FEMA Strategic Plan 2018-2022

2018-2022

Strategic Plan

Federal Emergency Management Agency

“[I find] the great thing in this world is not so much where we stand,
as in what direction we are moving.”
– Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

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FOREWORD
I am extremely proud to present to you the 2018-2022 Federal
Emergency Management Agency Strategic Plan. This is not just an
internal guide. The most important lesson from the challenging
disasters of 2017 is that success is best delivered through a system
that is Federally supported, state managed, and locally executed.
This plan seeks to unify and further professionalize emergency
management across the Nation and we invite the whole community
to join us in embracing these priorities. We must all work as one
through this strategy to help people before, during, and after disasters to achieve our vision of a more prepared and resilient Nation.
This plan reflects the ideas, suggestions, and perspectives that staff
and stakeholders have shared with me since my arrival at FEMA.
We used online forums like IdeaScale, in-person Discovery Change
Sessions with employees, and many day-to-day conversations with
disaster survivors and communities to gain a better understanding
of how we can turn great ideas into reality. We also reached out to
our state, local, tribal, and territorial partners, along with non-profit
organizations and the private sector, because they are critical
partners to this plan’s success.
This plan is just the beginning. It describes a vision that we can
all pursue – together – to build a better FEMA and galvanize the
emergency management profession.

Administrator Long speaks at a
FEMA-wide Town Hall about the
Agency’s Strategic Plan.
Source: Colt Hagmaier

This new Strategic Plan includes three ambitious, but achievable, goals for 2018-2022. The Strategic Goals are
focused on our FEMA Vision – a prepared and resilient Nation.
Strategic Goal 1: Build a Culture of Preparedness
Strategic Goal 2: Ready the Nation for Catastrophic Disasters
Strategic Goal 3: Reduce the Complexity of FEMA
Each of these goals represents a major undertaking. FEMA will not be able to accomplish them
without the help of the entire community. Achieving this vision of a prepared and resilient Nation is a shared
responsibility and, while recognizing FEMA’s essential role, meaningful improvements will occur only when we work
in concert across Federal departments and agencies, as well as with leaders from state, local, tribal, and territorial
governments and non-governmental organizations and the private sector. Likewise, we need to help individuals
and families understand their personal roles in preparing for disasters and taking action – they are our true first
responders.
This Strategic Plan is the central document for guiding our actions over the next several years. We are going to
be talking about it – a lot – and acting on it. I am making changes to FEMA to reflect these priorities and I am
going to use our resources to drive progress. That doesn’t mean that all other work will stop, but it does mean
that I expect all of us to be actively engaged in Building a Culture of Preparedness, Readying the Nation for
Catastrophic Disasters, and Reducing the Complexity of FEMA. Together.

Brock Long
Administrator

FEMA Strategic Plan 2018 – 2022

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The FEMA 2018-2022 Strategic Plan provides a framework for supporting the United States before, during, and
after disasters and improving the Agency’s execution of its fundamental mission of helping people. From 2018
to 2022, FEMA will focus on three main Strategic Goals and invite the whole community to adopt these shared
priorities as well. FEMA will drive progress through 12 supporting Strategic Objectives. These Strategic Objectives highlight meaningful ways the Agency can focus on its workforce, simplify processes and procedures across
FEMA, provide enhanced stewardship of funds, and better engage and support survivors. FEMA will develop individual strategies to help guide and shape each Strategic Objective and direct resources and funding to support
these important areas.

STRATEGIC GOAL 1:

BUILD A CULTURE OF PREPAREDNESS

Resilience is the backbone of emergency management. The Nation’s ability to weather
storms and disasters without experiencing loss significantly reduces our risk. The most
successful way to achieve disaster resiliency is through preparedness, including mitigation.
Building a Culture of Preparedness within our communities and our governments will
support a National effort to be ready for the worst disasters – at the individual, family,
community, state, local, tribal, territorial (SLTT), and Federal levels.
Strategic Goal 1 promotes the idea that everyone should be prepared when disaster
strikes. To be prepared, however, we must all understand our local and community risks,
reflect the diversity of those we serve, and foster partnerships that allow us to connect
with a diverse Nation. People who are prepared will be able to act quickly and decisively
in the face of disasters, thereby preventing death and injuries, minimizing loss of property,
and allowing for a more rapid and efficient recovery.

STRATEGIC GOAL 2:

READY THE NATION FOR CATASTROPHIC
DISASTERS

Catastrophic disasters, including low- and no-notice incidents, can overwhelm the
government at all levels and threaten National security. They are life-altering incidents
for those impacted, causing a high number of fatalities and widespread destruction.
Catastrophic disasters disrupt lives and hurt our communities – economically and socially.
Readiness is critical for FEMA and our partners to ensure that the response and recovery
missions are appropriately executed and successful.

Strategic Goal 2 builds on the preparedness through Strategic Goal 1 and focuses us
on enhancing our collective readiness. The Nation’s readiness depends on emergency
management professionals who execute the mission on behalf of Federal and SLTT
governments. This requires a scalable and capable National incident workforce that can
adapt and deploy to a changing risk landscape, greater integration with our partners at all
levels, and the ability to communicate and coordinate effectively in every situation.

STRATEGIC GOAL 3:

REDUCE THE COMPLEXITY OF FEMA

The Nation faces an evolving threat and hazard environment. FEMA must be flexible
and adaptable to meet the needs of individuals and communities, and it must deliver
assistance and support in as simple a manner as possible. We must innovate and
leverage new technology to reduce complexity, increase efficiency, and improve outcomes.
Strategic Goal 3 promotes simpler, less complex processes to streamline our Agency and
the support we provide to individuals and communities. By making it easier for employees
to do their work, the Agency can better care for those we support. A simplified FEMA – one
that streamlines survivor and grantee experiences and provides straightforward processes
and policies for staff – will decrease administrative burdens, improve the stewardship
of Federal taxpayer dollars, and allow for a more efficient and effective execution of our
mission.

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FEMA Strategic Plan 2018 – 2022

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Foreword

Executive
Summary

Page
Introduction

Page

3

Page

4

STRATEGIC GOAL 1:

STRATEGIC GOAL 2:

STRATEGIC GOAL 3:

Build a Culture of
Preparedness

Ready the Nation
for Catastrophic
Disasters

Reduce the
Complexity of
FEMA

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Page

28

Page

37

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Measuring Progress
and Achieving Results

Page

12

Page

36

Page
Conclusion

Images (from left to right): 1. FEMA for Kids Community Relationship specialist Gia Galeano reads to students for the Reading Our Hearts Out Celebration at
P.S. 96 in the Bronx, New York. Source: Kenneth Wilsey. 2. Attendees at the Salmon Jam summer festival identify higher ground, their destination in the event
of an earthquake. Source: John O’Sullivan. 3. Members of AmeriCorps NCCC and FEMA Corps help pack up grocery bags with items like rice, beans, and milk
to be handed out in neighborhoods in Jayuya, Puerto Rico. Source: Eliud Echevarria. 4. Disaster Survivor Assistance specialist Bernardo García (right), helps a
survivor register with FEMA in Villa Nevárez, Puerto Rico. Source: Yuisa Rios.

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2018 - 2022 FEMA STRATEGIC PLAN:
INTRODUCTION

A disaster survivor gets a hug after she receives FEMA disaster survivor registration information at her home following
Hurricane Harvey. Source: Christopher Mardorf

FEMA Mission Statement
Helping people before, during, and after disasters.

FEMA Vision
A prepared and resilient Nation.
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Two firefighters battle wildfires in California. FEMA played a significant role
during California’s 2017 wildfires. Source: Wally Skalij, LA Times

I. FOUNDATIONS FOR THE STRATEGIC PLAN
In 2019, FEMA will mark 40 years of helping people before, during, and after
disasters. As FEMA continues to support and collaborate with stakeholders,
the Agency’s focus is building and developing a culture of preparedness
across the country and unifying all levels of community and government into
an integrated approach to emergency management.
This Strategic Plan outlines the goals and objectives that FEMA must
implement to strengthen the Agency and our mission. It will build upon the
foundation established by FEMA’s previous two Strategic Plans. The 20112014 plan focused on building a whole community inclusive approach to
emergency management – enabling community leaders to act when needed.
The 2014-2018 plan built on that idea by institutionalizing whole community
efforts to position FEMA and its partners to improve outcomes for disaster
survivors and communities. The 2018-2022 Strategic Plan will mobilize that
whole community to build a culture of preparedness, ready the Nation for
catastrophic disasters, and reduce the complexity of FEMA.

