2018-2022

Strategic Plan

Federal Emergency Management Agency
2

“[I find] the great thing in this world is not so much where we stand, 

as in what direction we are moving.” 

– Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.
FEMA Strategic Plan 2018 – 2022 3

FOREWORD

I am extremely proud to present to you the 2018-2022 Federal 

Emergency Management Agency Strategic Plan. This is not just an 

internal guide. The most important lesson from the challenging 

disasters of 2017 is that success is best delivered through a system 

that is Federally supported, state managed, and locally executed. 

This plan seeks to unify and further professionalize emergency 

management across the Nation and we invite the whole community 

to join us in embracing these priorities. We must all work as one 

through this strategy to help people before, during, and after disasters to achieve our vision of a more prepared and resilient Nation.

This plan reflects the ideas, suggestions, and perspectives that staff 

and stakeholders have shared with me since my arrival at FEMA. 

We used online forums like IdeaScale, in-person Discovery Change 

Sessions with employees, and many day-to-day conversations with 

disaster survivors and communities to gain a better understanding 

of how we can turn great ideas into reality. We also reached out to 

our state, local, tribal, and territorial partners, along with non-profit 

organizations and the private sector, because they are critical 

partners to this plan’s success.

This plan is just the beginning. It describes a vision that we can 

all pursue – together – to build a better FEMA and galvanize the 

emergency management profession.

This new Strategic Plan includes three ambitious, but achievable, goals for 2018-2022. The Strategic Goals are 

focused on our FEMA Vision – a prepared and resilient Nation.

Strategic Goal 1: Build a Culture of Preparedness

Strategic Goal 2: Ready the Nation for Catastrophic Disasters

Strategic Goal 3: Reduce the Complexity of FEMA

Each of these goals represents a major undertaking. FEMA will not be able to accomplish them 

without the help of the entire community. Achieving this vision of a prepared and resilient Nation is a shared 

responsibility and, while recognizing FEMA’s essential role, meaningful improvements will occur only when we work 

in concert across Federal departments and agencies, as well as with leaders from state, local, tribal, and territorial 

governments and non-governmental organizations and the private sector. Likewise, we need to help individuals 

and families understand their personal roles in preparing for disasters and taking action – they are our true first 

responders.

This Strategic Plan is the central document for guiding our actions over the next several years. We are going to 

be talking about it – a lot – and acting on it. I am making changes to FEMA to reflect these priorities and I am 

going to use our resources to drive progress. That doesn’t mean that all other work will stop, but it does mean 

that I expect all of us to be actively engaged in Building a Culture of Preparedness, Readying the Nation for 

Catastrophic Disasters, and Reducing the Complexity of FEMA. Together.

Brock Long

Administrator 

Administrator Long speaks at a 

FEMA-wide Town Hall about the 

Agency’s Strategic Plan. 

Source: Colt Hagmaier
4 FEMA Strategic Plan 2018 – 2022

STRATEGIC GOAL 1: 

BUILD A CULTURE OF PREPAREDNESS

Resilience is the backbone of emergency management. The Nation’s ability to weather 

storms and disasters without experiencing loss significantly reduces our risk. The most 

successful way to achieve disaster resiliency is through preparedness, including mitigation. 

Building a Culture of Preparedness within our communities and our governments will 

support a National effort to be ready for the worst disasters – at the individual, family, 

community, state, local, tribal, territorial (SLTT), and Federal levels.

Strategic Goal 1 promotes the idea that everyone should be prepared when disaster 

strikes. To be prepared, however, we must all understand our local and community risks, 

reflect the diversity of those we serve, and foster partnerships that allow us to connect 

with a diverse Nation. People who are prepared will be able to act quickly and decisively 

in the face of disasters, thereby preventing death and injuries, minimizing loss of property, 

and allowing for a more rapid and efficient recovery.

STRATEGIC GOAL 2: 

READY THE NATION FOR CATASTROPHIC 

DISASTERS

Catastrophic disasters, including low- and no-notice incidents, can overwhelm the 

government at all levels and threaten National security. They are life-altering incidents 

for those impacted, causing a high number of fatalities and widespread destruction. 

Catastrophic disasters disrupt lives and hurt our communities – economically and socially. 

Readiness is critical for FEMA and our partners to ensure that the response and recovery 

missions are appropriately executed and successful.

Strategic Goal 2 builds on the preparedness through Strategic Goal 1 and focuses us 

on enhancing our collective readiness. The Nation’s readiness depends on emergency 

management professionals who execute the mission on behalf of Federal and SLTT 

governments. This requires a scalable and capable National incident workforce that can 

adapt and deploy to a changing risk landscape, greater integration with our partners at all 

levels, and the ability to communicate and coordinate effectively in every situation.

STRATEGIC GOAL 3: 

REDUCE THE COMPLEXITY OF FEMA

The Nation faces an evolving threat and hazard environment. FEMA must be flexible 

and adaptable to meet the needs of individuals and communities, and it must deliver 

assistance and support in as simple a manner as possible. We must innovate and 

leverage new technology to reduce complexity, increase efficiency, and improve outcomes.

Strategic Goal 3 promotes simpler, less complex processes to streamline our Agency and 

the support we provide to individuals and communities. By making it easier for employees 

to do their work, the Agency can better care for those we support. A simplified FEMA – one 

that streamlines survivor and grantee experiences and provides straightforward processes 

and policies for staff – will decrease administrative burdens, improve the stewardship 

of Federal taxpayer dollars, and allow for a more efficient and effective execution of our 

mission.

The FEMA 2018-2022 Strategic Plan provides a framework for supporting the United States before, during, and 

after disasters and improving the Agency’s execution of its fundamental mission of helping people. From 2018 

to 2022, FEMA will focus on three main Strategic Goals and invite the whole community to adopt these shared 

priorities as well. FEMA will drive progress through 12 supporting Strategic Objectives. These Strategic Objectives highlight meaningful ways the Agency can focus on its workforce, simplify processes and procedures across 

FEMA, provide enhanced stewardship of funds, and better engage and support survivors. FEMA will develop individual strategies to help guide and shape each Strategic Objective and direct resources and funding to support 

these important areas.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
5

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Executive 

Summary

Page 4

Introduction

Page 6

 Measuring Progress 

 and Achieving Results Page 36

 Conclusion

Page 37

Foreword

Page 3

Images (from left to right): 1. FEMA for Kids Community Relationship specialist Gia Galeano reads to students for the Reading Our Hearts Out Celebration at 

P.S. 96 in the Bronx, New York. Source: Kenneth Wilsey. 2. Attendees at the Salmon Jam summer festival identify higher ground, their destination in the event 

of an earthquake. Source: John O’Sullivan. 3. Members of AmeriCorps NCCC and FEMA Corps help pack up grocery bags with items like rice, beans, and milk 

to be handed out in neighborhoods in Jayuya, Puerto Rico. Source: Eliud Echevarria. 4. Disaster Survivor Assistance specialist Bernardo García (right), helps a 

survivor register with FEMA in Villa Nevárez, Puerto Rico. Source: Yuisa Rios.

STRATEGIC GOAL 1:

Build a Culture of 

Preparedness

Page 12

STRATEGIC GOAL 2:

Ready the Nation 

for Catastrophic 

Disasters

Page 20

STRATEGIC GOAL 3:

Reduce the 

Complexity of 

FEMA 

Page 28
6

FEMA Mission Statement

Helping people before, during, and after disasters.

FEMA Vision

A prepared and resilient Nation.

2018 - 2022 FEMA STRATEGIC PLAN:

INTRODUCTION

A disaster survivor gets a hug after she receives FEMA disaster survivor registration information at her home following 

Hurricane Harvey. Source: Christopher Mardorf
7

I. FOUNDATIONS FOR THE STRATEGIC PLAN

In 2019, FEMA will mark 40 years of helping people before, during, and after 

disasters. As FEMA continues to support and collaborate with stakeholders, 

the Agency’s focus is building and developing a culture of preparedness 

across the country and unifying all levels of community and government into 

an integrated approach to emergency management.

This Strategic Plan outlines the goals and objectives that FEMA must 

implement to strengthen the Agency and our mission. It will build upon the 

foundation established by FEMA’s previous two Strategic Plans. The 2011-

2014 plan focused on building a whole community inclusive approach to 

emergency management – enabling community leaders to act when needed. 

The 2014-2018 plan built on that idea by institutionalizing whole community 

efforts to position FEMA and its partners to improve outcomes for disaster 

survivors and communities. The 2018-2022 Strategic Plan will mobilize that 

whole community to build a culture of preparedness, ready the Nation for 

catastrophic disasters, and reduce the complexity of FEMA.

Whole community and shared responsibility, across all layers of government 

and down to the individual, is also a hallmark of this Strategic Plan. It is 

an essential premise of these Strategic Goals and Objectives that each will 

require the collaborative commitment of individuals and organizations outside 

of FEMA, and we invite all of our partners and stakeholders, both within and 

outside the Federal Government, to join us in adopting and embracing these 

priorities. In this sense, it is the continuation of the whole community concept 

introduced and formalized by the previous Strategic Plans. 

