HSGP: Opportunities, Challenges & Obstacles to Preparedness

HSGP: Opportunities, Challenges & Obstacles to Preparedness

Introduction

The Homeland Security Grant Program also known as HSGP established in the year 2003, is the most important approach of the agency to control the behavior of local and state partners to make a start that trim down what according to both parties are the terrorist attack risks and to take effective actions against this type of attack, or any other devastation (Caudle, 2008). The funds of the Federal Homeland Security are dispersed to states by means of these grants. There are a number of Homeland Security Grant Programs (Caudle, 2008); however the most funded or supported (and therefore substantial), are the following 6 programs:

CCP or the Citizen Corps Program

EMPG or the Emergency Management Performance Grant Program

SHSGP or the State Homeland Security Grant Program

LETPP or the Law Enforcement Terrorism Prevention Program

MMRS or the Metropolitan Medical Response System

UASI or the Urban Area Security Initiative (Bach & Kaufman, 2009)

Discussion

With its founding in the year 2003, the DHS came across the challenging task of building an efficient, effective, and cohesive Department from twenty-two distinct agencies while at the same time carrying out the mission for which it was established. That assignment, to protect the nation in opposition to the whole range of threats that we encounter, is itself a difficult task. The Department has made advancements in coming together as a successful organization, as well as dealing with its key objective areas to secure the borders of our nation, increase our resiliency and willingness in spite of a natural disaster or terrorist threat, and apply increased levels of safety in our trade operations and transportation systems.

Major Challenges

The major challenges of the department lie in 9 extensive areas, which are addressed below:

Acquisition Management

Even though the Department carries on to get somewhere in making its acquisition management better, it stays a major challenge in front of DHS, in part due to the value of dollar, magnitude of the number and difficulty of its acquisition action.

Information Technology Management

Making a joint information technology infrastructure for effectual incorporation and the agency wide administration and management of programs and assets of information technology continues to be a challenge for the CIO of DHS.

Emergency Management

Though FEMA has come up with amazing strides in enhancing its disaster watchfulness and recovery, challenges continue to be there, counting in the fields of debris removal, mass care and emergency support functions.

Grants Management

The oversight infrastructure and grants management of FEMA is faced up to the need to perk up checking of grantees.

Financial Management

The Department, in FY 2010, committed to acquiring a competent opinion on the Statement of Custodial Activity and Balance Sheet. DHS carried on to advance financial management to that end, in FY 2011 and has acquired a noteworthy high point. Thus, DHS for FY 2011 was capable of producing an auditable statement of custodial activity and balance sheet; and the self-governing auditors provided a qualified view on those financial ...