“FEMA’s Strategic
Plan is ambitious,
achievable, and will
build a stronger
emergency
management
community.”
- Administrator Long

Whole community and shared responsibility, across all layers of government
and down to the individual, is also a hallmark of this Strategic Plan. It is
an essential premise of these Strategic Goals and Objectives that each will
require the collaborative commitment of individuals and organizations outside
of FEMA, and we invite all of our partners and stakeholders, both within and
outside the Federal Government, to join us in adopting and embracing these
priorities. In this sense, it is the continuation of the whole community concept
introduced and formalized by the previous Strategic Plans.

II. STRATEGIC ENVIRONMENT
Shared Responsibility
FEMA is part of a larger team of Federal agencies, SLTT governments, and
non-governmental stakeholders that share responsibility for emergency
management and National preparedness. Those closest to impacted areas
are the true first responders during any emergency or disaster – individuals,
families, neighbors, and local communities.

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Flood survivors attend a community town hall meeting to ask questions about
aid programs and recovery plans. Source: Steve Zumwalt
The most effective form of emergency management is one in which every
member of the community understands his or her important and indispensable
role. Likewise, the most effective strategies for emergency management are
those that are Federally supported, state managed, and locally executed.
FEMA’s role is to coordinate Federal Government resources to supplement
SLTT capabilities. FEMA does this by coordinating through the hierarchical
layers of government, meaning that states, tribes, and territories are our
primary coordinating partners. It is through these sovereign layers that
requests for assistance are made and through which FEMA coordinates the
delivery of Federal assistance.

“The optimal
framework for
response and recovery
is one that is Federally
supported, state
managed, and
locally executed.”
- Administrator Long

FEMA’s role is to build relationships with our emergency management partners,
ideally before disasters occur, so that the Agency can understand their unique
conditions and needs. FEMA is responsible for identifying best practices and
working within the emergency management community to encourage proactive
risk assessment, preparedness activities, and mitigation investments. Postdisaster, FEMA’s responsibilities primarily involve coordinating and assigning
Federal assets to support SLTT partners and providing grant assistance to
help SLTTs, individuals, and private non-profit organizations cope with disaster
losses and recover. However, FEMA does not and cannot serve as the sole or
primary responder.
To that end, pre-disaster coordination and communication among partners
is critical to improving response and recovery outcomes. Equally important
are mitigation and actions that we can take to enhance the resilience of our
communities before disasters occur. In order to be resilient, communities
must make efforts to protect lives and property before disasters occurs. In
every phase of emergency management, success requires the cooperative
contributions of the whole community.

Lessons from 2017 Disasters
To improve the Nation’s preparedness for catastrophic events and to build
a culture of learning within FEMA, continuous improvement must be a
cornerstone of our work. Large scale, complex incidents, including FEMA’s
responses to Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria, as well as the 2017-2018
California wildfires, underscore the criticality of our shared mission and remind
us of the importance of learning from past disasters.

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Incidents of this type highlight the need for a focus on scaling a response for
catastrophic incidents, scalable surge staffing, sustained logistics operations,
sheltering and initiating housing operations, and responding to long-term
infrastructure outages, especially communications. We have integrated these
themes within this FEMA Strategic Plan, and set aspirational goals to drive
change and continuous improvement.

National Security and Department of Homeland Security Strategies
The FEMA Strategic Plan advances and expands upon the first pillar of the
president’s National Security Strategy, “Protecting the American People, the
Homeland, and the American Way of Life.” Within this pillar is a focus on
“Promoting American Resilience,” which speaks to the Nation’s ability to
absorb the shock of a disaster and quickly recover. As the National Security
Strategy notes, “a democracy is only as resilient as its people,” so as a diverse
and united people, we must be prepared.
The President, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and FEMA all
recognize the importance of Building a Culture of Preparedness and reducing
the Nation’s risk. This requires a dedicated effort by the whole community to
ensure that we are working to educate the public regarding their risk, developing
methods to mitigate the impact of those risks, and helping people understand
how to prepare to meet disasters when they arrive. There is recognition at all
levels that we must foster a National culture of preparedness that will reduce
the impact of a catastrophic event and increase overall community resilience.

One lesson we
learned from the
catastrophic 2017
hurricane season is
that no one
department or agency
can undertake this
effort alone.

One lesson we learned from the catastrophic 2017 hurricane season is that
no one department or agency can undertake this effort alone. DHS deployed
thousands of employees from FEMA and other components of DHS, as well
as members of other Federal Government agencies, to support the response
and recovery efforts of our SLTT partners. This collaboration is critical, not
just during a crisis, but before as well. As Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen noted
on the 15th Anniversary of the establishment of DHS, “we need all levels of
government, non-profit organizations, private sector businesses, and individual
communities to work together to prepare for disasters before they happen and
to respond together to the needs of survivors in time of crisis.” The ability of
the Nation to be truly ready depends on everyone knowing and understanding
the part they play in our collective resilience. People who are prepared will be
able to act quickly and decisively in the face of disaster, preventing death and
injuries, minimizing loss of property, and enabling successful recovery.

FEMA Strategic Planning
FEMA used a methodical strategic planning process to develop this Strategic
Plan. These activities included opportunities to hear directly from staff and
stakeholders through multiple engagement platforms.
The in-person feedback for this strategy came in the form of Discovery Change
Sessions, a series of half-day conversations led by the FEMA Administrator to
gain input and recommendations from FEMA employees in every component
and every Region across the agency. These sessions focused on three topics:
Reducing Complexity and Simplifying Recovery, Improving Internal Processes,
and Buying Down Risk With Preparedness and Mitigation.

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We asked participants to provide insights into the following questions:
1. What are our current challenges?
2. Where do we need to be in five years?
3. How do we get there as an agency?
To engage our external partners, we also held three webinars with 216
stakeholders including SLTT officials, as well as representatives of multiple
non-governmental organizations and private sector partners.

“2017 has taught us
that nothing is more
important than having
trained people within
the whole community
ready to execute our
collective mission.”
- Administrator Long

FEMA also used IdeaScale, an online idea management platform, to collect
recommendations and ideas from FEMA staff and community members
across the three topics. IdeaScale enabled both FEMA employees as well
as external stakeholders to offer ideas and to comment on the ideas of
others. IdeaScale received 187 posts, 387 comments, and 1,604 votes that,
collectively, generated 249 unique recommendations.
Through all of these engagements, we logged 2,378 interactions (ideas,
comments, questions, and votes) and gathered 450 distinct ideas. These
ideas were categorized, grouped, and presented to the Administrator and his
senior leadership team. They were then sorted and distilled into the three
Strategic Goals and twelve Strategic Objectives contained in this Strategic
Plan.

Strategic Foresight
In addition to improving Agency operations and capabilities in the short term,
FEMA looks toward the future of emergency management. Strategic Foresight
is an ongoing FEMA initiative to understand the future operating environment
of emergency management. Key strategic drivers and trends identified
through this initiative helped to influence the long-term vision articulated in
FEMA’s Strategic Plan. Several of these key influencing themes include:
Rising Disaster Costs – Disaster costs are expected to continue to increase
due to rising natural hazard risk, decaying critical infrastructure, and economic
pressures that limit investments in risk resilience. As good stewards of taxpayer
dollars, FEMA must ensure that our programs are fiscally sound. Additionally,
we will consider new pathways to long-term disaster risk reduction, including
increased investments in pre-disaster mitigation.
New Technology – The ability to leverage technological innovations opens up
revolutionary possibilities for emergency management. As the private sector
leaps ahead and further raises public expectations, FEMA will carefully analyze
innovations that could increase efficiency and improve the user experience for
our partners and disaster survivors. Leveraging new technologies promises
new opportunities to simplify FEMA’s processes and make our programs more
accessible and friendly to the populations that we serve.
Diversity and Inclusion – The U.S. population is growing older and more
diverse in terms of culture, language, and perspective. This places pressure
on authorities to incorporate specialized needs, expectations, and methods
of communications into their plans to maintain equitable access to services.
The changing demographics of the Nation also affect the makeup of FEMA’s
workforce. As an agency, diversity and inclusion is a key component in our

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ability to serve all people. We must continue to employ and retain diverse
staff and coordinate with the whole community of emergency managers to
ensure that the needs of the entire population we serve are considered.
Emerging Threats – The spectrum of viable threats is expanding, with
cybersecurity joining nation-state threats and terrorism as a widespread
public concern. The National Security Strategy requires that the Nation
improve its ability to assess the threats and hazards that pose the greatest
risks to Americans. As an agency, FEMA will lead the Nation to build a culture
of preparedness that includes improving risk management, strengthening
capabilities, dynamic learning, and information sharing.
An understanding of the impacts of these strategic drivers and trends, and
how they apply to the Agency going forward, ensures that FEMA and the whole
community are prepared to face a wide variety of challenges.