II. STRATEGIC ENVIRONMENT

Shared Responsibility

FEMA is part of a larger team of Federal agencies, SLTT governments, and 

non-governmental stakeholders that share responsibility for emergency 

management and National preparedness. Those closest to impacted areas 

are the true first responders during any emergency or disaster – individuals, 

families, neighbors, and local communities. 

Two firefighters battle wildfires in California. FEMA played a significant role 

during California’s 2017 wildfires. Source: Wally Skalij, LA Times

“FEMA’s Strategic 

Plan is ambitious, 

achievable, and will 

build a stronger 

emergency 

management 

community.”

- Administrator Long
8

The most effective form of emergency management is one in which every 

member of the community understands his or her important and indispensable 

role. Likewise, the most effective strategies for emergency management are 

those that are Federally supported, state managed, and locally executed.

FEMA’s role is to coordinate Federal Government resources to supplement 

SLTT capabilities. FEMA does this by coordinating through the hierarchical 

layers of government, meaning that states, tribes, and territories are our 

primary coordinating partners. It is through these sovereign layers that 

requests for assistance are made and through which FEMA coordinates the 

delivery of Federal assistance.

FEMA’s role is to build relationships with our emergency management partners, 

ideally before disasters occur, so that the Agency can understand their unique 

conditions and needs. FEMA is responsible for identifying best practices and 

working within the emergency management community to encourage proactive 

risk assessment, preparedness activities, and mitigation investments. Postdisaster, FEMA’s responsibilities primarily involve coordinating and assigning 

Federal assets to support SLTT partners and providing grant assistance to 

help SLTTs, individuals, and private non-profit organizations cope with disaster 

losses and recover. However, FEMA does not and cannot serve as the sole or 

primary responder. 

To that end, pre-disaster coordination and communication among partners 

is critical to improving response and recovery outcomes. Equally important 

are mitigation and actions that we can take to enhance the resilience of our 

communities before disasters occur. In order to be resilient, communities 

must make efforts to protect lives and property before disasters occurs. In 

every phase of emergency management, success requires the cooperative 

contributions of the whole community. 

Lessons from 2017 Disasters 

To improve the Nation’s preparedness for catastrophic events and to build 

a culture of learning within FEMA, continuous improvement must be a 

cornerstone of our work. Large scale, complex incidents, including FEMA’s 

responses to Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria, as well as the 2017-2018 

California wildfires, underscore the criticality of our shared mission and remind 

us of the importance of learning from past disasters. 

Flood survivors attend a community town hall meeting to ask questions about 

aid programs and recovery plans. Source: Steve Zumwalt

“The optimal 

framework for 

response and recovery 

is one that is Federally 

supported, state 

managed, and 

locally executed.”

- Administrator Long
9

Incidents of this type highlight the need for a focus on scaling a response for 

catastrophic incidents, scalable surge staffing, sustained logistics operations, 

sheltering and initiating housing operations, and responding to long-term 

infrastructure outages, especially communications. We have integrated these 

themes within this FEMA Strategic Plan, and set aspirational goals to drive 

change and continuous improvement.

National Security and Department of Homeland Security Strategies

The FEMA Strategic Plan advances and expands upon the first pillar of the 

president’s National Security Strategy, “Protecting the American People, the 

Homeland, and the American Way of Life.” Within this pillar is a focus on 

“Promoting American Resilience,” which speaks to the Nation’s ability to 

absorb the shock of a disaster and quickly recover. As the National Security 

Strategy notes, “a democracy is only as resilient as its people,” so as a diverse 

and united people, we must be prepared.

The President, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and FEMA all 

recognize the importance of Building a Culture of Preparedness and reducing 

the Nation’s risk. This requires a dedicated effort by the whole community to 

ensure that we are working to educate the public regarding their risk, developing 

methods to mitigate the impact of those risks, and helping people understand 

how to prepare to meet disasters when they arrive. There is recognition at all 

levels that we must foster a National culture of preparedness that will reduce 

the impact of a catastrophic event and increase overall community resilience. 

One lesson we learned from the catastrophic 2017 hurricane season is that 

no one department or agency can undertake this effort alone. DHS deployed 

thousands of employees from FEMA and other components of DHS, as well 

as members of other Federal Government agencies, to support the response 

and recovery efforts of our SLTT partners. This collaboration is critical, not 

just during a crisis, but before as well. As Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen noted 

on the 15th Anniversary of the establishment of DHS, “we need all levels of 

government, non-profit organizations, private sector businesses, and individual 

communities to work together to prepare for disasters before they happen and 

to respond together to the needs of survivors in time of crisis.” The ability of 

the Nation to be truly ready depends on everyone knowing and understanding 

the part they play in our collective resilience. People who are prepared will be 

able to act quickly and decisively in the face of disaster, preventing death and 

injuries, minimizing loss of property, and enabling successful recovery.

FEMA Strategic Planning

FEMA used a methodical strategic planning process to develop this Strategic 

Plan. These activities included opportunities to hear directly from staff and 

stakeholders through multiple engagement platforms. 

The in-person feedback for this strategy came in the form of Discovery Change 

Sessions, a series of half-day conversations led by the FEMA Administrator to 

gain input and recommendations from FEMA employees in every component 

and every Region across the agency. These sessions focused on three topics: 

Reducing Complexity and Simplifying Recovery, Improving Internal Processes, 

and Buying Down Risk With Preparedness and Mitigation. 

One lesson we 

learned from the 

catastrophic 2017 

hurricane season is 

that no one 

department or agency 

can undertake this 

effort alone.
10

We asked participants to provide insights into the following questions: 

1. What are our current challenges? 

2. Where do we need to be in five years? 

3. How do we get there as an agency?

To engage our external partners, we also held three webinars with 216 

stakeholders including SLTT officials, as well as representatives of multiple 

non-governmental organizations and private sector partners. 

FEMA also used IdeaScale, an online idea management platform, to collect 

recommendations and ideas from FEMA staff and community members 

across the three topics. IdeaScale enabled both FEMA employees as well 

as external stakeholders to offer ideas and to comment on the ideas of 

others. IdeaScale received 187 posts, 387 comments, and 1,604 votes that, 

collectively, generated 249 unique recommendations. 

Through all of these engagements, we logged 2,378 interactions (ideas, 

comments, questions, and votes) and gathered 450 distinct ideas. These 

ideas were categorized, grouped, and presented to the Administrator and his 

senior leadership team. They were then sorted and distilled into the three 

Strategic Goals and twelve Strategic Objectives contained in this Strategic 

Plan.

Strategic Foresight

In addition to improving Agency operations and capabilities in the short term, 

FEMA looks toward the future of emergency management. Strategic Foresight 

is an ongoing FEMA initiative to understand the future operating environment 

of emergency management. Key strategic drivers and trends identified 

through this initiative helped to influence the long-term vision articulated in 

FEMA’s Strategic Plan. Several of these key influencing themes include:

Rising Disaster Costs – Disaster costs are expected to continue to increase 

due to rising natural hazard risk, decaying critical infrastructure, and economic 

pressures that limit investments in risk resilience. As good stewards of taxpayer 

dollars, FEMA must ensure that our programs are fiscally sound. Additionally, 

we will consider new pathways to long-term disaster risk reduction, including 

increased investments in pre-disaster mitigation.

New Technology – The ability to leverage technological innovations opens up 

revolutionary possibilities for emergency management. As the private sector 

leaps ahead and further raises public expectations, FEMA will carefully analyze 

innovations that could increase efficiency and improve the user experience for 

our partners and disaster survivors. Leveraging new technologies promises 

new opportunities to simplify FEMA’s processes and make our programs more 

accessible and friendly to the populations that we serve.

Diversity and Inclusion – The U.S. population is growing older and more 

diverse in terms of culture, language, and perspective. This places pressure 

on authorities to incorporate specialized needs, expectations, and methods 

of communications into their plans to maintain equitable access to services. 

The changing demographics of the Nation also affect the makeup of FEMA’s 

workforce. As an agency, diversity and inclusion is a key component in our 

“2017 has taught us 

that nothing is more 

important than having 

trained people within 

the whole community 

ready to execute our 

collective mission.”

- Administrator Long
11

ability to serve all people. We must continue to employ and retain diverse 

staff and coordinate with the whole community of emergency managers to 

ensure that the needs of the entire population we serve are considered.

Emerging Threats – The spectrum of viable threats is expanding, with 

cybersecurity joining nation-state threats and terrorism as a widespread 

public concern. The National Security Strategy requires that the Nation 

improve its ability to assess the threats and hazards that pose the greatest 

risks to Americans. As an agency, FEMA will lead the Nation to build a culture 

of preparedness that includes improving risk management, strengthening 

capabilities, dynamic learning, and information sharing.

