Federal Emergency Management Agency

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Open Recommendations (56 total)

Flood Insurance: FEMA's New Rate-Setting Methodology Improves Actuarial Soundness but Highlights Need for Broader Program Reform

GAO-23-105977
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3 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Federal Emergency Management Agency The Assistant Administrator of FEMA's Federal Insurance Directorate should evaluate other means for incentivizing desirable community activities that cannot be actuarially justified but are currently a basis for discounts in CRS. (Recommendation 2)
Open

 Actions to satisfy the intent of the recommendation have not been taken or are being planned.
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Federal Emergency Management Agency The Assistant Administrator of FEMA's Federal Insurance Directorate should adjust CRS by calculating a community's rating based only on community activities that reduce flood risk and by incorporating discounts into the full-risk premium based on the actuarial evaluation of risk reduction. (Recommendation 1)
Open

 Actions to satisfy the intent of the recommendation have not been taken or are being planned.
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Federal Emergency Management Agency The Assistant Administrator of FEMA's Federal Insurance Directorate should take steps to directly inform individual policyholders about Risk Rating 2.0 and make them aware of available information. (Recommendation 4)
Open

 Actions to satisfy the intent of the recommendation have not been taken or are being planned.
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Flood Insurance: FEMA's New Rate-Setting Methodology Improves Actuarial Soundness but Highlights Need for Broader Program Reform

GAO-23-105977
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2 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Federal Emergency Management Agency The Assistant Administrator of FEMA's Federal Insurance Directorate should take additional steps to make available to policyholders, agents, or both more detailed property-specific flood risk information to help them better understand the justification for individual premiums and potential savings associated with available mitigation options. (Recommendation 5)
Open

 Actions to satisfy the intent of the recommendation have not been taken or are being planned.
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Federal Emergency Management Agency The Assistant Administrator of FEMA's Federal Insurance Directorate should publish an annual actuarial report that includes the loss levels that full-risk premiums are designed to cover and that current discounted premiums are able to cover, and the associated uncertainty; the estimated premium revenue and shortfall for current and future years; and an evaluation of NFIP's fiscal outlook, including projections of future debt. (Recommendation 3)
Open

 Actions to satisfy the intent of the recommendation have not been taken or are being planned.
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Homelessness: Enhanced Coordination Could Improve Disaster Shelter and Housing Assistance

GAO-23-105379
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Federal Emergency Management Agency The Administrator of FEMA should coordinate with HUD on federal disaster shelter and housing assistance for the homeless population, through efforts such as those related to the implementation of USICH's federal strategic plan to prevent and end homelessness (issued December 2022). Activities could include (1) identifying the needs of those experiencing homelessness and lessons learned related to planning, evaluating, and coordinating efforts to address their disaster shelter and housing needs and (2) disseminating this information to state and local partners. (Recommendation 2)
Open

 Actions to satisfy the intent of the recommendation have not been taken or are being planned.
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

FEMA Disaster Workforce: Actions Needed to Improve Hiring Data and Address Staffing Gaps

GAO-23-105663
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1 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Federal Emergency Management Agency The FEMA administrator should document plans to monitor and evaluate the agency's hiring efforts to address staffing gaps in the disaster workforce. (Recommendation 2)
Open

 Actions to satisfy the intent of the recommendation have not been taken or are being planned.
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

FEMA Disaster Workforce: Actions Needed to Improve Hiring Data and Address Staffing Gaps

GAO-23-105663
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2 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Federal Emergency Management Agency The FEMA administrator should develop performance measures to monitor and evaluate progress toward human capital goals, including net growth targets for cadres to achieve FEMA's long-term disaster workforce staffing goal. (Recommendation 3)
Open

 Actions to satisfy the intent of the recommendation have not been taken or are being planned.
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Federal Emergency Management Agency The FEMA administrator should establish and document clear and consistent procedures to collect and calculate accurate time-to-hire information. (Recommendation 1)
Open

 Actions to satisfy the intent of the recommendation have not been taken or are being planned.
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Disaster Recovery: Actions Needed to Improve the Federal Approach

GAO-23-104956
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1 Open Recommendations
1 Priority
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Federal Emergency Management Agency
Priority Rec.
This is a priority recommendation.
The FEMA Administrator should identify and take steps to better manage fragmentation across its disaster recovery programs, including consideration of the options identified in this report. If FEMA determines that it needs authority for actions that it seeks to implement, it should request that authority from Congress. (Recommendation 4)
Open

 Actions to satisfy the intent of the recommendation have not been taken or are being planned.
The Department of Homeland Security agreed with this recommendation. In May 2023, FEMA officials stated that they were taking steps in response to the options GAO identified. FEMA is developing a streamlined process for its Individual Assistance and Public Assistance programs that will reduce the complexity and time it takes to apply. FEMA is also taking steps to improve equity in these programs by, for example, expanding methods of ownership and occupancy verification for Individual Assistance and prioritizing outreach and technical assistance to vulnerable populations and lower capacity applicants. To fully address this recommendation FEMA will need to demonstrate that they have identified and taken steps to better manage fragmentation across its disaster recovery programs, including consideration of the options in this report.
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