III. STRATEGIC GOALS
To support the Agency’s mission of helping people before, during, and after
disasters, the FEMA 2018-2022 Strategic Plan outlines three Strategic
Goals. These three Strategic Goals will guide the Agency’s planning and
implementation efforts for the next five years, working to build a more
prepared and resilient Nation. These three Goals are supported by twelve
Strategic Objectives.

An understanding of
the impacts of these
strategic drivers and
trends, and how they
apply to the Agency
going forward,
ensures that FEMA
and the whole
community are
prepared to face a
variety of challenges.

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STRATEGIC GOAL 1:
BUILD A CULTURE
OF PREPAREDNESS

Disaster resiliency is the backbone
of emergency management and
the foundation for the FEMA
mission. The most successful way
to achieve disaster resiliency is to
create a culture of preparedness
across America. A culture of
preparedness is a national effort
to be ready for the worst disasters
– at the Federal, state, local, tribal,
territorial, community, family, and
individual levels.

Children answer tsunami trivia questions to increase their hazard knowledge at the Salmon Jam community festival. The event
included a Race the Wave event to teach children community resilience in partnership with the Federal Emergency Management
Agency, Alaska Division of Homeland Security & Emergency Management, Cordova Emergency Management, Cordova City Planning
and the Cordova Fire Department. Source: John O’Sullivan

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES:
1.1 Incentivize Investments that Reduce Risk, Including Pre-disaster Mitigation, and
Reduce Disaster Costs at All Levels
1.2 Close the Insurance Gap
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1.3 Help People Prepare for Disasters
1.4 Better Learn from Past Disasters, Improve Continuously, and Innovate

Kirstjen Nielsen, Secretary of Homeland Security, addresses staff in charge
of response and recovery efforts at the new Joint Field Office (JFO) in Puerto
Rico. Source: Eliezer Hernández

Objective 1.1 Incentivize Investments that Reduce
Risk, Including Pre-Disaster Mitigation, and
Reduce Disaster Costs at All Levels
For our Nation to protect life and property and pull back the increasing cost of
disasters, we must bring resilient mitigation investments forward. Buying down
the risk prior to a disaster pays off – either by lowering the cost of the disaster or
eliminating the need for a presidentially-declared disaster altogether because
of the lessened impact. FEMA plays a critical role in enabling and incentivizing
investments that reduce risk and increase pre-disaster mitigation.
As the number of people that move to coastal areas increases, and natural
and manmade hazards become increasingly complex and difficult to predict,
the need for forward leaning action is greater than ever before. The National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reports that from 1970 –
2010, shoreline counties increased in population by 40 percent, putting 39
percent of the American population in coastal areas. NOAA projects that
an additional eight percent of Americans will live in coastal areas by 2020.
Simultaneously, the average number of major disaster declarations has also
steadily increased, rising from an average of 25 per year in the 1980s to
nearly 90 per year since 2010.
Although the Nation must do more to assess and quantify these increasing
risks, we do know that pre-disaster mitigation works. In 2018, an independent
study by the National Institute of Building Sciences, co-funded by FEMA, found
that for every $1 that the Federal Government invests in mitigation saves
taxpayers an average of $6 in future spending. This return on investment
justifies new opportunities for FEMA and our partners to reduce future
disaster costs and accelerate recovery by investing now, before a disaster
occurs. FEMA’s Federal Insurance and Mitigation Administration has adopted
the findings of this study, and seeks to increase pre-disaster mitigation
investments. Even as we strive to bring a greater share of Federal dollars to
bear on pre-disaster risks, we will also educate and incentivize our partners to
increase their investments in pre-disaster mitigation.

“Our department will
work to improve the
administration of
pre-disaster grant
programs, help our
state and local
partners continue to
increase their capacity,
and appropriately
incentivize investments
in preparedness for
these partners.”
- Secretary Nielsen

However, additional financial resources is only a start. To make informed
investment decisions, everyone must have access to current and accurate
risk information. FEMA will improve our ability to assess and quantify risk
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Hurricane Irma compromised about 12 miles of city owned seawalls in Punta
Gorda, Florida. Two workers address the city’s seawalls following the 2017
Hurricane Season. Source: Robert Kaufmann

Every $1 that the
Federal Government
invests in mitigation
saves taxpayers an
average of $6 in
future spending.

from multiple hazards, expand our commitment to risk mapping, identify new
partnerships that will help us understand risks and the value of mitigation
investments, and develop a new strategy that clearly presents risk information
to all members of the public.
The entire Nation must work as a team to increase pre-disaster mitigation
in communities. FEMA will continue to work directly with SLTT and
non-governmental partners to advocate for the adoption and enforcement
of modern building and property codes. Disaster resilience starts with
building codes, because they enhance public safety and property protection.
Furthermore, FEMA will encourage robust code enforcement, providing
education and training when needed to help convey the value of standardized,
up-to-date building codes.
For investments to be attractive, the cost and options of investments must
fit the unique needs of individuals and communities. FEMA will work with
Congress to develop flexible and holistic approaches for more Federal funds
to be spent on risk reduction and pre-disaster mitigation. FEMA will also
work with private and public stakeholders across the country to construct
and develop strategies within state and local jurisdictions that encourage
pre-disaster mitigation and investment, such as resilience bonds.
Finally, FEMA, through the Mitigation Framework Leadership Group, is
developing a National Mitigation Investment Strategy that encourages
coordinated pre- and post-disaster mitigation investment toward the outcome
of reducing future disaster risk. FEMA will continue to leverage these
partnerships and our own disaster assistance programs to drive mitigation
investments.

Objective 1.1 Performance Measure
Increase the Nation’s investment in mitigation.

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Objective 1.2 Close the Insurance Gap
Building a culture of preparedness starts with individuals, communities, and
businesses managing risks, in many cases through proper insurance coverage.
FEMA’s role is to help people understand their risk and the available options to
best manage those risks. Insurance is an effective tool to transfer risks away
from disaster survivors and enable rapid recovery. However, a 2015 study
by the Swiss Re Institute shows that annual expected uninsured losses from
natural disasters total more than $30 billion.
Experience has shown repeatedly that individuals, communities, and
businesses that manage risk through insurance recover faster and more
fully after a disaster. If an individual does not have the value of their home
and/or belongings in their savings, insurance will help them fill that gap
when a disaster strikes. While the Disaster Relief Fund supports survivors
in the immediate aftermath of a presidentially-declared disaster, this Federal
support only serves as a temporary safety net for immediate needs and does
not provide for complete financial recovery. Financial preparedness, including
having an insurance policy on personal and public properties, is critical to
helping rebuild a home, replace belongings, and restore order to a family and
community. Further, resolving concerns about the affordability of Federal
flood insurance requires a whole community solution, including Congressional
action, to be able to close the insurance gap. Insurance not only benefits
those directly affected by a disaster, it also reduces the need for Federal
disaster assistance and lowers costs for American taxpayers.
FEMA has a key role in promoting all-hazard insurance. This work includes
helping individuals and businesses understand the amount of coverage
needed to be adequately insured and make themselves financially prepared,
which ultimately contributes to the Nation’s preparedness. Similarly, that
same financial preparedness discipline requires communities to understand
and appreciate the risks to public buildings and facilities and to secure
insurance to cover the cost of replacement.
Beyond promoting whole community preparedness through appropriate
insurance, FEMA provides flood hazard insurance through the National Flood
Insurance Program (NFIP). The NFIP is the primary source of flood insurance
in the United States for property owners and tenants. The United States needs
to get back to basics and understand that almost any property could flood,
and almost every property should carry flood insurance.
FEMA is focused on expanding the number of properties covered by flood
insurance. FEMA wants Americans to protect their property from flood risk
and will work closely with the insurance industry, realtors, mortgage lenders,
community leaders, and Congress to drive insurance purchases. FEMA
supports the advancement of flood coverage regardless of the provider –
whether that is through a private insurance or an NFIP policy.

The need for forward
leaning and proactive
action is more prevalent
now than ever before.

40%
39%
8%

increase in
U.S. shoreline
populations from
1970 - 2010.
of U.S. population
live in coastal
areas.
additional U.S.
shoreline population
increase from
2016 - 2020.
Source: NOAA

To encourage participation in the program, FEMA must transform the NFIP into
a simpler, customer-focused insurance program that policyholders value and
trust. This will empower individuals, communities, and businesses to more
effectively prepare for and recover from floods. Accurate risk communication
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FEMA Disaster Survivor Assistance (DSA) team members canvass neighborhoods to ensure that residents are aware of FEMA assistance for damage
from Hurricane Irma. Source: Liz Roll
is also vital to building public understanding of and support for a culture
of preparedness. FEMA will provide products that clearly and accurately
communicate flood risk to property owners and tenants.