An understanding of the impacts of these strategic drivers and trends, and 

how they apply to the Agency going forward, ensures that FEMA and the whole 

community are prepared to face a wide variety of challenges.

III. STRATEGIC GOALS

To support the Agency’s mission of helping people before, during, and after 

disasters, the FEMA 2018-2022 Strategic Plan outlines three Strategic 

Goals. These three Strategic Goals will guide the Agency’s planning and 

implementation efforts for the next five years, working to build a more 

prepared and resilient Nation. These three Goals are supported by twelve 

Strategic Objectives.

An understanding of 

the impacts of these 

strategic drivers and 

trends, and how they 

apply to the Agency 

going forward, 

ensures that FEMA 

and the whole 

community are 

prepared to face a 

variety of challenges.
12

Disaster resiliency is the backbone 

of emergency management and 

the foundation for the FEMA 

mission. The most successful way 

to achieve disaster resiliency is to 

create a culture of preparedness 

across America. A culture of 

preparedness is a national effort 

to be ready for the worst disasters 

– at the Federal, state, local, tribal, 

territorial, community, family, and

individual levels.

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES:

1.1 Incentivize Investments that Reduce Risk, Including Pre-disaster Mitigation, and 

Reduce Disaster Costs at All Levels

1.2 Close the Insurance Gap

1.3 Help People Prepare for Disasters

1.4 Better Learn from Past Disasters, Improve Continuously, and Innovate 

STRATEGIC GOAL 1:

BUILD A CULTURE 

OF PREPAREDNESS

Children answer tsunami trivia questions to increase their hazard knowledge at the Salmon Jam community festival. The event 

included a Race the Wave event to teach children community resilience in partnership with the Federal Emergency Management 

Agency, Alaska Division of Homeland Security & Emergency Management, Cordova Emergency Management, Cordova City Planning 

and the Cordova Fire Department. Source: John O’Sullivan
13

For our Nation to protect life and property and pull back the increasing cost of 

disasters, we must bring resilient mitigation investments forward. Buying down 

the risk prior to a disaster pays off – either by lowering the cost of the disaster or 

eliminating the need for a presidentially-declared disaster altogether because 

of the lessened impact. FEMA plays a critical role in enabling and incentivizing 

investments that reduce risk and increase pre-disaster mitigation. 

As the number of people that move to coastal areas increases, and natural 

and manmade hazards become increasingly complex and difficult to predict, 

the need for forward leaning action is greater than ever before. The National 

Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reports that from 1970 – 

2010, shoreline counties increased in population by 40 percent, putting 39 

percent of the American population in coastal areas. NOAA projects that 

an additional eight percent of Americans will live in coastal areas by 2020. 

Simultaneously, the average number of major disaster declarations has also 

steadily increased, rising from an average of 25 per year in the 1980s to 

nearly 90 per year since 2010.

Although the Nation must do more to assess and quantify these increasing 

risks, we do know that pre-disaster mitigation works. In 2018, an independent 

study by the National Institute of Building Sciences, co-funded by FEMA, found 

that for every $1 that the Federal Government invests in mitigation saves 

taxpayers an average of $6 in future spending. This return on investment 

justifies new opportunities for FEMA and our partners to reduce future 

disaster costs and accelerate recovery by investing now, before a disaster 

occurs. FEMA’s Federal Insurance and Mitigation Administration has adopted 

the findings of this study, and seeks to increase pre-disaster mitigation 

investments. Even as we strive to bring a greater share of Federal dollars to 

bear on pre-disaster risks, we will also educate and incentivize our partners to 

increase their investments in pre-disaster mitigation.

However, additional financial resources is only a start. To make informed 

investment decisions, everyone must have access to current and accurate 

risk information. FEMA will improve our ability to assess and quantify risk 

Kirstjen Nielsen, Secretary of Homeland Security, addresses staff in charge 

of response and recovery efforts at the new Joint Field Office (JFO) in Puerto 

Rico. Source: Eliezer Hernández

“Our department will 

work to improve the 

administration of 

pre-disaster grant 

programs, help our 

state and local 

partners continue to 

increase their capacity, 

and appropriately 

incentivize investments 

in preparedness for 

these partners.”

- Secretary Nielsen

Objective 1.1 Incentivize Investments that Reduce 

Risk, Including Pre-Disaster Mitigation, and 

Reduce Disaster Costs at All Levels
14

from multiple hazards, expand our commitment to risk mapping, identify new 

partnerships that will help us understand risks and the value of mitigation 

investments, and develop a new strategy that clearly presents risk information 

to all members of the public. 

The entire Nation must work as a team to increase pre-disaster mitigation 

in communities. FEMA will continue to work directly with SLTT and

non-governmental partners to advocate for the adoption and enforcement 

of modern building and property codes. Disaster resilience starts with 

building codes, because they enhance public safety and property protection. 

Furthermore, FEMA will encourage robust code enforcement, providing 

education and training when needed to help convey the value of standardized, 

up-to-date building codes.

For investments to be attractive, the cost and options of investments must 

fit the unique needs of individuals and communities. FEMA will work with 

Congress to develop flexible and holistic approaches for more Federal funds 

to be spent on risk reduction and pre-disaster mitigation. FEMA will also 

work with private and public stakeholders across the country to construct 

and develop strategies within state and local jurisdictions that encourage 

pre-disaster mitigation and investment, such as resilience bonds.

Finally, FEMA, through the Mitigation Framework Leadership Group, is 

developing a National Mitigation Investment Strategy that encourages 

coordinated pre- and post-disaster mitigation investment toward the outcome 

of reducing future disaster risk. FEMA will continue to leverage these 

partnerships and our own disaster assistance programs to drive mitigation 

investments. 

Objective 1.1 Performance Measure

Increase the Nation’s investment in mitigation.

Hurricane Irma compromised about 12 miles of city owned seawalls in Punta 

Gorda, Florida. Two workers address the city’s seawalls following the 2017 

Hurricane Season. Source: Robert Kaufmann

Every $1 that the 

Federal Government 

invests in mitigation 

saves taxpayers an 

average of $6 in 

future spending.
15

Building a culture of preparedness starts with individuals, communities, and 

businesses managing risks, in many cases through proper insurance coverage. 

FEMA’s role is to help people understand their risk and the available options to 

best manage those risks. Insurance is an effective tool to transfer risks away 

from disaster survivors and enable rapid recovery. However, a 2015 study 

by the Swiss Re Institute shows that annual expected uninsured losses from 

natural disasters total more than $30 billion. 

Experience has shown repeatedly that individuals, communities, and 

businesses that manage risk through insurance recover faster and more 

fully after a disaster. If an individual does not have the value of their home 

and/or belongings in their savings, insurance will help them fill that gap 

when a disaster strikes. While the Disaster Relief Fund supports survivors 

in the immediate aftermath of a presidentially-declared disaster, this Federal 

support only serves as a temporary safety net for immediate needs and does 

not provide for complete financial recovery. Financial preparedness, including 

having an insurance policy on personal and public properties, is critical to 

helping rebuild a home, replace belongings, and restore order to a family and 

community. Further, resolving concerns about the affordability of Federal 

flood insurance requires a whole community solution, including Congressional 

action, to be able to close the insurance gap. Insurance not only benefits 

those directly affected by a disaster, it also reduces the need for Federal 

disaster assistance and lowers costs for American taxpayers.

FEMA has a key role in promoting all-hazard insurance. This work includes 

helping individuals and businesses understand the amount of coverage 

needed to be adequately insured and make themselves financially prepared, 

which ultimately contributes to the Nation’s preparedness. Similarly, that 

same financial preparedness discipline requires communities to understand 

and appreciate the risks to public buildings and facilities and to secure 

insurance to cover the cost of replacement.

Beyond promoting whole community preparedness through appropriate 

insurance, FEMA provides flood hazard insurance through the National Flood 

Insurance Program (NFIP). The NFIP is the primary source of flood insurance 

in the United States for property owners and tenants. The United States needs 

to get back to basics and understand that almost any property could flood, 

and almost every property should carry flood insurance. 

FEMA is focused on expanding the number of properties covered by flood 

insurance. FEMA wants Americans to protect their property from flood risk 

and will work closely with the insurance industry, realtors, mortgage lenders, 

community leaders, and Congress to drive insurance purchases. FEMA 

supports the advancement of flood coverage regardless of the provider – 

whether that is through a private insurance or an NFIP policy. 

To encourage participation in the program, FEMA must transform the NFIP into 

a simpler, customer-focused insurance program that policyholders value and 

trust. This will empower individuals, communities, and businesses to more 

effectively prepare for and recover from floods. Accurate risk communication 

The need for forward 

leaning and proactive 

action is more prevalent 

now than ever before.

40%

39%

8%

increase in 

U.S. shoreline 

populations from 

1970 - 2010.

of U.S. population 

live in coastal 

areas.

additional U.S. 

shoreline population 

increase from 

2016 - 2020.

