grant Program are helping to ensure that grant funds intended for fusion centers are used to build or sustain baseline capabilities, but DHS cannot accurately account for federal funds provided to states to support these centers. Specifically, in fiscal year 2011, the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA)—the lead DHS agency responsible for grant funding—began to require that grant requests for fusion centers identify specific capabilities that proposed projects are to address. FEMA also requires that state grantees biannually report the amount of federal funds spent on fusion center projects. However, after further review of data provided to GAO, FEMA determined that states inaccurately categorized about $60 million in projects as related to fusion centers in 2012. Thus, FEMA could not reliably report on the amount of federal grants used to support centers, which is needed to help inform future investment decisions. FEMA is developing guidance to help grantees better categorize fusion center projects and improve the reliability of grant reporting, but an additional mechanism to verify that states act in accordance with the guidance could help FEMA ensure that projects are properly classified and more accurately account for grant funding provided to centers.

What GAO Recommends

GAO recommends that FEMA develop a mechanism to verify that states act in accordance with proposed guidance, when implemented, to help ensure that data on fusion center projects are sufficiently accurate to provide a reliable accounting of the total amount of federal grant funding provided to centers. DHS concurred.