“Responding to and
recovering from any
disaster is a whole
community effort that
relies on the strength
of Federal, state,
local, tribal, and
territorial
governments, as well
as non-governmental
entities and
individuals, in addition
to FEMA.”
- Administrator Long

To be successful in closing the Nation’s insurance gap, FEMA must be a catalyst
for increasing the public’s knowledge of risk and encouraging adequate
insurance coverage so that individuals, communities, and businesses can
reduce their losses from all hazards.

Objective 1.2 Performance Measure
Expand the number of properties covered by flood insurance.

Objective 1.3 Help People Prepare for Disasters

While FEMA has made significant progress working with faith and community
partners to improve preparedness and mitigation, outcomes from the 2017
disaster season demonstrate that the Nation is still far from realizing individual
and collective resilience. Developing solutions, campaigns, and educational
opportunities to help more than 320 million unique individuals from more
than 89,000 diverse local communities that make up the Nation prepare for
disasters starts with including those individuals in the discussion.
FEMA must learn from and work with a broad and inclusive base of stakeholders
to understand the circumstances and challenges different groups of people
face, particularly those who may have the hardest time in the aftermath of a
disaster, such as the aging population and those with access and functional
needs. By engaging these stakeholders, FEMA can develop and promote a
suite of well-targeted solutions for individuals and communities to adopt.

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Many people will experience a disaster or emergency at some point in life and
find that they are in fact the true first responder. More severe disasters may
render homes uninhabitable, destroy important documents and possessions,
potentially lead to people leaving their communities permanently, or even lead
to the loss of life. As the Federal agency charged with disaster preparedness,
FEMA commands both significant resources and influence that can help
improve how people prepare for disasters. However, FEMA directly helps
with only a small number of incidents – those that receive a presidential
declaration. It’s time to rethink our National approach to preparedness
and ensure that every segment of our diverse communities, down to each
individual, is integrated into a broader culture of preparedness.
Numerous factors affect individual resilience during a disaster, including
the strength of social ties and community networks, awareness of the risks,
available resources and knowledge of what to do when a situation arises.
Access to financial resources has proven to be a strong predictor of how
well someone can cope in the aftermath of a disaster. However, around 40
percent of Americans do not have enough cash savings to cover a sudden
unexpected expense. Under such circumstances, relocating to a hotel for a
few days, purchasing cleaning supplies, or replacing food and medications
may be out of reach in the absence of external assistance, forcing individuals
and families to take on debt loads that prove disastrous in their own right.
Connecting with a wide array of experts and stakeholders including academia,
religious leaders, and representatives of all types of whole community
partners is key to this effort. FEMA will focus on identifying ways to weave
preparedness into people’s everyday lives, connecting with individuals at
places they frequent, and incentivizing positive behavior change using tools
like grants, training, and exercises. Furthermore, the Agency will continue
to encourage programs that train and empower responders. Accompanying
policies and regulations further this goal, and FEMA will work with its Federal
partners and Congress as appropriate.

“It’s time to unify
effort across Federal
agencies, through all
levels of government,
in cooperation with
our non-governmental
partners and down to
individuals and
communities.”
- Administrator Long

Engaging with partners in the financial sector, the Department of Education,
and local community-based organizations is critical to promoting financial
wellness and giving people the information and motivation they need to make
sound financial decisions and save for an uncertain future. However, social
and economic factors undoubtedly will affect the ability of certain populations
to fully prepare for disasters. For that reason, we must offer advice for scalable
solutions that range from low- to no-cost options up to optimal levels of family
preparedness. In doing so, FEMA aims to collaborate with public and private
sector stakeholders to encourage increased personal financial preparedness
across the Nation. The Agency will work with partners to identify financial
insecurity within American communities — starting in highly disaster-prone
areas — and deliver targeted messaging and training either directly or through
trusted local leaders.
Moving forward, FEMA will coordinate closely with National partners and local
leaders to help people understand their risks, learn the impacts of specific
threats and hazards, adequately prepare for likely events, and use the tools
available to help. FEMA will focus National initiatives including the Ready
Campaign, PrepareAthon, Floodsmart, FEMA mobile app, and trainings to
directly engage leaders of the whole community. This includes promoting
community-building initiatives to improve the strength of local networks and
17

reinforce practical skills. These skills, like knowing CPR or how to shut off the
gas lines in the home, can help individuals lead response efforts in their own
communities, while ensuring more people are prepared to handle the real
impacts of disasters in the future.
Even when Americans have an emergency plan, critical skills, strong community
ties, and financial resources, this may not be enough to ensure preparedness.
People must practice these skills so that when a stress-inducing event arises
they can react in a timely manner. Therefore, FEMA’s preparedness messaging
must encourage action beyond awareness, thereby laying the foundation of a
culture of preparedness upon which individuals, families, and communities
can build. We will coordinate preparedness initiatives with other Federal
agencies, states, tribes and territories, and whole community partners to
efficiently apply Federal government leadership to reach the goal of individual
and community resilience.

Objective 1.3 Performance Measures
Increase the percentage of people with savings set aside for an emergency.
Deliver training to community-based and non-profit organizations to help
them continue service delivery following disasters.
Increase the percentage of people who have taken preparedness actions.

2017 was an
unprecedented year in
the wake of
Hurricanes Harvey,
Irma, Maria, and the
California Wildfires,
with more than 25
million people
affected by these
major disasters almost 8 percent of
the United States
population.

Objective 1.4 Better Learn from Past Disasters,
Improve Continuously, and Innovate
Building a culture of preparedness requires continuous learning, improvement,
and innovative ideas. As a whole community, we share responsibility to
leverage the collective knowledge and diverse experiences of members of the
Agency, Federal partners, first responders, and fellow emergency management
professionals to form collaborative, creative, and inclusive solutions to disaster
challenges, and to improve outcomes for survivors.
Emergency managers must acknowledge both successes and failures, as
both provide opportunities to improve for the next disaster. This includes
promoting transparency in sharing capability gaps and lessons from disasters
and exercises, which will allow the community to prioritize investments and
anticipate known challenges during disasters. The emergency management
environment — from planning to exercises and assessment — must encourage
risk-taking even if failure is possible, in order to stretch our capabilities
and cultivate opportunities to improve. Emergency managers must build
continuous improvement and innovation into day-to-day functions.
As part of this effort, the Agency will support Federal and SLTT emergency
managers in building the capacity to self-evaluate, continuously improve,
monitor the completion of improvement actions, and share insights, both
within FEMA and throughout the emergency management community. To
do this, we must improve the aggregation and sharing of successes and
challenges. We can gain insights from observations in after-action reports,
social science or analytical studies, and through feedback from stakeholders.

18

FEMA can improve our organizational commitment to growth by making all of
these products more accessible, including improving how we share findings,
analyze trends, and translate the key issues into easily relatable formats for
a wider audience. Through these efforts, insights from past disasters will be
readily available to emergency managers across the Nation.
To expand how we identify challenges and potential solutions, FEMA
will encourage employees to promote innovation and submit ideas for
improvements. FEMA will also expand leadership engagement with employees
and create opportunities for teams to work across components. This will
empower employees to conduct iterative process improvements as part of
their standard business operations.
For changes that require investments, we will develop methods to prioritize
improvements based on their projected impact on the Nation’s preparedness.
To that end, some of the primary ways FEMA supports the Nation is through
the delivery of grant funding, technical assistance, training programs, and
exercises. FEMA will evaluate the effectiveness of investments that reduce
risk, increase preparedness, build resilience, and speed recovery.
Externally, the Agency will collaborate with our public and private sector
partners to share insights on critical issues facing emergency management,
promote best practices in change management, and discuss ways in which
FEMA itself can improve. Meeting the emerging challenges of 21st century
disasters and the changing nature of the risks we face requires innovation
and engagement with the whole community, including academia, emergency
management professional organizations, and the private sector, to harness
the collective creativity to solve our toughest challenges.

More than 70
volunteer agencies,
32 Federal agencies,
and 48 states
supported or
responded to major
disasters in 2017,
helping with
4.8 million calls,
2.3 million home
inspections, and
5 million survivor
registrations.

Objective 1.4 Performance Measures
Increase the number of FEMA employees who report feeling encouraged
to come up with new and better ways of doing things.
Increase SLTT capabilities as reported in the annual Stakeholder
Preparedness Review.