Source: NOAA

Objective 1.2 Close the Insurance Gap
16

is also vital to building public understanding of and support for a culture 

of preparedness. FEMA will provide products that clearly and accurately 

communicate flood risk to property owners and tenants.

To be successful in closing the Nation’s insurance gap, FEMA must be a catalyst 

for increasing the public’s knowledge of risk and encouraging adequate 

insurance coverage so that individuals, communities, and businesses can 

reduce their losses from all hazards. 

While FEMA has made significant progress working with faith and community 

partners to improve preparedness and mitigation, outcomes from the 2017 

disaster season demonstrate that the Nation is still far from realizing individual 

and collective resilience. Developing solutions, campaigns, and educational 

opportunities to help more than 320 million unique individuals from more 

than 89,000 diverse local communities that make up the Nation prepare for 

disasters starts with including those individuals in the discussion. 

FEMA must learn from and work with a broad and inclusive base of stakeholders 

to understand the circumstances and challenges different groups of people 

face, particularly those who may have the hardest time in the aftermath of a 

disaster, such as the aging population and those with access and functional 

needs. By engaging these stakeholders, FEMA can develop and promote a 

suite of well-targeted solutions for individuals and communities to adopt.

FEMA Disaster Survivor Assistance (DSA) team members canvass neighborhoods to ensure that residents are aware of FEMA assistance for damage 

from Hurricane Irma. Source: Liz Roll

Objective 1.2 Performance Measure

Expand the number of properties covered by flood insurance.

“Responding to and 

recovering from any 

disaster is a whole 

community effort that 

relies on the strength 

of Federal, state, 

local, tribal, and 

territorial 

governments, as well 

as non-governmental 

entities and 

individuals, in addition 

to FEMA.”

- Administrator Long

Objective 1.3 Help People Prepare for Disasters
17

Many people will experience a disaster or emergency at some point in life and 

find that they are in fact the true first responder. More severe disasters may 

render homes uninhabitable, destroy important documents and possessions, 

potentially lead to people leaving their communities permanently, or even lead 

to the loss of life. As the Federal agency charged with disaster preparedness, 

FEMA commands both significant resources and influence that can help 

improve how people prepare for disasters. However, FEMA directly helps 

with only a small number of incidents – those that receive a presidential 

declaration. It’s time to rethink our National approach to preparedness 

and ensure that every segment of our diverse communities, down to each 

individual, is integrated into a broader culture of preparedness. 

Numerous factors affect individual resilience during a disaster, including 

the strength of social ties and community networks, awareness of the risks, 

available resources and knowledge of what to do when a situation arises. 

Access to financial resources has proven to be a strong predictor of how 

well someone can cope in the aftermath of a disaster. However, around 40 

percent of Americans do not have enough cash savings to cover a sudden 

unexpected expense. Under such circumstances, relocating to a hotel for a 

few days, purchasing cleaning supplies, or replacing food and medications 

may be out of reach in the absence of external assistance, forcing individuals 

and families to take on debt loads that prove disastrous in their own right.

Connecting with a wide array of experts and stakeholders including academia, 

religious leaders, and representatives of all types of whole community 

partners is key to this effort. FEMA will focus on identifying ways to weave 

preparedness into people’s everyday lives, connecting with individuals at 

places they frequent, and incentivizing positive behavior change using tools 

like grants, training, and exercises. Furthermore, the Agency will continue 

to encourage programs that train and empower responders. Accompanying 

policies and regulations further this goal, and FEMA will work with its Federal 

partners and Congress as appropriate.

Engaging with partners in the financial sector, the Department of Education, 

and local community-based organizations is critical to promoting financial 

wellness and giving people the information and motivation they need to make 

sound financial decisions and save for an uncertain future. However, social 

and economic factors undoubtedly will affect the ability of certain populations 

to fully prepare for disasters. For that reason, we must offer advice for scalable 

solutions that range from low- to no-cost options up to optimal levels of family 

preparedness. In doing so, FEMA aims to collaborate with public and private 

sector stakeholders to encourage increased personal financial preparedness 

across the Nation. The Agency will work with partners to identify financial 

insecurity within American communities — starting in highly disaster-prone 

areas — and deliver targeted messaging and training either directly or through 

trusted local leaders.

Moving forward, FEMA will coordinate closely with National partners and local 

leaders to help people understand their risks, learn the impacts of specific 

threats and hazards, adequately prepare for likely events, and use the tools 

available to help. FEMA will focus National initiatives including the Ready 

Campaign, PrepareAthon, Floodsmart, FEMA mobile app, and trainings to 

directly engage leaders of the whole community. This includes promoting 

community-building initiatives to improve the strength of local networks and 

“It’s time to unify 

effort across Federal 

agencies, through all 

levels of government, 

in cooperation with 

our non-governmental 

partners and down to 

individuals and 

communities.”

- Administrator Long
18

reinforce practical skills. These skills, like knowing CPR or how to shut off the 

gas lines in the home, can help individuals lead response efforts in their own 

communities, while ensuring more people are prepared to handle the real 

impacts of disasters in the future.

Even when Americans have an emergency plan, critical skills, strong community 

ties, and financial resources, this may not be enough to ensure preparedness. 

People must practice these skills so that when a stress-inducing event arises 

they can react in a timely manner. Therefore, FEMA’s preparedness messaging 

must encourage action beyond awareness, thereby laying the foundation of a 

culture of preparedness upon which individuals, families, and communities 

can build. We will coordinate preparedness initiatives with other Federal 

agencies, states, tribes and territories, and whole community partners to 

efficiently apply Federal government leadership to reach the goal of individual 

and community resilience.

Building a culture of preparedness requires continuous learning, improvement, 

and innovative ideas. As a whole community, we share responsibility to 

leverage the collective knowledge and diverse experiences of members of the 

Agency, Federal partners, first responders, and fellow emergency management 

professionals to form collaborative, creative, and inclusive solutions to disaster 

challenges, and to improve outcomes for survivors.

Emergency managers must acknowledge both successes and failures, as 

both provide opportunities to improve for the next disaster. This includes 

promoting transparency in sharing capability gaps and lessons from disasters 

and exercises, which will allow the community to prioritize investments and 

anticipate known challenges during disasters. The emergency management 

environment — from planning to exercises and assessment — must encourage 

risk-taking even if failure is possible, in order to stretch our capabilities 

and cultivate opportunities to improve. Emergency managers must build 

continuous improvement and innovation into day-to-day functions.

As part of this effort, the Agency will support Federal and SLTT emergency 

managers in building the capacity to self-evaluate, continuously improve, 

monitor the completion of improvement actions, and share insights, both 

within FEMA and throughout the emergency management community. To 

do this, we must improve the aggregation and sharing of successes and 

challenges. We can gain insights from observations in after-action reports, 

social science or analytical studies, and through feedback from stakeholders. 

2017 was an 

unprecedented year in 

the wake of 

Hurricanes Harvey, 

Irma, Maria, and the 

California Wildfires, 

with more than 25 

million people 

affected by these 

major disasters -

almost 8 percent of 

the United States 

population.

Objective 1.3 Performance Measures

Increase the percentage of people with savings set aside for an emergency.

Deliver training to community-based and non-profit organizations to help 

them continue service delivery following disasters.

Objective 1.4 Better Learn from Past Disasters, 

Improve Continuously, and Innovate

Increase the percentage of people who have taken preparedness actions.
19

FEMA can improve our organizational commitment to growth by making all of 

these products more accessible, including improving how we share findings, 

analyze trends, and translate the key issues into easily relatable formats for 

a wider audience. Through these efforts, insights from past disasters will be 

readily available to emergency managers across the Nation.

To expand how we identify challenges and potential solutions, FEMA 

will encourage employees to promote innovation and submit ideas for 

improvements. FEMA will also expand leadership engagement with employees 

and create opportunities for teams to work across components. This will 

empower employees to conduct iterative process improvements as part of 

their standard business operations.

For changes that require investments, we will develop methods to prioritize 

improvements based on their projected impact on the Nation’s preparedness. 

To that end, some of the primary ways FEMA supports the Nation is through 

the delivery of grant funding, technical assistance, training programs, and 

exercises. FEMA will evaluate the effectiveness of investments that reduce 

risk, increase preparedness, build resilience, and speed recovery.

Externally, the Agency will collaborate with our public and private sector 

partners to share insights on critical issues facing emergency management, 

promote best practices in change management, and discuss ways in which 

FEMA itself can improve. Meeting the emerging challenges of 21st century 

disasters and the changing nature of the risks we face requires innovation 

and engagement with the whole community, including academia, emergency 

management professional organizations, and the private sector, to harness 

the collective creativity to solve our toughest challenges.

Objective 1.4 Performance Measures

Increase the number of FEMA employees who report feeling encouraged 

to come up with new and better ways of doing things. 

Increase SLTT capabilities as reported in the annual Stakeholder 

Preparedness Review. 

