By: Mickey McCarter
The United States has generally improved in preparing for disasters but suffers from shortfalls in its cybersecurity posture, recovery capabilities and integration of people with disabilities as well as children and seniors into preparedness activities, said the first National Preparedness Report Thursday.
The report, released by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), examined 31 core capabilities across the country identified as key under the National Preparedness Goal, published on Oct. 7, 2011. The goal and the follow-on report -- both ordered under Presidential Policy Directive (PPD) 8 -- strive to specify steps required to successfully prepare for, mitigate, respond to and recover from the types of disasters most likely to pose the greatest threats to Americans.
FEMA coordinated the report with other federal agencies, state and local governments, tribal and territorial governments, private businesses, nonprofit organizations, and the public.
In an accompanying statement, FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate said, "This report illustrates areas of national strength to include planning, operational coordination, intelligence and information sharing, and other response-related capabilities. As we continually assess and aim to meet the full vision of the National Preparedness Goal, we must continue to build on the significant progress to date and address identified opportunities for improvement."
FEMA emphasized that the country generally made "significant efforts across all of the core capabilities" but still faced challenges in specific areas.
In preparation for the National Preparedness Report, states submitted self assessments of their own capabilities in State Preparedness Reports (SPR) last year. From that report, FEMA drew overall conclusions about areas harboring national weaknesses.
Topping areas in need of improvement was cybersecurity, not generally an area associated with FEMA in general. But FEMA identified cybersecurity as a critical capability in the National Preparedness Goal, and states reported that they were lacking in the area.
"States indicated through the SPR that cybersecurity was the core capability with the lowest average self-assessed capability level," said the National Preparedness Report. "The goal identified cybersecurity as a discrete preparedness core capability for the first time, unifying the wide range of cybersecurity efforts under a common definition."
Bolstering cybersecurity capabilities is important, as cyberattacks against critical systems continue to increase nationally, the report warned. The nation has become more and more dependent upon interconnected information systems but "stakeholders have an incomplete understanding of cyberrisk and inconsistent public and private participation in cybersecurity partnerships."
The report also generally faulted core capabilities for disaster recovery, including rebuilding infrastructure, providing long-term housing, preserving community services, restoring health and social services, promoting economic development, and restoring natural and cultural resources.
"Until recently, the recovery mission area lacked the national structure and cohesive planning approaches employed across other mission areas, such as protection and response," the report stated.
The SPR results found that three of the four lowest-rated capabilities fell into the area of recovery, including economic recovery, natural and culture resources, and housing. In their self-assessments, states told FEMA they were less than half way to reaching their target for capability levels in those three particular recovery-related areas.
FEMA indicated that the recent publication of the National Disaster Recovery Framework should give federal agencies guidance in how to help states, cities, tribes and other jurisdictions build recovery capabilities.
And preparedness activities still have largely neglected very large segments of the US population, encompassing those with disabilities, pregnant women, older adults, younger children, and people with chronic medical problems, the report said.
"More than 55 million Americans have disabilities; moreover, infants and children make up nearly one-quarter of the nation's population; nearly one in eight Americans are over the age of 65; and approximately one-quarter of Americans have multiple, chronic medical conditions. Better integrating these populations across all mission areas is an essential element of improving preparedness," the report said.
Outside of these challenges, the report found that the United States has improved its disaster preparedness significantly in the aftermath of large catastrophes like Sept. 11, 2001, and Hurricane Katrina. Moreover, FEMA has provided $17.2 billion in non-disaster preparedness grants to build capabilities at the state and local level, the report noted.
The report credited federal preparedness assistance programs with building and enhancing state and local capabilities through targeted investments. As states began to think in terms of strengthening capabilities in the years after 9/11, they would often make the most progress on the capabilities upon which they placed the most importance.
But public and private-sector officials have been relying increasingly upon risk analyses to determine their preparedness priorities, the report added, bolstering their overall decision-making processes.
That said, FEMA confirmed that progress in building capabilities remained difficult to measure year after year.
"Whole community partners offer programs and initiatives that contribute to the core capabilities outlined in the goal," the report said. "However, in many cases, measures and metrics do not yet exist to gauge performance, either quantitatively or qualitatively, over time. Thus, while programs may exist to address a specific challenge, the nation has little way of knowing whether and to what extent those programs have been successful."