A survivor with disabilities is helped by Karin Agritelly, FEMA Disability Integration Advisor, at a Disaster Recovery Center (DRC)
Source: Steve Zumwalt
19

STRATEGIC GOAL 2:
Ready the Nation
for Catastrophic
Disasters

Catastrophic disasters are difficult
and life-changing events that disrupt
our lives and hurt our communities,
economically and socially. Readiness
is critical for FEMA and its SLTT
partners to ensure that the response
and recovery missions are successful
and more prepared than ever before.

FEMA Disaster Survivor Assistance (DSA) Team member Jorge Melendez-Alfaro puts food in the shopping bag of a Utuado
resident at a Puerto Rico Health and Human Services clinic in Utuado. Source: Andrea Booher

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES:
2.1 Organize the “BEST” (Build, Empower, Sustain, and Train) Scalable and Capable
Incident Workforce
2.2 Enhance Intergovernmental Coordination through FEMA Integration Teams
2.3 Posture FEMA and the Whole Community to Provide Life-Saving and Life-Sustaining
Commodities, Equipment, and Personnel from all Available Sources
20

2.4 Improve Continuity and Resilient Communications Capabilities

Objective 2.1 Organize the “BEST” (Build,
Empower, Sustain, and Train) Scalable and
Capable Incident Workforce
Just as the Nation’s greatest asset to confront disasters is the prepared
population that we seek to promote in Strategic Goal 1, the people serving in
the Nation’s incident workforce are the Government’s greatest assets. These
personnel supplement the work of individuals, neighbors, and communities –
our true first responders. To be effective together, we must be able to quickly
mobilize, scale, and integrate this workforce to meet the needs of impacted
communities. FEMA will strengthen the incident workforce through a “BEST”
(Build, Empower, Sustain, and Train) model by focusing on:
• Building the capabilities and capacities to fulfill our responsibility to
effectively respond to a catastrophic event;
• Empowering organizations and individuals to act decisively through
leadership intent;
• Sustaining proficiency as emergency management professionals; and
• Training, educating, and exercising in an open-minded, creative manner
when not actively engaged in disaster operations.

“FEMA should develop
a comprehensive, yet
flexible and scalable
structure for
optimizing training,
education, and
development.”
- Comment from
IdeaScale Campaign

This “BEST” national incident workforce consists of a network of incident
positions that allow every emergency manager and responder to contribute
to incident operations regardless of their home agency, jurisdiction, or
community. During the historic disasters of 2017, over 15,000 state and local
personnel supported disaster operations through state-to-state mutual aid.
Renewed focus on a standardized and qualified national incident workforce
can build on this success, maximize the existing workforce, and better prepare
the Nation for future catastrophic disasters.
Through collaborative implementation of the National Qualification System
(NQS), FEMA will increase the Nation’s ability to meet evolving needs, fill
critical gaps, and ensure that the whole community shares the responsibility
for response and recovery. This institutionalization requires FEMA to further
promote interoperability by establishing a common language for defining
emergency management titles and enabling jurisdictions and organizations
to plan for, request, and have confidence in the capabilities of personnel
deployed from any location or agency. The FEMA Qualification System (FQS)
must also align and be fully compatible with the NQS. This focus on deeper
integration involves thinking beyond existing state-to-state mutual aid to
building the ability of non-Federal resources to take on a greater amount of
state and locally managed incidents nationwide and directly plug into FEMA
operations when required.
To ensure interoperability when disaster strikes, all levels of government,
private sector entities, and nongovernmental organizations, must have access
to guidance, tools, and other programmatic support to help them develop
processes for qualifying, certifying, and credentialing deployable emergency
management personnel within the NQS. Additionally, FEMA will continue to
conduct exercises at all levels to test whether capabilities will perform as
21

“FEMA’s success
begins with the
readiness of its own
incident workforce.”
- Administrator Long

FEMA team members speak to a grocery store owner about placing Creole
language pamphlets in his business to help inform members of the Haitian
American community of FEMA’s registration and application process.
Source: Howard Greenblatt
planned, whether plans are sufficient to meet incident response and recovery
requirements, and to maintain a skilled, knowledgeable, efficient, and survivorfocused incident workforce.
FEMA’s success begins with the readiness of its own incident workforce.
FEMA employees must be prepared to deploy in support of disaster operations
and be knowledgeable in multiple disciplines and programs. This involves
determining the necessary size and nature of the incident workforce based on
sound operating concepts and planning assumptions. Enhancing the FQS will
help ensure our workforce is prepared to perform their disaster responsibilities.
This includes guaranteeing that the FQS maximizes the ability of FEMA staff
to use their skills and talents to deliver the best outcomes possible. It also
requires the implementation of new hiring and training approaches that focus
on developing diverse leaders with a broad scope of knowledge about FEMA’s
programs to better support disaster survivors.
FEMA employees will receive core competency training and the opportunity to
work and gain experience in various roles, allowing progression to supervisory
and management positions across disaster cadres and offices. To achieve
this goal, employees must receive training and practical experience through
frequent disaster deployments and exercises. These steps encourage
leadership development at every stage of an employee’s career. They also help
develop FEMA employees into the next generation of field leaders and offer
new career advancement opportunities for FEMA’s most capable employees.
FEMA also supplements our internal capabilities by calling on our Federal
partners through the Surge Capacity Force when in need. The Surge Capacity
Force affords FEMA the unique opportunity to infuse personnel from across
DHS and other Federal agencies to augment our incident workforce cadres.
During the challenging disasters of 2017, FEMA deployed 4,063 Surge
Capacity Force volunteers – a record number of these deployments. These
volunteers were invaluable to delivering FEMA’s mission and demonstrated
the Federal Government’s cooperative and cohesive approach to supporting
those we serve.

22

Providing new training for Surge Capacity Force volunteers in the future will
further integrate the Federal Government’s resources into the nationwide
incident workforce and offer additional capacity to support future disasters.
When incidents do occur, everyone must work together to seamlessly integrate
across Federal, SLTT, non-profit, and private sector lines. FEMA must build
on our inherent capabilities and strengthen our partners to support the
nationwide incident workforce to form a more complete, interoperable incident
workforce capability.

Objective 2.1 Performance Measures
Increase the number of fully qualified personnel in the
National Qualification System.
Improve the readiness of FEMA’s incident workforce cadres.
Seamlessly integrate non-FEMA personnel into FEMA incident workforce
positions to create a Unified National Incident Workforce.

“Empowering the
FEMA Regions with
more staff will also
help with managing
disasters.”
- IdeaScale

Objective 2.2 Enhance Intergovernmental
Coordination through FEMA Integration Teams
The success of FEMA’s mission depends on the quality of the relationships
we foster and our ability to understand and support the needs of emergency
management partners and the communities we serve. By working alongside
our partners through FEMA Integration Teams, we can assist them in navigating
our programs and policies to deliver quicker, more tailored assistance
directly where it is needed. Increasing direct engagement strengthens
our understanding of capabilities and gaps and bolsters the connections,
cooperation, and communication necessary to improve the Nation’s overall
readiness. Increased engagement and presence will also allow us to
understand the needs and readiness of our partners while improving the
coordination of the assistance we provide.
The Agency demonstrates its commitment to whole community collaboration
through regional operations led by FEMA’s ten regions. To build even closer
relationships and strengthen readiness across the Nation, we must go even
further. Through FEMA Integration Teams, we will provide SLTT organizations
with enhanced assistance by integrating Federal staff with the emergency
management offices of participating partners. The purpose of FEMA Integration
Teams is to ensure that FEMA is planning, training, exercising, and executing
together every day. This level of integration will provide us with an opportunity
to learn from our partners and more effectively meet their needs. It will also
help our partners overcome gaps as we identify tailored solutions outside our
traditional structures and organizations.

“The purpose of FEMA
Integration Teams is
to ensure that FEMA
is planning, training,
exercising, and
executing together,
every day.”
- Administrator Long

The 2017 disaster season demonstrated that FEMA must help SLTT partners
further develop their capabilities and resilience prior to an incident to ensure
a more effective response and recovery. Addressing capabilities such as
logistics, financial cost recovery, housing, and interoperable communications
are just a few areas that stand to benefit from strategically co-locating FEMA
staff with our SLTT partners.
23

FEMA is also committing to improving our engagement and creating new
opportunities for closer coordination with tribal nations. Specifically, FEMA
will use the FEMA Integration Teams to build upon our successful regional and
tribal liaison programs and seek to identify new ways to expand partnerships
and enhance tribal communications and support before, during, and after
disasters.