A survivor with disabilities is helped by Karin Agritelly, FEMA Disability Integration Advisor, at a Disaster Recovery Center (DRC) 

Source: Steve Zumwalt

More than 70 

volunteer agencies, 

32 Federal agencies, 

and 48 states 

supported or 

responded to major 

disasters in 2017, 

helping with 

4.8 million calls, 

2.3 million home 

inspections, and 

5 million survivor 

registrations.
20

Catastrophic disasters are difficult 

and life-changing events that disrupt 

our lives and hurt our communities, 

economically and socially. Readiness 

is critical for FEMA and its SLTT 

partners to ensure that the response 

and recovery missions are successful 

and more prepared than ever before.

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES:

2.1 Organize the “BEST” (Build, Empower, Sustain, and Train) Scalable and Capable 

Incident Workforce

2.2 Enhance Intergovernmental Coordination through FEMA Integration Teams

2.3 Posture FEMA and the Whole Community to Provide Life-Saving and Life-Sustaining 

Commodities, Equipment, and Personnel from all Available Sources

2.4 Improve Continuity and Resilient Communications Capabilities

STRATEGIC GOAL 2:

Ready the Nation 

for Catastrophic 

Disasters

FEMA Disaster Survivor Assistance (DSA) Team member Jorge Melendez-Alfaro puts food in the shopping bag of a Utuado 

resident at a Puerto Rico Health and Human Services clinic in Utuado. Source: Andrea Booher
21

Just as the Nation’s greatest asset to confront disasters is the prepared 

population that we seek to promote in Strategic Goal 1, the people serving in 

the Nation’s incident workforce are the Government’s greatest assets. These 

personnel supplement the work of individuals, neighbors, and communities – 

our true first responders. To be effective together, we must be able to quickly 

mobilize, scale, and integrate this workforce to meet the needs of impacted 

communities. FEMA will strengthen the incident workforce through a “BEST” 

(Build, Empower, Sustain, and Train) model by focusing on:

• Building the capabilities and capacities to fulfill our responsibility to 

effectively respond to a catastrophic event;

• Empowering organizations and individuals to act decisively through 

leadership intent;

• Sustaining proficiency as emergency management professionals; and

• Training, educating, and exercising in an open-minded, creative manner 

when not actively engaged in disaster operations.

This “BEST” national incident workforce consists of a network of incident 

positions that allow every emergency manager and responder to contribute 

to incident operations regardless of their home agency, jurisdiction, or 

community. During the historic disasters of 2017, over 15,000 state and local 

personnel supported disaster operations through state-to-state mutual aid. 

Renewed focus on a standardized and qualified national incident workforce 

can build on this success, maximize the existing workforce, and better prepare 

the Nation for future catastrophic disasters. 

Through collaborative implementation of the National Qualification System 

(NQS), FEMA will increase the Nation’s ability to meet evolving needs, fill 

critical gaps, and ensure that the whole community shares the responsibility 

for response and recovery. This institutionalization requires FEMA to further 

promote interoperability by establishing a common language for defining 

emergency management titles and enabling jurisdictions and organizations 

to plan for, request, and have confidence in the capabilities of personnel 

deployed from any location or agency. The FEMA Qualification System (FQS) 

must also align and be fully compatible with the NQS. This focus on deeper 

integration involves thinking beyond existing state-to-state mutual aid to 

building the ability of non-Federal resources to take on a greater amount of 

state and locally managed incidents nationwide and directly plug into FEMA 

operations when required.

To ensure interoperability when disaster strikes, all levels of government, 

private sector entities, and nongovernmental organizations, must have access 

to guidance, tools, and other programmatic support to help them develop 

processes for qualifying, certifying, and credentialing deployable emergency 

management personnel within the NQS. Additionally, FEMA will continue to 

conduct exercises at all levels to test whether capabilities will perform as 

“FEMA should develop 

a comprehensive, yet 

flexible and scalable 

structure for 

optimizing training, 

education, and 

development.”

- Comment from 

IdeaScale Campaign

Objective 2.1 Organize the “BEST” (Build, 

Empower, Sustain, and Train) Scalable and 

Capable Incident Workforce
22

planned, whether plans are sufficient to meet incident response and recovery 

requirements, and to maintain a skilled, knowledgeable, efficient, and survivorfocused incident workforce.

FEMA’s success begins with the readiness of its own incident workforce. 

FEMA employees must be prepared to deploy in support of disaster operations 

and be knowledgeable in multiple disciplines and programs. This involves 

determining the necessary size and nature of the incident workforce based on 

sound operating concepts and planning assumptions. Enhancing the FQS will 

help ensure our workforce is prepared to perform their disaster responsibilities. 

This includes guaranteeing that the FQS maximizes the ability of FEMA staff 

to use their skills and talents to deliver the best outcomes possible. It also 

requires the implementation of new hiring and training approaches that focus 

on developing diverse leaders with a broad scope of knowledge about FEMA’s 

programs to better support disaster survivors.

FEMA employees will receive core competency training and the opportunity to 

work and gain experience in various roles, allowing progression to supervisory 

and management positions across disaster cadres and offices. To achieve 

this goal, employees must receive training and practical experience through 

frequent disaster deployments and exercises. These steps encourage 

leadership development at every stage of an employee’s career. They also help 

develop FEMA employees into the next generation of field leaders and offer 

new career advancement opportunities for FEMA’s most capable employees.

FEMA also supplements our internal capabilities by calling on our Federal 

partners through the Surge Capacity Force when in need. The Surge Capacity 

Force affords FEMA the unique opportunity to infuse personnel from across 

DHS and other Federal agencies to augment our incident workforce cadres. 

During the challenging disasters of 2017, FEMA deployed 4,063 Surge 

Capacity Force volunteers – a record number of these deployments. These 

volunteers were invaluable to delivering FEMA’s mission and demonstrated 

the Federal Government’s cooperative and cohesive approach to supporting 

those we serve. 

FEMA team members speak to a grocery store owner about placing Creole 

language pamphlets in his business to help inform members of the Haitian 

American community of FEMA’s registration and application process. 

Source: Howard Greenblatt “FEMA’s success 

begins with the 

readiness of its own 

incident workforce.”

- Administrator Long
23

“Empowering the 

FEMA Regions with 

more staff will also 

help with managing 

disasters.”

- IdeaScale

Providing new training for Surge Capacity Force volunteers in the future will 

further integrate the Federal Government’s resources into the nationwide 

incident workforce and offer additional capacity to support future disasters. 

When incidents do occur, everyone must work together to seamlessly integrate 

across Federal, SLTT, non-profit, and private sector lines. FEMA must build 

on our inherent capabilities and strengthen our partners to support the 

nationwide incident workforce to form a more complete, interoperable incident 

workforce capability.

The success of FEMA’s mission depends on the quality of the relationships 

we foster and our ability to understand and support the needs of emergency 

management partners and the communities we serve. By working alongside 

our partners through FEMA Integration Teams, we can assist them in navigating 

our programs and policies to deliver quicker, more tailored assistance 

directly where it is needed. Increasing direct engagement strengthens 

our understanding of capabilities and gaps and bolsters the connections, 

cooperation, and communication necessary to improve the Nation’s overall 

readiness. Increased engagement and presence will also allow us to 

understand the needs and readiness of our partners while improving the 

coordination of the assistance we provide. 

The Agency demonstrates its commitment to whole community collaboration 

through regional operations led by FEMA’s ten regions. To build even closer 

relationships and strengthen readiness across the Nation, we must go even 

further. Through FEMA Integration Teams, we will provide SLTT organizations 

with enhanced assistance by integrating Federal staff with the emergency 

management offices of participating partners. The purpose of FEMA Integration 

Teams is to ensure that FEMA is planning, training, exercising, and executing 

together every day. This level of integration will provide us with an opportunity 

to learn from our partners and more effectively meet their needs. It will also 

help our partners overcome gaps as we identify tailored solutions outside our 

traditional structures and organizations.

The 2017 disaster season demonstrated that FEMA must help SLTT partners 

further develop their capabilities and resilience prior to an incident to ensure 

a more effective response and recovery. Addressing capabilities such as 

logistics, financial cost recovery, housing, and interoperable communications 

are just a few areas that stand to benefit from strategically co-locating FEMA 

staff with our SLTT partners. 

Objective 2.1 Performance Measures

Increase the number of fully qualified personnel in the 

National Qualification System.

Improve the readiness of FEMA’s incident workforce cadres.

Seamlessly integrate non-FEMA personnel into FEMA incident workforce 

positions to create a Unified National Incident Workforce.

“The purpose of FEMA 

Integration Teams is 

to ensure that FEMA 

is planning, training, 

exercising, and 

executing together, 

every day.”

