Congress Urges DHS to See if Grants are Improving Security

House lawmakers are asking the Department of Homeland Security to develop a plan to track how state and local governments have spent billions of dollars in grant funding since 2002.

In an article on the Government Executive website, Chris Strohm says the House Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee is also asking the DHS to define the minimum standards that emergency responders throughout the country should meet.

“The grant funding equation depends on several variables, including our ability to measure and reduce risk, and on how the requirements we place on our state and local partners are defined,” Subcommittee Chairman David Price said during a hearing last week to examine the department’s grant programs. “The federal government must clearly articulate the minimum capabilities and requirements expected of them and their first responders, and the grant funding we provide must be related to helping them meet those capabilities and requirements.”

Strohm says the DHS has handed out about $20 billion in grant money, although it has not yet developed a way to monitor and measure what homeland security capabilities have been strengthened by the funds.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency was given responsibility for Homeland Security grant programs a year ago under legislation approved by Congress. FEMA Administrator David Paulison told the subcommittee his agency will have a plan by August to measure the effectiveness of grant funding.

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