“The whole
community must be,
and is, engaged,
involved, and
coordinated.”
- Administrator Long

Better integrating FEMA operations with emergency management partners
will yield best practices and lessons-learned. It will also help build shared
capabilities and capacity, resulting in more effective disaster response and
recovery operations and a more prepared and resilient Nation.

Objective 2.2 Performance Measures
Increase the number of partners participating in the FEMA Integration
Teams program.
Decrease the amount and percent of time the Federal incident workforce
supports federally-declared disasters.

Objective 2.3 Posture FEMA and the Whole
Community to Provide Life-saving and
Life-sustaining Commodities, Equipment, and
Personnel from All Available Sources
No one agency or organization is able to store enough equipment, supplies,
and commodities, or marshal enough internal teams to quickly and fully
meet all the needs of a catastrophic incident. These devastating incidents
necessitate the collective assets and contributions of many supporting
organizations aligned through a coordinated structure.
FEMA’s role is to strategically stock the essential items needed to jumpstart a
response, but effectively delivering resources in the face of a major disaster
requires the continued development of robust partnerships and reliable

Team Rubicon works to help survivors in a neighborhood affected by Hurricane Harvey. Source: Steve Zumwalt
24

capabilities among all stakeholders. Consequently, FEMA must consider the
appropriate balance of what it keeps on hand in warehouses, what it can
quickly acquire through contracts, and what can be provided by volunteer
organizations, other Federal agencies, SLTTs, and the private sector. Likewise,
other layers of Government must also position themselves to meet the
immediate supply requirements of a catastrophic disaster.
FEMA can support SLTTs in analyzing risks, anticipating needs, and
coordinating plans among stakeholder groups but, ultimately, it is up to those
organizations to ensure they have adequate access to supplies through an
appropriate balance of maintained stock and pre-disaster contracts.
Obtaining what is needed in a disaster is only the first step. To be useful,
the resource must also be physically delivered when and where it is needed.
While FEMA has significantly increased its logistics capabilities since 2015,
the 2017 hurricane season and wildfires demonstrated that additional
people, processes, doctrine, and contracted services are needed to effectively
move resources from point of origin to disaster survivors during large-scale
incidents. This includes a particular focus on the “last mile,” where a complex
network of National, local, voluntary, and commercial organizations integrate
their capabilities to put food, water, or other items into the hands of survivors.
No plan can perfectly predict the resource needs stemming from a catastrophic
incident. However, the analyses, relationships, organizational discipline, and
logistics options that result from the planning process improve our collective
ability to adapt to emerging logistics and supply chain challenges and deliver
resources from across the Nation to impacted communities.
The most effective way to deliver the needed supplies to a disaster-impacted
area, is by re-establishing pre-disaster supply chains. Building resilience
within these systems and providing for their rapid restoration is key to
responding to any catastrophic incident. FEMA will work with the private
sector and Federal partners to build a shared understanding of supply chain
vulnerabilities and the ways FEMA can work with its partners to rapidly restore
these critical flows.

Objective 2.3 Performance Measures
Achieve and maintain the logistics readiness rate for moving, staging, and
delivering commodities and equipment for catastrophic disasters.

There is a focus on the
“last mile,” where the
complex partnership of
national, local,
voluntary, and
commercial
organizations integrate
their capabilities to put
food, water, or other
items and capabilities
into the hands of a
survivor.

Integrate the FEMA Private Sector Supply Chain Management Plan into all
Regional and National Plans.
Establish and maintain effective distribution management plans
in all states and territories.

25

FEMA staff departing a military helicopter following an aerial assessment of
Manhattan. Source: K.C. Wilsey

Objective 2.4 Improve Continuity and Resilient
Communications Capabilities

The ability to
communicate enables
the ability to
coordinate, and
ultimately, the ability
to meaningfully
respond to disasters.

We live in a technologically connected world. Every day, individuals,
organizations, and government institutions provide critical services and
conduct essential functions that are wholly or highly dependent on the
availability of and access to communications systems. There are inherent risks
to relying heavily on these communications systems. We must understand
their interdependencies and the potential cascading impacts that a failure
could cause. FEMA must work with our partners to assess the mission
impacts of losing the ability to reliably communicate and prioritize meeting
all-hazards communications needs. Continuity planning efforts across levels
of government must also address vulnerabilities to ensure uninterrupted
communications capabilities in all response operations.
Resilient and redundant all-hazards communications capabilities are an
indispensable element of emergency management and must be built into
catastrophic preparedness efforts. If we cannot effectively and reliably
communicate with our partners, we cannot coordinate with them and we
cannot direct Federal support to where it is needed most. Communications
enable operational success by supporting connectivity among key government
leadership, internal elements, other organizations, and the public under all
conditions. The inability to communicate hinders operational coordination,
creating information gaps and increasing the likelihood of overutilization or
misallocation of limited resources.
Additionally, we face an evolving threat environment that spans from low-tech
dangers to more complex hybrid incidents such as nation-state threats and
sophisticated cyber-attacks. This adds urgency to developing more resilient
communication capabilities. Overreliance on networked systems and
vulnerable critical infrastructure could broaden the impact of an incident,
potentially allowing even a small weakness to cause cascading effects with
far-reaching consequences.
To ensure effective communication and coordination capabilities, FEMA
develops, maintains, and employs the capability to provide integrated tactical

26

voice, data, and video communications systems and services before, during,
and after an incident. These deployable communications assets utilize state-ofthe-art, resilient, and redundant communications equipment and architecture
to organize a successful response in the most austere environments.
Planning coordination is also critical to ensure that FEMA is well-integrated
with key government leaders and emergency managers during response and
recovery efforts nationwide.
Communications resilience requires establishing and integrating robust
continuity doctrine, plans, programs, and operations within and across
government and non-government organizations at all levels. Beginning with
threat assessments, plans must address stakeholder needs and gaps to
ensure that information is shared and decisions are made quickly when lives
and property are at stake.
FEMA is responsible for coordinating implementation, execution, and
assessment of continuity – including continuity of operations, continuity
of government, and enduring constitutional government. To meet this
responsibility, FEMA must ensure our mission essential functions and those of
other Federal and non-Federal organizations are executable in times of crisis.
FEMA will continue to incorporate continuity principles and considerations
into programs, planning, tests, training, and exercises, emphasizing continuity
as a critical characteristic of preparedness and operations. These principles
must be continuously reinforced to be effective. FEMA and its partners must
also leverage industry innovation and best practices to provide the Nation with
an accessible, modern, reliable, and resilient communications infrastructure
during disasters and National emergencies.

Federal and SLTT
engagement is a
critical factor in
developing and
maintaining effective
continuity planning
and response
operations.

Federal and SLTT engagement is a critical factor in developing and
maintaining effective continuity planning and response operations. The
continued integration of continuity subject matter expertise and coordination
into response and recovery operations enables informed decision-making,
improves responder safety, and increases mission resilience. FEMA will
refine and resource Agency continuity, devolution, response, and recovery
plans to ensure mission resiliency and promote continuity of operations and
government when faced with a catastrophic disaster. Finally, FEMA and other
Federal and SLTT partners will leverage industry innovation and best practices
to provide our Nation with an accessible, modern, reliable, and resilient
communications infrastructure during disasters and National emergencies.

Objective 2.4 Performance Measures
Increase the percent of states and territories with comprehensive continuity
plans and programs for state agencies and emergency operations centers
that align with the Continuity Guidance Circular (CGC).
Increase the percent of critical communication nodes of operational
coordination identified in the New Madrid Seismic Zone catastrophic plans.
Update all state and territory communications plans to include a section
addressing continuity communication and resilience.

27

STRATEGIC GOAL 3:
Reduce the
Complexity of FEMA

FEMA must be a modern agency
that can adapt to the public and the
government’s priorities, while creating
and using innovative solutions for the
emergency management mission. A
simplified FEMA streamlines survivor
experiences, simplifies processes and
policies for disaster staff, and improves
stewardship of Federal taxpayer dollars.