- Administrator Long

Objective 2.2 Enhance Intergovernmental 

Coordination through FEMA Integration Teams
24

FEMA is also committing to improving our engagement and creating new 

opportunities for closer coordination with tribal nations. Specifically, FEMA 

will use the FEMA Integration Teams to build upon our successful regional and 

tribal liaison programs and seek to identify new ways to expand partnerships 

and enhance tribal communications and support before, during, and after 

disasters. 

Better integrating FEMA operations with emergency management partners 

will yield best practices and lessons-learned. It will also help build shared 

capabilities and capacity, resulting in more effective disaster response and 

recovery operations and a more prepared and resilient Nation.

No one agency or organization is able to store enough equipment, supplies, 

and commodities, or marshal enough internal teams to quickly and fully 

meet all the needs of a catastrophic incident. These devastating incidents 

necessitate the collective assets and contributions of many supporting 

organizations aligned through a coordinated structure. 

FEMA’s role is to strategically stock the essential items needed to jumpstart a 

response, but effectively delivering resources in the face of a major disaster 

requires the continued development of robust partnerships and reliable 

“The whole 

community must be, 

and is, engaged, 

involved, and 

coordinated.”

- Administrator Long

Team Rubicon works to help survivors in a neighborhood affected by Hurricane Harvey. Source: Steve Zumwalt

Objective 2.2 Performance Measures

Increase the number of partners participating in the FEMA Integration 

Teams program.

Decrease the amount and percent of time the Federal incident workforce 

supports federally-declared disasters.

Objective 2.3 Posture FEMA and the Whole 

Community to Provide Life-saving and 

Life-sustaining Commodities, Equipment, and 

Personnel from All Available Sources
25

capabilities among all stakeholders. Consequently, FEMA must consider the 

appropriate balance of what it keeps on hand in warehouses, what it can 

quickly acquire through contracts, and what can be provided by volunteer 

organizations, other Federal agencies, SLTTs, and the private sector. Likewise, 

other layers of Government must also position themselves to meet the 

immediate supply requirements of a catastrophic disaster. 

FEMA can support SLTTs in analyzing risks, anticipating needs, and 

coordinating plans among stakeholder groups but, ultimately, it is up to those 

organizations to ensure they have adequate access to supplies through an 

appropriate balance of maintained stock and pre-disaster contracts.

Obtaining what is needed in a disaster is only the first step. To be useful, 

the resource must also be physically delivered when and where it is needed. 

While FEMA has significantly increased its logistics capabilities since 2015, 

the 2017 hurricane season and wildfires demonstrated that additional 

people, processes, doctrine, and contracted services are needed to effectively 

move resources from point of origin to disaster survivors during large-scale 

incidents. This includes a particular focus on the “last mile,” where a complex 

network of National, local, voluntary, and commercial organizations integrate 

their capabilities to put food, water, or other items into the hands of survivors.

No plan can perfectly predict the resource needs stemming from a catastrophic 

incident. However, the analyses, relationships, organizational discipline, and 

logistics options that result from the planning process improve our collective 

ability to adapt to emerging logistics and supply chain challenges and deliver 

resources from across the Nation to impacted communities.

The most effective way to deliver the needed supplies to a disaster-impacted 

area, is by re-establishing pre-disaster supply chains. Building resilience 

within these systems and providing for their rapid restoration is key to 

responding to any catastrophic incident. FEMA will work with the private 

sector and Federal partners to build a shared understanding of supply chain 

vulnerabilities and the ways FEMA can work with its partners to rapidly restore 

these critical flows. 

Objective 2.3 Performance Measures

Achieve and maintain the logistics readiness rate for moving, staging, and 

delivering commodities and equipment for catastrophic disasters.

Integrate the FEMA Private Sector Supply Chain Management Plan into all 

Regional and National Plans.

Establish and maintain effective distribution management plans 

in all states and territories.

There is a focus on the 

“last mile,” where the 

complex partnership of 

national, local, 

voluntary, and 

commercial 

organizations integrate 

their capabilities to put 

food, water, or other 

items and capabilities 

into the hands of a 

survivor.
26

We live in a technologically connected world. Every day, individuals, 

organizations, and government institutions provide critical services and 

conduct essential functions that are wholly or highly dependent on the 

availability of and access to communications systems. There are inherent risks 

to relying heavily on these communications systems. We must understand 

their interdependencies and the potential cascading impacts that a failure 

could cause. FEMA must work with our partners to assess the mission 

impacts of losing the ability to reliably communicate and prioritize meeting 

all-hazards communications needs. Continuity planning efforts across levels 

of government must also address vulnerabilities to ensure uninterrupted 

communications capabilities in all response operations. 

Resilient and redundant all-hazards communications capabilities are an 

indispensable element of emergency management and must be built into 

catastrophic preparedness efforts. If we cannot effectively and reliably 

communicate with our partners, we cannot coordinate with them and we 

cannot direct Federal support to where it is needed most. Communications 

enable operational success by supporting connectivity among key government 

leadership, internal elements, other organizations, and the public under all 

conditions. The inability to communicate hinders operational coordination, 

creating information gaps and increasing the likelihood of overutilization or 

misallocation of limited resources. 

Additionally, we face an evolving threat environment that spans from low-tech 

dangers to more complex hybrid incidents such as nation-state threats and 

sophisticated cyber-attacks. This adds urgency to developing more resilient 

communication capabilities. Overreliance on networked systems and 

vulnerable critical infrastructure could broaden the impact of an incident, 

potentially allowing even a small weakness to cause cascading effects with 

far-reaching consequences. 

To ensure effective communication and coordination capabilities, FEMA 

develops, maintains, and employs the capability to provide integrated tactical 

FEMA staff departing a military helicopter following an aerial assessment of 

Manhattan. Source: K.C. Wilsey

The ability to 

communicate enables 

the ability to 

coordinate, and 

ultimately, the ability 

to meaningfully 

respond to disasters.

Objective 2.4 Improve Continuity and Resilient 

Communications Capabilities
27

voice, data, and video communications systems and services before, during, 

and after an incident. These deployable communications assets utilize state-ofthe-art, resilient, and redundant communications equipment and architecture 

to organize a successful response in the most austere environments. 

Planning coordination is also critical to ensure that FEMA is well-integrated 

with key government leaders and emergency managers during response and 

recovery efforts nationwide. 

Communications resilience requires establishing and integrating robust 

continuity doctrine, plans, programs, and operations within and across 

government and non-government organizations at all levels. Beginning with 

threat assessments, plans must address stakeholder needs and gaps to 

ensure that information is shared and decisions are made quickly when lives 

and property are at stake. 

FEMA is responsible for coordinating implementation, execution, and 

assessment of continuity – including continuity of operations, continuity 

of government, and enduring constitutional government. To meet this 

responsibility, FEMA must ensure our mission essential functions and those of 

other Federal and non-Federal organizations are executable in times of crisis. 

FEMA will continue to incorporate continuity principles and considerations 

into programs, planning, tests, training, and exercises, emphasizing continuity 

as a critical characteristic of preparedness and operations. These principles 

must be continuously reinforced to be effective. FEMA and its partners must 

also leverage industry innovation and best practices to provide the Nation with 

an accessible, modern, reliable, and resilient communications infrastructure 

during disasters and National emergencies. 

Federal and SLTT engagement is a critical factor in developing and 

maintaining effective continuity planning and response operations. The 

continued integration of continuity subject matter expertise and coordination 

into response and recovery operations enables informed decision-making, 

improves responder safety, and increases mission resilience. FEMA will 

refine and resource Agency continuity, devolution, response, and recovery 

plans to ensure mission resiliency and promote continuity of operations and 

government when faced with a catastrophic disaster. Finally, FEMA and other 

Federal and SLTT partners will leverage industry innovation and best practices 

to provide our Nation with an accessible, modern, reliable, and resilient 

communications infrastructure during disasters and National emergencies.

Objective 2.4 Performance Measures

Increase the percent of states and territories with comprehensive continuity 

plans and programs for state agencies and emergency operations centers 

that align with the Continuity Guidance Circular (CGC).

Increase the percent of critical communication nodes of operational 

coordination identified in the New Madrid Seismic Zone catastrophic plans.

Update all state and territory communications plans to include a section 

addressing continuity communication and resilience.

Federal and SLTT 

engagement is a 

critical factor in 

developing and 

maintaining effective 

continuity planning 

and response 

operations.
28

FEMA must be a modern agency 

that can adapt to the public and the 

government’s priorities, while creating 

and using innovative solutions for the 

emergency management mission. A 

simplified FEMA streamlines survivor 

experiences, simplifies processes and 

policies for disaster staff, and improves 

stewardship of Federal taxpayer dollars.

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES:

3.1 Streamline the Disaster Survivor and Grantee Experience

3.2 Mature the National Disaster Recovery Framework

3.3 Develop Innovative Systems and Business Processes that Enable FEMA’s Employees to Rapidly 

and Effectively Deliver the Agency’s Mission

3.4 Strengthen Grants Management, Increase Transparency, and Improve Data Analytics

STRATEGIC GOAL 3:

Reduce the 

Complexity of FEMA

Survivor shares appreciation with FEMA Individual Assistance staff after receiving the keys to her new temporary home. 

