Disaster Assistance Workforce: FEMA Could Enhance Human Capital Management and Training
Highlights
What GAO Found
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has taken steps to enhance its management of the Disaster Assistance Employee (DAE) program, such as through the establishment of a credentialing program, the FEMA Qualification System (FQS); however, management controls and training could be strengthened. For example, FEMA does not monitor how the regions implement DAE policies and how DAEs implement disaster policies across regions to ensure consistency. FEMA’s Administrator noted that due to differences in how regions operate, it is problematic to deploy someone based in one region to another during a disaster. Establishing a mechanism to monitor both the regional implementation of DAE policies and procedures and DAE’s implementation of disaster policies could help provide FEMA with reasonable assurance that disaster assistance is conducted in accordance with policy and implemented consistently.
FEMA’s human capital controls could be strengthened. FEMA’s regional DAE managers are responsible for hiring DAEs, but FEMA has not established hiring criteria and has limited salary criteria. By establishing standardized criteria for making hiring and salary decisions, FEMA would be better positioned to hire people with requisite skills and better ensure consistency across regions. Likewise, FEMA’s performance appraisal system for DAEs is not consistent with internal control standards. FEMA does not have criteria for supervisors to assign DAEs satisfactory or unsatisfactory ratings. Thirteen of 16 regional DAE managers GAO interviewed stated that the appraisal process could be improved, such as implementing a rating scale instead of a pass/fail rating. FEMA officials noted that performance management is a critical component in DAE supervision and must be improved in fiscal year 2012. Establishing a more rigorous performance management system that includes criteria for given performance elements as well as guidance could help FEMA ensure that DAEs’ performance appraisals more accurately reflect performance and provide needed information to managers.
FEMA’s DAE training is not consistent with key attributes of effective training and development programs, such as a plan for training staff. FEMA does not have a plan to ensure DAEs receive necessary training such as FQS requirements. Further, 13 of 16 regional DAE managers GAO spoke to said that they would like more opportunities for DAEs to receive training. A plan to ensure that all DAEs have opportunities for training and completing FQS requirements with related milestones would provide FEMA with a roadmap and ensure accountability for qualifying DAEs under FQS. In addition, FEMA does not track how much of the Disaster Relief Fund is spent on training for DAEs. Developing a systematic process to track training costs could provide FEMA with information to help it determine whether it is allocating its resources effectively.
In an April 2012 memo, FEMA announced plans to transform the DAE program beginning in June 2012; however, this effort is still in the early stages and as a result, it is too soon to evaluate the effectiveness of FEMA’s planned actions.
Why GAO Did This Study
Since fiscal year 2007 FEMA has obligated $33 billion in disaster assistance payments. FEMA relies heavily upon its cadre of DAEs, a reserve workforce who interact with disaster survivors. GAO was asked to review the management and training of DAEs. Specifically, this report addresses the extent to which (1) FEMA has policies and procedures in place to govern the DAE program; (2) FEMA’s human capital controls over the DAE workforce are consistent with internal control standards; and (3) FEMA’s DAE training incorporates key attributes of effective training and development programs. In addition, GAO describes FEMA’s initiative to transform the DAE program announced in April 2012. GAO reviewed management documents such as program-specific and human capital-related guidance, interviewed FEMA officials, and conducted 16 focus group sessions with DAEs in four selected joint field offices chosen to provide geographic dispersion, among other factors. The results of the focus groups are not generalizable, but provide valuable insight into DAE experiences.
Recommendations
GAO recommends, among other things, that FEMA establish a mechanism to monitor both its regions implementation of DAE policies and DAEs implementation of disaster policies; criteria for hiring and compensating DAEs; and a plan to train DAEs within a set time frame. DHS concurred with the recommendations.
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Homeland Security | To help DHS improve the management of DAEs and build on some of the actions taken to date, the Secretary of Homeland Security should direct the Administrator of FEMA to establish timelines for development and dissemination of DAE cadre management guidance and revisions to FEMA Instruction 8600.1. |
In June 2012, FEMA published the FEMA Reservist Program Directive, which updated and replaced FEMA Instruction 8600.1. In 2014, FEMA also published policies and guidance documents that govern the entire incident workforce, including Reservists (previously called Disaster Assistance Employees). The documents include the FEMA Incident Workforce Deployment Directive, the FEMA Incident Workforce Cadre Management Directive, and the FEMA Incident Workforce Cadre Management Guide; collectively these documents should help FEMA officials better govern the oversight, day-to-day management, staffing, equipping, training, performance management, and deployment of FEMA's incident workforce
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| Department of Homeland Security | To help DHS improve the management of DAEs and build on some of the actions taken to date, the Secretary of Homeland Security should direct the Administrator of FEMA to establish a mechanism to monitor both its regions' implementation of DAE policies and procedures and DAEs' implementation of FEMA's disaster policies and procedures to ensure consistency. |
In October 2012, DHS reported that FEMA resolved the outstanding issues of inconsistent implementation of DAE policies by centralizing control over hiring, training, equipment, and deployment within a single headquarters-based office. FEMA documented its centralization process in a management directive that converted the DAE program to a reserve program that is managed through a centralized office. With this new management approach, FEMA is positioned to better monitor implementation of reserve program policies and procedures and ensure consistency.
