This insight provides a short overview of issues Congress may consider in its oversight of the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) federal assistance during the 2017 hurricane season (e.g., Harvey, Irma, and Maria) and other disasters (e.g., fires in California).
This report focuses on how mass violence affects the behavioral health of adult and young (child and adolescent) survivors or witnesses of a mass violence incident. Public health, behavioral health, and emergency management professionals can use information provided to improve their disaster behavioral health preparedness plans.
This report provides an overview of the accounts that fund wildfire management activities and historical wildfire management appropriations data, as well as information on FY2018 appropriations.
The U.S. Government Accountability Office was asked to review the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) risk assessment practices for critical infrastructure. This report describes: (1) DHS’s risk assessment practices in 3 of 16 critical infrastructure sectors and private sector representatives’ views on the utility of this risk information; and (2) how this risk information influences DHS’s strategic planning and private sector outreach.
This report contains specific, proven recommendations for how to most effectively combat the opioid epidemic. Topics include the following: allowing physicians to more effectively treat those suffering from addiction; expanding coverage and accessibility of opioid overdose reversal drugs like naloxone; and changing the way healthcare professionals, employers, and advocates talk about addiction to reduce stigma.
This report provides background information and analysis of federal funding for wildfire suppression operations. The report provides a discussion of the issues facing Congress and concludes by summarizing several legislative proposals under consideration by the 115th Congress.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency released the 2017 National Preparedness Report, which summarizes U.S. progress toward reaching the National Preparedness Goal of having a secure and resilient nation. The 2017 report identified 30 key findings across the Prevention, Protection, Mitigation, Response and Recovery mission areas, describing the progress made during 2016 to advance national preparedness.
This report describes: (1) the types of actions that key federal agencies have taken to develop biological threat awareness, and how that information is used to support investment decisions; (2) the extent to which these agencies have developed shared threat awareness; and (3) the Department of Homeland Security’s National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center’s process for determining which additional threat characterization knowledge to pursue.
The Department of Homeland Security conducts the annual fusion center assessment to provide a comprehensive picture of the performance of the National Network of Fusion Centers, helps measure the effectiveness of Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) grant funding, and guides partners to invest in mission areas with the greatest potential benefit to the entire homeland.
To help protect the health and safety of the public, responders, and cleanup workers during response and recovery operations from hurricanes and floods, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry have developed public health guidance and other resources.