Survivor shares appreciation with FEMA Individual Assistance staff after receiving the keys to her new temporary home.
Source: Eduardo Martínez

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES:
3.1 Streamline the Disaster Survivor and Grantee Experience
3.2 Mature the National Disaster Recovery Framework
3.3 Develop Innovative Systems and Business Processes that Enable FEMA’s Employees to Rapidly
and Effectively Deliver the Agency’s Mission
28

3.4 Strengthen Grants Management, Increase Transparency, and Improve Data Analytics

A FEMA staff member speaks at the Regional Interagency Coordination
Recovery Meeting at the Joint Field Office (JFO) in Austin.
Source: Christopher Mardorf

Objective 3.1 Streamline the Disaster Survivor
and Grantee Experience
Providing assistance to disaster survivors and impacted communities following
a disaster is at the core of FEMA’s mission. Whether it is supporting the
sheltering operations of our SLTT partners, providing assistance for temporary
housing, or supporting community recovery through grants for infrastructure
restoration and increasing community resilience, FEMA helps survivors and
communities when they need it most, allowing them to start on the road to
recovery.
For those impacted, the aftermath of a disaster is a challenging time and
it can be difficult to meet essential immediate needs while beginning the
longer process of recovery. Survivors access disaster assistance through a
range of programs administered by government and non-government entities.
This can make identifying the available opportunities and selecting the best
options for a survivor’s or community’s specific circumstances confusing and
time-consuming.

FEMA must
streamline and
integrate existing
disaster assistance
programs and
processes, creating
innovative solutions to
provide the most
effective survivor
support.

Navigating complex Federal programs is an unnecessary added burden
in times of disaster. FEMA must streamline and integrate existing disaster
assistance programs and processes, creating innovative and efficient solutions
to provide the most effective survivor support. This starts with a review of
the available forms of assistance and how survivors access the various
programs. Furthermore, understanding barriers that limit or prevent access
to programs, especially for vulnerable populations, remains essential to our
mission. FEMA also needs to reduce the number of duplicative interactions
that survivors and communities experience when accessing services. While
all disaster assistance must have controls necessary to protect taxpayer
investments, documentation and eligibility requirements must also account
for the challenging circumstances that disaster survivors face.
One of the critical ways that FEMA assists disaster survivors is by coordinating
the damage assessment process and informing how partners use those
assessments to determine eligibility across the full spectrum of disaster
programs. Current housing inspection processes are slow and rely on outdated,
29

resource-intensive methods. In many cases, survivors must also undergo
multiple inspections. FEMA must re-design the way the Federal government
assesses disaster impacts to reduce the number of required inspections and
deliver the needed assistance faster.

Impacted SLTT
governments must
have greater ability to
drive their own
recovery.

For survivors whose homes are damaged to the point of being uninhabitable,
post-disaster housing is an important element of recovery. SLTT governments
must be empowered to develop housing solutions that work for their citizens
and complement the overall housing market in the area. To do that, FEMA
must work with SLTT governments to develop flexible housing options targeted
to the community need.
Impacted SLTT governments must also have greater ability to drive their
own recovery. Communities can adapt and design approaches specific
for their recovery needs when they have greater control over the recovery
process. FEMA must do more to incentivize and enhance state and
local incident management, and provide partners with tools to identify
and track the recovery process. This requires clear and understandable
grant eligibility criteria, along with greater certainty and flexibility in the
use of funds. Recovery grant management systems must also be userfriendly, making it easy to track grant status and upload documentation.

Objective 3.1 Performance Measures
Decrease the number of Federal in-person inspections.
Raise applicant satisfaction with simplicity of the Individuals and
Households Program and the Public Assistance Process.
Increase the timeliness of financial assistance awards of the Individuals
and Households Program and Public Assistance Program.
Improve the accuracy of financial assistance of the Individuals and
Households Program and Public Assistance Program.

Objective 3.2 Mature the National Disaster
Recovery Framework
The National Disaster Recovery Framework (NDRF) is one of the five National
Planning Frameworks. It provides the coordinating structure for collaborating
among stakeholders to help communities rebuild stronger, reduce future
risk, and decrease disaster costs. The NDRF also defines leadership
roles and responsibilities, including that of the Federal Disaster Recovery
Coordinator. The Federal Disaster Recovery Coordinator organizes the Federal
Government’s recovery assistance from multiple departments and agencies
into an integrated, community-focused support system adapted to the unique
circumstances of each community and disaster.
There is growing investment in building and sustaining recovery capabilities
across all levels of government. However, resources remain constrained,
30

particularly for pre-disaster recovery planning, hazard mitigation, and
preparedness activities. Additionally, the NDRF remains a relatively new
concept. Some Federal, SLTT partners, and non-governmental organizations
and private sector partners have limited exposure to and understanding of
how the NDRF can be used to greatest effect.
To take full advantage of the NDRF, SLTTs should incorporate its principles
into their preparedness efforts and pre-disaster planning activities to ensure
recovery partners are positioned to support impacted communities following
an incident of any scale. Not all states have adopted pre-disaster recovery
plans that align with the NDRF, demonstrating a need for greater awareness of
the value of pre-disaster recovery planning. Improved education and outreach
regarding the value of pre-disaster planning for recovery management, cost
recovery, recovery coordination, hazard mitigation, and unique Federal and
non-Federal partner capabilities will increase SLTT appreciation of the NDRF’s
benefits.
Outreach presents an opportunity to learn from stakeholders with NDRF
experience, better understand past challenges, and make improvements to
how the NDRF is implemented moving forward. Both Federal and SLTT partners
can improve partnerships with the private sector and non-governmental
organizations to better integrate their local networks, knowledge, and
resources into recovery planning and post-disaster support through the
NDRF.

Outreach presents an
opportunity to learn
from stakeholders
with NDRF
experience, better
understand past
challenges, and make
improvements to how
the NDRF is
implemented moving
forward.

Federal capability to support short and especially long-term recovery varies
across departments and agencies, and Federal capability gaps can cause
fragmented assistance following incidents. Federal agencies with NDRF
leadership and support roles must adequately plan and prepare for recovery
responsibilities before a disaster. SLTT, non-governmental organizations,
and private partners can benefit from interacting with regional recovery
partners before disasters arrive. This requires a renewed commitment
from agencies and cooperation across the Federal Government to manage
expectations and integrate efforts. Individual programs operating in
isolation can fracture the overall recovery effort rather than creating
unified solutions that align the best recovery and resilience resources
available to offer seamless solutions to communities to build back stronger.

The effects of a tornado on a residential property in Madisonville, Louisiana. Property damage presents a significant
challenge for survivors of catastrophic disasters. Source: Sharon Karr
31

A FEMA-State Disaster Recovery Center is open for business in Texas.
Source: Colt Hagmaier
Further, roles and responsibilities identified in the NDRF need to be clarified
in practice. This includes maturing our understanding of the distinct roles
of the Federal Disaster Recovery Coordinator, the Federal Coordinating
Officer, and SLTT leadership, including Long-Term Recovery Managers.
It is critical for leadership responsibilities and authorities to be clearly
defined during active response and recovery operations and when multiple
Federal agencies are involved. Clarity helps ensure integrated operations
and coordination of Federal partner resources to support community
recovery.
It also enhances understanding of disaster complexities,
community impacts, and opportunities for collaborative problem solving.

Objective 3.2 Performance Measures

Whether it is a
hurricane or a
no-notice event from
an emerging threat,
FEMA must be ready
when America calls.

Improve the recovery capability of states and territories with pre-designated
State Disaster Recovery Coordinators and plans based upon the National
Disaster Recovery Framework principles.
Strengthen Federal department and agency recovery capability.

Objective 3.3 Develop Innovative Systems and
Business Processes that Enable FEMA’s Employees
to Rapidly and Effectively Deliver the
Agency’s Mission
Emergency management is a shared responsibility across the whole community
and the Nation depends on FEMA’s capabilities and readiness on its worst
days. Whether it is a hurricane or a no-notice event from an emerging threat,
FEMA must be ready when America calls. To deliver our no-fail mission in an
ever-changing environment, FEMA must continuously improve our business
processes and systems. FEMA must meet the needs of today and prepare for
the challenges of tomorrow.
Many FEMA programs and systems have become more complex over time
as FEMA has matured and new policies and programs have emerged.
Technological change has also contributed to this complexity. New processes
and systems are layered over old ones, making it more difficult and timeconsuming for survivors and employees to navigate our programs.

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FEMA employees and partners have identified complexity in operations as a
barrier to success. While this challenge is not unique to FEMA, it requires
our attention and effort. The Agency must evaluate the way we operate and
simplify our business processes and systems, taking a strategic approach to
identify short and long-term opportunities to improve the capabilities of our
people, efficiency of our processes, security of our systems, and utility of our
technology.
FEMA’s employees are the most important drivers of our performance and
our most effective agents of innovation and change. FEMA is the public face
of a Federal response during a disaster, and employees in the field know
what process improvements are critical to meeting survivor needs better than
anyone.
The Agency must empower employees and increase their capability to identify
and implement process improvements that enhance our mission delivery.
This includes building organic process improvement capabilities among our
staff, recruiting and retaining a diverse workforce, providing communication
channels for employees to propose innovative ideas to leaders, and
establishing a culture that reinforces that employees at all levels are expected
to lead, collaborate, and innovate.