Source: Eduardo Martínez
29

Providing assistance to disaster survivors and impacted communities following 

a disaster is at the core of FEMA’s mission. Whether it is supporting the 

sheltering operations of our SLTT partners, providing assistance for temporary 

housing, or supporting community recovery through grants for infrastructure 

restoration and increasing community resilience, FEMA helps survivors and 

communities when they need it most, allowing them to start on the road to 

recovery.

For those impacted, the aftermath of a disaster is a challenging time and 

it can be difficult to meet essential immediate needs while beginning the 

longer process of recovery. Survivors access disaster assistance through a 

range of programs administered by government and non-government entities. 

This can make identifying the available opportunities and selecting the best 

options for a survivor’s or community’s specific circumstances confusing and 

time-consuming. 

Navigating complex Federal programs is an unnecessary added burden 

in times of disaster. FEMA must streamline and integrate existing disaster 

assistance programs and processes, creating innovative and efficient solutions 

to provide the most effective survivor support. This starts with a review of 

the available forms of assistance and how survivors access the various 

programs. Furthermore, understanding barriers that limit or prevent access 

to programs, especially for vulnerable populations, remains essential to our 

mission. FEMA also needs to reduce the number of duplicative interactions 

that survivors and communities experience when accessing services. While 

all disaster assistance must have controls necessary to protect taxpayer 

investments, documentation and eligibility requirements must also account 

for the challenging circumstances that disaster survivors face.

One of the critical ways that FEMA assists disaster survivors is by coordinating 

the damage assessment process and informing how partners use those 

assessments to determine eligibility across the full spectrum of disaster 

programs. Current housing inspection processes are slow and rely on outdated, 

A FEMA staff member speaks at the Regional Interagency Coordination 

Recovery Meeting at the Joint Field Office (JFO) in Austin. 

Source: Christopher Mardorf

Objective 3.1 Streamline the Disaster Survivor 

and Grantee Experience

FEMA must 

streamline and 

integrate existing 

disaster assistance 

programs and 

processes, creating 

innovative solutions to 

provide the most 

effective survivor 

support.
30

resource-intensive methods. In many cases, survivors must also undergo 

multiple inspections. FEMA must re-design the way the Federal government 

assesses disaster impacts to reduce the number of required inspections and 

deliver the needed assistance faster.

For survivors whose homes are damaged to the point of being uninhabitable, 

post-disaster housing is an important element of recovery. SLTT governments 

must be empowered to develop housing solutions that work for their citizens 

and complement the overall housing market in the area. To do that, FEMA 

must work with SLTT governments to develop flexible housing options targeted 

to the community need. 

Impacted SLTT governments must also have greater ability to drive their 

own recovery. Communities can adapt and design approaches specific 

for their recovery needs when they have greater control over the recovery 

process. FEMA must do more to incentivize and enhance state and 

local incident management, and provide partners with tools to identify 

and track the recovery process. This requires clear and understandable 

grant eligibility criteria, along with greater certainty and flexibility in the 

use of funds. Recovery grant management systems must also be userfriendly, making it easy to track grant status and upload documentation.

The National Disaster Recovery Framework (NDRF) is one of the five National 

Planning Frameworks. It provides the coordinating structure for collaborating 

among stakeholders to help communities rebuild stronger, reduce future 

risk, and decrease disaster costs. The NDRF also defines leadership 

roles and responsibilities, including that of the Federal Disaster Recovery 

Coordinator. The Federal Disaster Recovery Coordinator organizes the Federal 

Government’s recovery assistance from multiple departments and agencies 

into an integrated, community-focused support system adapted to the unique 

circumstances of each community and disaster.

There is growing investment in building and sustaining recovery capabilities 

across all levels of government. However, resources remain constrained, 

Objective 3.1 Performance Measures

Decrease the number of Federal in-person inspections.

Raise applicant satisfaction with simplicity of the Individuals and 

Households Program and the Public Assistance Process.

Increase the timeliness of financial assistance awards of the Individuals 

and Households Program and Public Assistance Program.

Improve the accuracy of financial assistance of the Individuals and 

Households Program and Public Assistance Program.

Objective 3.2 Mature the National Disaster 

Recovery Framework

Impacted SLTT 

governments must 

have greater ability to 

drive their own 

recovery.
31

particularly for pre-disaster recovery planning, hazard mitigation, and 

preparedness activities. Additionally, the NDRF remains a relatively new 

concept. Some Federal, SLTT partners, and non-governmental organizations 

and private sector partners have limited exposure to and understanding of 

how the NDRF can be used to greatest effect.

To take full advantage of the NDRF, SLTTs should incorporate its principles 

into their preparedness efforts and pre-disaster planning activities to ensure 

recovery partners are positioned to support impacted communities following 

an incident of any scale. Not all states have adopted pre-disaster recovery 

plans that align with the NDRF, demonstrating a need for greater awareness of 

the value of pre-disaster recovery planning. Improved education and outreach 

regarding the value of pre-disaster planning for recovery management, cost 

recovery, recovery coordination, hazard mitigation, and unique Federal and 

non-Federal partner capabilities will increase SLTT appreciation of the NDRF’s 

benefits. 

Outreach presents an opportunity to learn from stakeholders with NDRF 

experience, better understand past challenges, and make improvements to 

how the NDRF is implemented moving forward. Both Federal and SLTT partners 

can improve partnerships with the private sector and non-governmental 

organizations to better integrate their local networks, knowledge, and 

resources into recovery planning and post-disaster support through the 

NDRF.

Federal capability to support short and especially long-term recovery varies 

across departments and agencies, and Federal capability gaps can cause 

fragmented assistance following incidents. Federal agencies with NDRF 

leadership and support roles must adequately plan and prepare for recovery 

responsibilities before a disaster. SLTT, non-governmental organizations, 

and private partners can benefit from interacting with regional recovery 

partners before disasters arrive. This requires a renewed commitment 

from agencies and cooperation across the Federal Government to manage 

expectations and integrate efforts. Individual programs operating in 

isolation can fracture the overall recovery effort rather than creating 

unified solutions that align the best recovery and resilience resources 

available to offer seamless solutions to communities to build back stronger.

The effects of a tornado on a residential property in Madisonville, Louisiana. Property damage presents a significant 

challenge for survivors of catastrophic disasters. Source: Sharon Karr

Outreach presents an 

opportunity to learn 

from stakeholders 

with NDRF 

experience, better 

understand past 

challenges, and make 

improvements to how 

the NDRF is 

implemented moving 

forward.
32

Further, roles and responsibilities identified in the NDRF need to be clarified 

in practice. This includes maturing our understanding of the distinct roles 

of the Federal Disaster Recovery Coordinator, the Federal Coordinating 

Officer, and SLTT leadership, including Long-Term Recovery Managers. 

It is critical for leadership responsibilities and authorities to be clearly 

defined during active response and recovery operations and when multiple 

Federal agencies are involved. Clarity helps ensure integrated operations 

and coordination of Federal partner resources to support community 

recovery. It also enhances understanding of disaster complexities, 

community impacts, and opportunities for collaborative problem solving.

Emergency management is a shared responsibility across the whole community 

and the Nation depends on FEMA’s capabilities and readiness on its worst 

days. Whether it is a hurricane or a no-notice event from an emerging threat, 

FEMA must be ready when America calls. To deliver our no-fail mission in an 

ever-changing environment, FEMA must continuously improve our business 

processes and systems. FEMA must meet the needs of today and prepare for 

the challenges of tomorrow. 

Many FEMA programs and systems have become more complex over time 

as FEMA has matured and new policies and programs have emerged. 

Technological change has also contributed to this complexity. New processes 

and systems are layered over old ones, making it more difficult and timeconsuming for survivors and employees to navigate our programs. 

A FEMA-State Disaster Recovery Center is open for business in Texas. 

Source: Colt Hagmaier

Whether it is a 

hurricane or a 

no-notice event from 

an emerging threat, 

FEMA must be ready 

when America calls.

Objective 3.2 Performance Measures

Improve the recovery capability of states and territories with pre-designated 

State Disaster Recovery Coordinators and plans based upon the National 

Disaster Recovery Framework principles.

Strengthen Federal department and agency recovery capability. 

Objective 3.3 Develop Innovative Systems and 

Business Processes that Enable FEMA’s Employees 

to Rapidly and Effectively Deliver the 

Agency’s Mission
33

FEMA employees and partners have identified complexity in operations as a 

barrier to success. While this challenge is not unique to FEMA, it requires 

our attention and effort. The Agency must evaluate the way we operate and 

simplify our business processes and systems, taking a strategic approach to 

identify short and long-term opportunities to improve the capabilities of our 

people, efficiency of our processes, security of our systems, and utility of our 

technology. 

