**GAO-08-852**                      Published: Jun 27, 2008. Publicly Released: Jun 27, 2008.                  

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## Highlights

Since 2002, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has distributed almost $20 billion in funding to enhance the nation's capabilities to respond to acts of terrorism or other catastrophic events. In fiscal year 2007, DHS provided approximately $1.7 billion to states and urban areas through its Homeland Security Grant Program (HSGP) to prevent, protect against, respond to, and recover from acts of terrorism or other catastrophic events. As part of the Omnibus Appropriations Act of 2007, GAO was mandated to review the methodology used by DHS to allocate HSGP grants. This report addresses (1) the changes DHS has made to its risk-based methodology used to allocate grant funding from fiscal year 2007 to fiscal year 2008 and (2) whether the fiscal year 2008 methodology is reasonable. To answer these questions, GAO analyzed DHS documents related to its methodology and grant guidance, interviewed DHS officials about the grant process used in fiscal year 2007 and changes made to the process for fiscal year 2008, and used GAO's risk management framework based on best practices.

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## Topics

Homeland Security

Agency missionsAllocation (Government accounting)Critical infrastructureData collectionDefense capabilitiesEmergency preparednessEmergency response fundsEmergency response plansEvaluation criteriaFederal aid programsFederal aid to localitiesFederal fundsFederal grantsFinancial managementFiscal policiesFunds managementGrants to statesHomeland securityProgram evaluationProgram managementRisk assessmentRisk managementStrategic planningSurveysTerrorismDisaster grants fundingCost awarenessCost estimatesProgram costs