“At the end of the day
we have a lot of IT
systems, but we want
to try and see those
streamlined to make
our lives easier.”
- Comment from
Discovery Change Sessions

Once good ideas emerge, we must also enhance the standardization of FEMA’s
processes across programs to increase operational performance. Innovations
and process improvements should be transparent and accessible. Strong
governance will also help capture the level of effort and resources required to
standardize and maintain new processes, so the Agency is a good steward of
taxpayer dollars.
Finally, FEMA continues to face unnecessary complexity with technology. The
Agency has made strides in consolidating information technology (IT) systems
and remains focused on streamlining our grants, insurance, and financial IT
systems. However, unless we also adopt robust data management standards
and technology that enables enterprise-wide analytics, we will not be able
to provide the level of service that survivors need during and after disasters
or the level of transparency our stakeholders require. We will continue to
coordinate with the DHS Office of the Chief Information Officer and other DHS
components to ensure that we are aligned on our efforts to facilitate consistent
data management and information sharing within the Department. We must
also double-down on our efforts to decommission outdated or underutilized
legacy IT systems to increase our cybersecurity and reserve resources for
needed technology modernization efforts.

Objective 3.3 Performance Measures
Decrease the number of repeat audit findings related to efficient and
effective program delivery.
Increase scores on the Global Satisfaction, Employee Engagement, and
Diversity Indices of the Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey.
Achieve and maintain Federal Information Security Modernization Act
metrics to enhance cybersecurity across the Agency.

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Objective 3.4 Strengthen Grants Management,
Increase Transparency, and Improve
Data Analytics

FEMA grants awarded
since FY 2017:

$3.0B+ in preparedness

and other non-disaster grants
to support SLTT governments
to prevent, protect against,
mitigate, or respond to threats
or incidents of terrorism and
other events

$4.2B+

in Individual
Assistance, including the
individuals and households
program, disaster case
management, disaster
legal services, disaster
unemployment assistance
and crisis counseling program

$5.5B+ in Public

Assistance, including funding
to clear debris and rebuild
roads, schools, libraries, and
other public facilities

In support of FEMA’s mission, the Agency delivers numerous types of financial
assistance programs through annually recurring and incident-specific grant
agreements with SLTT partners. FEMA administers more than 40 financial
assistance programs, issuing thousands of grant awards each year. These
grants are critical to supporting our partners, first responders, survivors,
and communities. Between fiscal years 2008 and 2017, FEMA provided
nearly $100 billion in financial assistance. FEMA and our partners share a
critical responsibility to serve as good stewards of this substantial taxpayer
investment.
As programs have grown over time, the process of applying for, receiving,
and administering these grants has become increasingly complex. FEMA
must simplify the application process for grant recipients, enhance the ability
to monitor funds, and ensure stewardship of public dollars. This requires
increased consistency and integration across FEMA, improved support to
grantees, reliable data about grant performance, modern information systems,
and robust data analytics capabilities to strengthen internal oversight and
increase public transparency and accountability.
Establishing consistent and standardized business practices throughout
the grant life-cycle demonstrates the Agency’s commitment to reducing the
complexity and increasing the effectiveness of grants management. FEMA
must continue our ongoing efforts to implement consistent policy, internal
controls, accountability, and financial management of recipients — including
sub-recipients — to improve oversight and promote integration across the
Agency’s multiple grant programs. In parallel, FEMA must also continue our
multi-year effort to establish a single, holistic grants management information
technology platform through the Grants Management Modernization initiative
and the accompanying Financial System Modernization initiative to modernize
our outdated legacy financial system.

$650M+ in Hazard

FEMA requires consistent, reliable, and high-quality data analytics to inform
decision-making and risk management before, during, and after disasters.
Consistent data management and improved infrastructure can reduce delays
and decrease costs in mission delivery. FEMA’s continued investment in the
Enterprise Data & Analytics Modernization Initiative (EDAMI) positions the
Agency to provide consistent data management and an integrated, modern,
and cost-effective enterprise data analysis and reporting environment.

*FEMA Grants awarded
between October 1, 2016 and
February 28, 2018

Improving FEMA’s analytics capabilities will enable the use of data-driven
approaches to identify and address Agency-wide inefficiencies and risks in
our grants program delivery and monitor trends in audit findings, informing the
technical assistance and training we provide to recipients and sub-recipients.
This will allow Federal dollars to have the most impact possible by reducing
adverse audit findings and eliminating deobligation and recoupment of
funding. Enhanced data management and analytics capabilities will also
enable greater transparency about where, when, and why grant dollars are
being spent, allowing FEMA to cultivate greater accountability, consistency,
and trust — not only within the Agency, but also throughout the emergency

Mitigation grants to
implement long-term hazard
mitigation measures following
a presidential Major Disaster
Declaration

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management community and with the general public.
FEMA’s commitment to reduce complexity, uniformly administer grants, and
ensure the proper controls for its grant programs will improve the Agency’s
ability to support survivors and communities. By increasing transparency and
prioritizing analytics, FEMA is taking the steps necessary to keep pace with a
rapidly changing world, streamline its processes to stay ahead of emergencies,
and deliver swift, effective assistance in times of greatest need.

Objective 3.4 Performance Measures
Reduce the percentage of questioned costs by the
Office of Inspector General.
Remediate repeat grants-related financial statement audit
findings and recommendations.

Improving FEMA’s
analytics capabilities
will enable the use of
data-driven
approaches to identify
and address
Agency-wide
inefficiencies and risk.

Reduce the number of grants overdue for closeout.
Make datasets on the amount and purpose of all funds provided to SLTT
and other Federal agencies publicly available and machine readable.

FEMA Corps Eagle 8 team members speak with a survivor in a rural part of Robstown, Texas after Hurricane Harvey.
Source: Christopher Mardorf

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MEASURING AND ACHIEVING RESULTS
The 2018-2022 FEMA Strategic Plan contains Strategic Goals and Objectives designed to drive the
Agency’s actions over the next five years. To ensure that appropriate and meaningful action is taken
to achieve these priorities, FEMA has identified performance measures for the Agency to spur progress
across the entire enterprise and provide insight into how successful we are in achieving results.
Appendix A includes specifics as to the performance measures, baselines, and targets that will be pursued.
To ensure that these actions are successful, each Strategic Goal and Objective will be led and championed
by accountable executives. These Senior Executives will work directly with their cross-organizational
teams to implement the strategies necessary to advance the Strategic Plan. Additionally, FEMA will use
established internal governance structures to drive progress in implementing the Strategic Plan.
As the emergency management environment shifts and changes, FEMA must remain flexible and adaptable
with how it defines success. This includes soliciting and accepting stakeholder feedback on a regular basis.
Consequently, each Strategic Objective describes what outcomes will be measured to assess progress.
The Agency will consider potential challenges and risks to the Agency’s strategy and success against the
performance measures throughout the life of the 2018-2022 FEMA Strategic Plan. Ongoing refinement of
FEMA’s strategic direction over the next five years will ensure that FEMA is well positioned and adaptable
to the future of emergency management and the risks we face as a Nation.

FEMA staff check final paperwork and title documents prior to the turnover of a FEMA Manufactured Housing Unit (MHU) for
an Oglala Sioux Tribe member on the Pine Ridge Reservation. Source: Christopher Mardorf

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CONCLUSION
This Strategic Plan is not only FEMA’s path forward as an Agency, but also describes a future state to which
the entire emergency management community may collectively aspire. When achieved, it will change the
way FEMA does business and improve the support it provides before, during, and after disasters. It will
affect outcomes and it will change lives. With this Strategic Plan, we have set big goals and defined lofty
challenges, but they are all achievable when the emergency management community works together.
That is what this Strategic Plan is about – Helping people. Together. Significant efforts in strategy, planning,
and resource allocation have already begun to advance the Strategic Goals of this plan. Countless FEMA
employees have already begun work on the Strategic Objectives, and thousands more are about to take
action to implement this five-year strategy.
FEMA represents the very best of the United States Government’s public service – providing front-line
support to the American people and assisting survivors in their times of greatest need. This Strategic Plan
presents an outstanding opportunity for our Agency to improve by simplifying our processes, strengthening
our workforce, and building new and stronger partnerships – working together to help people before,
during, and after disasters to create a more prepared and resilient Nation.

Administrator Long speaks at an Agency-wide Town Hall regarding the Strategic Plan and the future of FEMA.
Source: Colt Hagmaier

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