PPD-8 called for a National Preparedness System that FEMA strives to produce, providing a comprehensive approach to making assessments with clear performance measures, the report added.
http://www.hstoday.us/home.html
05/04/2012 ( 4:00am)
The United States has generally improved in preparing for disasters but suffers from shortfalls in its cybersecurity posture, recovery capabilities and integration of people with disabilities as well as children and seniors into preparedness activities, said the first National Preparedness Report Thursday.
The report, released by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), examined 31 core capabilities across the country identified as key under the National Preparedness Goal, published on Oct. 7, 2011. The goal and the follow-on report -- both ordered under Presidential Policy Directive (PPD) 8 -- strive to specify steps required to successfully prepare for, mitigate, respond to and recover from the types of disasters most likely to pose the greatest threats to Americans.
FEMA coordinated the report with other federal agencies, state and local governments, tribal and territorial governments, private businesses, nonprofit organizations, and the public.
In an accompanying statement, FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate said, "This report illustrates areas of national strength to include planning, operational coordination, intelligence and information sharing, and other response-related capabilities. As we continually assess and aim to meet the full vision of the National Preparedness Goal, we must continue to build on the significant progress to date and address identified opportunities for improvement."
FEMA emphasized that the country generally made "significant efforts across all of the core capabilities" but still faced challenges in specific areas.
In preparation for the National Preparedness Report, states submitted self assessments of their own capabilities in State Preparedness Reports (SPR) last year. From that report, FEMA drew overall conclusions about areas harboring national weaknesses.
Topping areas in need of improvement was cybersecurity, not generally an area associated with FEMA in general. But FEMA identified cybersecurity as a critical capability in the National Preparedness Goal, and states reported that they were lacking in the area.
"States indicated through the SPR that cybersecurity was the core capability with the lowest average self-assessed capability level," said the National Preparedness Report. "The goal identified cybersecurity as a discrete preparedness core capability for the first time, unifying the wide range of cybersecurity efforts under a common definition."
Bolstering cybersecurity capabilities is important, as cyberattacks against critical systems continue to increase nationally, the report warned. The nation has become more and more dependent upon interconnected information systems but "stakeholders have an incomplete understanding of cyberrisk and inconsistent public and private participation in cybersecurity partnerships."
The report also generally faulted core capabilities for disaster recovery, including rebuilding infrastructure, providing long-term housing, preserving community services, restoring health and social services, promoting economic development, and restoring natural and cultural resources.
"Until recently, the recovery mission area lacked the national structure and cohesive planning approaches employed across other mission areas, such as protection and response," the report stated.
The SPR results found that three of the four lowest-rated capabilities fell into the area of recovery, including economic recovery, natural and culture resources, and housing. In their self-assessments, states told FEMA they were less than half way to reaching their target for capability levels in those three particular recovery-related areas.
FEMA indicated that the recent publication of the National Disaster Recovery Framework should give federal agencies guidance in how to help states, cities, tribes and other jurisdictions build recovery capabilities.
And preparedness activities still have largely neglected very large segments of the US population, encompassing those with disabilities, pregnant women, older adults, younger children, and people with chronic medical problems, the report said.
"More than 55 million Americans have disabilities; moreover, infants and children make up nearly one-quarter of the nation's population; nearly one in eight Americans are over the age of 65; and approximately one-quarter of Americans have multiple, chronic medical conditions. Better integrating these populations across all mission areas is an essential element of improving preparedness," the report said.
Outside of these challenges, the report found that the United States has improved its disaster preparedness significantly in the aftermath of large catastrophes like Sept. 11, 2001, and Hurricane Katrina. Moreover, FEMA has provided $17.2 billion in non-disaster preparedness grants to build capabilities at the state and local level, the report noted.
The report credited federal preparedness assistance programs with building and enhancing state and local capabilities through targeted investments. As states began to think in terms of strengthening capabilities in the years after 9/11, they would often make the most progress on the capabilities upon which they placed the most importance.
But public and private-sector officials have been relying increasingly upon risk analyses to determine their preparedness priorities, the report added, bolstering their overall decision-making processes.
That said, FEMA confirmed that progress in building capabilities remained difficult to measure year after year.
"Whole community partners offer programs and initiatives that contribute to the core capabilities outlined in the goal," the report said. "However, in many cases, measures and metrics do not yet exist to gauge performance, either quantitatively or qualitatively, over time. Thus, while programs may exist to address a specific challenge, the nation has little way of knowing whether and to what extent those programs have been successful."
PPD-8 called for a National Preparedness System that FEMA strives to produce, providing a comprehensive approach to making assessments with clear performance measures, the report added.
http://www.hstoday.us/home.html
