Recommendation: To strengthen the mass care response to future disasters, the Secretary of Homeland Security should direct FEMA to periodically review the current structure of ESF-6 leadership roles andresponsibilities for coordinating mass care. (Recommendation 1)
Agency: Department of Homeland Security
Status: Open
Comments: DHS concurred with this recommendation. The department considers this issue to be resolved because FEMA established a working group in 2018 that reports on performance metrics and corrective actions and improvement plans. As part of that mission they are establishing a reporting system for emergency support function (ESF) coordinators to provide monthly updates on implementing corrective actions and validating improvements through exercises. We agree that these actions are important parts of effectively overseeing and evaluating ESF activities and results. However, while these efforts may address the responsibilities of ESF agencies, they may overlook the overall leadership roles of ESF agencies. To fully implement this recommendation, DHS and FEMA would need to demonstrate there is a process for reviewing the structure of ESF leadership roles on a regular basis.
Recommendation: To better clarify what mass care services voluntary organizations can provide, especially for severe or overlapping hurricanes, FEMA should strengthen its guidance to state and local governments to emphasize the importance of clearly defining roles and responsibilities related to mass care when state and local governments develop written agreements with partner organizations. This could include creating a guidance document or memo that calls attention to the issue and brings together existing resources, such as the Multi-Agency Feeding Plan Template and training materials, in a comprehensive and accessible manner. (Recommendation 2)
Agency: Department of Homeland Security: Directorate of Emergency Preparedness and Response: Federal Emergency Management Agency
Status: Open
Comments: DHS and FEMA concurred with this recommendation. In their June 2020 update, FEMA said it would address this recommendation through the Individual Assistance Mass Care unit within the Office of Response and Recovery. The Individual Assistance Mass Care unit will conduct a strategic review of existing guidance and protocols related to the development of written agreements. FEMA will coordinate the review with state, local, territorial, and tribal governments (SLTT), regional staff, and other key stakeholders, and will identify common challenges encountered during the coordination process. FEMA will then develop recommendations based on stakeholder feedback and will prepare language accordingly for use in the next update of the Individual Assistance Program and Policy Guidance. FEMA anticipates that it will begin preparing language by March 31, 2021. When this language is complete we will close the recommendation.
Recommendation: To ensure assistance reaches all survivors, FEMA should develop mechanisms for the agency and its partners to leverage local community groups, such as conducting regular outreach to communicate and share aggregate information with these groups.(Recommendation 3)
Agency: Department of Homeland Security: Directorate of Emergency Preparedness and Response: Federal Emergency Management Agency
Status: Open
Comments: DHS and FEMA agreed with this recommendation. In June 2020, FEMA said it plans to conduct a virtual Partnership Day meeting (to occur in increments throughout the month of July) to enable voluntary organizations to exchange information, to network and to support ongoing operations. When FEMA provides evidence that this has taken place, we will close the recommendation.
Recommendation: To ensure more accurate mass care capability assessments, FEMA should require grantees to solicit capabilities information from key mass care service-delivery providers in making capability estimates and identify these providers in their submissions. (Recommendation 4)
Agency: Department of Homeland Security: Directorate of Emergency Preparedness and Response: Federal Emergency Management Agency
Status: Open
Comments: DHS and FEMA did not concur with this recommendation. The agencies said implementing this recommendation would increase the burden on grantees and could put certain communities at a disadvantage because grantees cannot control which partners participate. In addition, DHS and FEMA said that because capabilities assessments are not limited to mass care, such a requirement may have unintended consequences for other partners. FEMA plans to continue working with the mass care community to identify the best solution, including encouraging collaboration at all levels of government. Our recommendation specifies that FEMA should require grantees to solicit information from key mass care partners and to identify these partners in their submission. We recognize that grantees cannot compel partners to participate, but they can, at a minimum, invite such partners to participate in the process. We continue to believe that grantees should be required to make an effort to include mass care providers in developing their mass care capability assessments, as this is vital for developing high quality assessments. FEMA has emphasized the importance of having an active relationship and ongoing communication with key partners before disasters strike. In its Strategic Plan, FEMA states that pre-disaster coordination and communication among partners is critical to improve response and recovery outcomes. Thus, we do not believe it would be an undue burden to reach out to such partners as part of the capability assessment process.
Recommendation: To build the emergency preparedness capabilities of grantees, FEMA should develop systematic, documented protocols to determine the conditions under which it will follow up and provide feedback to grantees about mass care capability assessments. (Recommendation 5)
Agency: Department of Homeland Security: Directorate of Emergency Preparedness and Response: Federal Emergency Management Agency
Status: Open
Comments: DHS and FEMA concur with this recommendation and will take steps to address it, although they didn't specify their plans.
Recommendation: To ensure assistance reaches all survivors, Red Cross should develop mechanisms for it and its partners to leverage local community groups, such as conducting regular outreach to communicate and regularly share aggregate information with these groups. (Recommendation 6)
Agency: American Red Cross
Status: Open
Comments: The Red Cross agreed with this recommendation. The organization noted several ongoing activities to engage such community groups and said it intends to continue expanding outreach, data-sharing, and engagement initiatives.