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| Department of Homeland Security | To help DHS improve the management of DAEs and build on some of the actions taken to date, the Secretary of Homeland Security should direct the Administrator of FEMA to develop a plan with time frames and milestones for how it will better communicate policies and procedures and cadre-specific information to DAEs when they are not deployed. |
In June 2012, FEMA implemented a communication strategy with its reservist workforce that included video conferences, a web blog series, and a FEMA weekly bulletin sent to reservists' personal email addresses, among other things. These efforts were intended to communicate to reservists program updates, application processes for FEMA's new reservist program, program requirements, and hiring initiatives. Also, beginning June 24, 2012, FEMA began providing reservists a laptop and a cell phone that allows reservists to receive and initiate communication when they are not deployed. FEMA's communication techniques are consistent with our recommendation.
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| Department of Homeland Security | To help DHS improve the management of DAEs and build on some of the actions taken to date, the Secretary of Homeland Security should direct the Administrator of FEMA to establish standardized criteria for hiring DAEs that include defined qualifications and skill sets to make hiring decisions and salary determinations. |
in May 2015, FEMA officials reported that they (1) created a Reservist statement of work based on a Position Task Book for each reservist position, (2) work with each program area when advertising positions to come up with the duties and the questions that come directly from that statement of work in order to hire the best qualified candidates, and (3) base Reservist salaries on the position title and the level of expertise (trainee or qualified) of the individual hired. As a result, by standardizing criteria for hiring and salary determinations, FEMA will have greater assurance that DAEs have the necessary skills and qualifications, as well as ensure consistency across regions.
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| Department of Homeland Security | To help DHS improve the management of DAEs and build on some of the actions taken to date, the Secretary of Homeland Security should direct the Administrator of FEMA to establish a more rigorous performance appraisal system that includes criteria and guidance to serve as a basis for performance ratings, as well as how ratings could be used, and a process to address performance deficiencies. |
FEMA has taken a number of corrective actions in response to this recommendation. For example, in August 2015, FEMA published a Cadre of On-Call Response Employee (CORE) manual (FEMA manual 252-11-1) that addresses, performance management and awards and recognition. In addition, in January 2017, FEMA issued a new Reservist Directive (FD-010-6) that describes performance management, the disciplinary process, and awards and recognition for disaster assistance employee (now referred to as Reservists). Collectively, these documents establish FEMA's performance management and awards guidance for the CORE and Reservist employees and address the intent of our recommendation.
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| Department of Homeland Security | To help DHS improve the management of DAEs and build on some of the actions taken to date, the Secretary of Homeland Security should direct the Administrator of FEMA to establish a plan with milestones to ensure all DAEs have opportunities to participate in training and are qualified. |
As part of the 2014-2018 FEMA Strategic Plan, FEMA officials established a performance goal of increasing the operational readiness and deployability rating of FEMA's workforce to 80 percent or greater by the end of 2018. This rating is based in staffing, equipping, and training within each cadre. In order to achieve this goal, FEMA established interim milestones of increasing the number of its qualified workforce, including Reservists (previously called Disaster Assistance Employees), by 5-10 percent each year by providing training and deployment opportunities. In addition, FEMA officials track progress in meeting these goals through the Cadre Operational Readiness and Deployability Status system. As a result, FEMA's strategic plan with time frames and milestones for training all of its Reservists will provide the agency with a roadmap and ensure accountability for qualifying Reservists.
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| Department of Homeland Security | To help DHS improve the management of DAEs and build on some of the actions taken to date, the Secretary of Homeland Security should direct the Administrator of FEMA to develop a systematic process to track training costs. |
in May 2015, FEMA officials said they use information in the Cadre Operational Readiness and Deployment Status system (CORDS) to track training status and training requirements for Reservists and use this information to develop a FEMA Qualification System program spend plan. The spend plan includes training costs for curriculum development and delivery for all incident management and incident support training courses. The spend plan provide a systematic means to track training costs for Reservists.
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