FEMA’s employees are the most important drivers of our performance and 

our most effective agents of innovation and change. FEMA is the public face 

of a Federal response during a disaster, and employees in the field know 

what process improvements are critical to meeting survivor needs better than 

anyone.

The Agency must empower employees and increase their capability to identify 

and implement process improvements that enhance our mission delivery. 

This includes building organic process improvement capabilities among our 

staff, recruiting and retaining a diverse workforce, providing communication 

channels for employees to propose innovative ideas to leaders, and 

establishing a culture that reinforces that employees at all levels are expected 

to lead, collaborate, and innovate.

Once good ideas emerge, we must also enhance the standardization of FEMA’s 

processes across programs to increase operational performance. Innovations 

and process improvements should be transparent and accessible. Strong 

governance will also help capture the level of effort and resources required to 

standardize and maintain new processes, so the Agency is a good steward of 

taxpayer dollars. 

Finally, FEMA continues to face unnecessary complexity with technology. The 

Agency has made strides in consolidating information technology (IT) systems 

and remains focused on streamlining our grants, insurance, and financial IT 

systems. However, unless we also adopt robust data management standards 

and technology that enables enterprise-wide analytics, we will not be able 

to provide the level of service that survivors need during and after disasters 

or the level of transparency our stakeholders require. We will continue to 

coordinate with the DHS Office of the Chief Information Officer and other DHS 

components to ensure that we are aligned on our efforts to facilitate consistent 

data management and information sharing within the Department. We must 

also double-down on our efforts to decommission outdated or underutilized 

legacy IT systems to increase our cybersecurity and reserve resources for 

needed technology modernization efforts.

Objective 3.3 Performance Measures

Decrease the number of repeat audit findings related to efficient and 

effective program delivery. 

Increase scores on the Global Satisfaction, Employee Engagement, and 

Diversity Indices of the Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey.

Achieve and maintain Federal Information Security Modernization Act 

metrics to enhance cybersecurity across the Agency.

“At the end of the day 

we have a lot of IT 

systems, but we want 

to try and see those 

streamlined to make 

our lives easier.”

- Comment from 

Discovery Change Sessions
34

In support of FEMA’s mission, the Agency delivers numerous types of financial 

assistance programs through annually recurring and incident-specific grant 

agreements with SLTT partners. FEMA administers more than 40 financial 

assistance programs, issuing thousands of grant awards each year. These 

grants are critical to supporting our partners, first responders, survivors, 

and communities. Between fiscal years 2008 and 2017, FEMA provided 

nearly $100 billion in financial assistance. FEMA and our partners share a 

critical responsibility to serve as good stewards of this substantial taxpayer 

investment.

As programs have grown over time, the process of applying for, receiving, 

and administering these grants has become increasingly complex. FEMA 

must simplify the application process for grant recipients, enhance the ability 

to monitor funds, and ensure stewardship of public dollars. This requires 

increased consistency and integration across FEMA, improved support to 

grantees, reliable data about grant performance, modern information systems, 

and robust data analytics capabilities to strengthen internal oversight and 

increase public transparency and accountability.

Establishing consistent and standardized business practices throughout 

the grant life-cycle demonstrates the Agency’s commitment to reducing the 

complexity and increasing the effectiveness of grants management. FEMA 

must continue our ongoing efforts to implement consistent policy, internal 

controls, accountability, and financial management of recipients — including 

sub-recipients — to improve oversight and promote integration across the 

Agency’s multiple grant programs. In parallel, FEMA must also continue our 

multi-year effort to establish a single, holistic grants management information 

technology platform through the Grants Management Modernization initiative 

and the accompanying Financial System Modernization initiative to modernize 

our outdated legacy financial system.

FEMA requires consistent, reliable, and high-quality data analytics to inform 

decision-making and risk management before, during, and after disasters. 

Consistent data management and improved infrastructure can reduce delays 

and decrease costs in mission delivery. FEMA’s continued investment in the 

Enterprise Data & Analytics Modernization Initiative (EDAMI) positions the 

Agency to provide consistent data management and an integrated, modern, 

and cost-effective enterprise data analysis and reporting environment. 

Improving FEMA’s analytics capabilities will enable the use of data-driven 

approaches to identify and address Agency-wide inefficiencies and risks in 

our grants program delivery and monitor trends in audit findings, informing the 

technical assistance and training we provide to recipients and sub-recipients. 

This will allow Federal dollars to have the most impact possible by reducing 

adverse audit findings and eliminating deobligation and recoupment of 

funding. Enhanced data management and analytics capabilities will also 

enable greater transparency about where, when, and why grant dollars are 

being spent, allowing FEMA to cultivate greater accountability, consistency, 

and trust — not only within the Agency, but also throughout the emergency 

FEMA grants awarded 

since FY 2017:

 $3.0B+ in preparedness

and other non-disaster grants 

to support SLTT governments 

to prevent, protect against, 

mitigate, or respond to threats 

or incidents of terrorism and 

other events

 $4.2B+ in Individual

Assistance, including the 

individuals and households 

program, disaster case 

management, disaster 

legal services, disaster 

unemployment assistance 

and crisis counseling program 

$5.5B+ in Public

Assistance, including funding 

to clear debris and rebuild 

roads, schools, libraries, and 

other public facilities

$650M+ in Hazard

Mitigation grants to 

implement long-term hazard 

mitigation measures following 

a presidential Major Disaster 

Declaration

*FEMA Grants awarded 

between October 1, 2016 and 

February 28, 2018

Objective 3.4 Strengthen Grants Management, 

Increase Transparency, and Improve 

Data Analytics
35

management community and with the general public.

FEMA’s commitment to reduce complexity, uniformly administer grants, and 

ensure the proper controls for its grant programs will improve the Agency’s 

ability to support survivors and communities. By increasing transparency and 

prioritizing analytics, FEMA is taking the steps necessary to keep pace with a 

rapidly changing world, streamline its processes to stay ahead of emergencies, 

and deliver swift, effective assistance in times of greatest need.

Objective 3.4 Performance Measures

Reduce the percentage of questioned costs by the 

Office of Inspector General. 

Remediate repeat grants-related financial statement audit 

findings and recommendations.

Reduce the number of grants overdue for closeout.

Make datasets on the amount and purpose of all funds provided to SLTT 

and other Federal agencies publicly available and machine readable.

FEMA Corps Eagle 8 team members speak with a survivor in a rural part of Robstown, Texas after Hurricane Harvey. 

Source: Christopher Mardorf

Improving FEMA’s 

analytics capabilities 

will enable the use of 

data-driven 

approaches to identify 

and address 

Agency-wide 

inefficiencies and risk.
36

The 2018-2022 FEMA Strategic Plan contains Strategic Goals and Objectives designed to drive the 

Agency’s actions over the next five years. To ensure that appropriate and meaningful action is taken 

to achieve these priorities, FEMA has identified performance measures for the Agency to spur progress 

across the entire enterprise and provide insight into how successful we are in achieving results.

Appendix A includes specifics as to the performance measures, baselines, and targets that will be pursued. 

To ensure that these actions are successful, each Strategic Goal and Objective will be led and championed 

by accountable executives. These Senior Executives will work directly with their cross-organizational 

teams to implement the strategies necessary to advance the Strategic Plan. Additionally, FEMA will use 

established internal governance structures to drive progress in implementing the Strategic Plan.

As the emergency management environment shifts and changes, FEMA must remain flexible and adaptable 

with how it defines success. This includes soliciting and accepting stakeholder feedback on a regular basis. 

Consequently, each Strategic Objective describes what outcomes will be measured to assess progress. 

The Agency will consider potential challenges and risks to the Agency’s strategy and success against the 

performance measures throughout the life of the 2018-2022 FEMA Strategic Plan. Ongoing refinement of 

FEMA’s strategic direction over the next five years will ensure that FEMA is well positioned and adaptable 

to the future of emergency management and the risks we face as a Nation.

MEASURING AND ACHIEVING RESULTS

FEMA staff check final paperwork and title documents prior to the turnover of a FEMA Manufactured Housing Unit (MHU) for 

an Oglala Sioux Tribe member on the Pine Ridge Reservation. Source: Christopher Mardorf
37

CONCLUSION

This Strategic Plan is not only FEMA’s path forward as an Agency, but also describes a future state to which 

the entire emergency management community may collectively aspire. When achieved, it will change the 

way FEMA does business and improve the support it provides before, during, and after disasters. It will 

affect outcomes and it will change lives. With this Strategic Plan, we have set big goals and defined lofty 

challenges, but they are all achievable when the emergency management community works together.

That is what this Strategic Plan is about – Helping people. Together. Significant efforts in strategy, planning, 

and resource allocation have already begun to advance the Strategic Goals of this plan. Countless FEMA 

employees have already begun work on the Strategic Objectives, and thousands more are about to take 

action to implement this five-year strategy.

FEMA represents the very best of the United States Government’s public service – providing front-line 

support to the American people and assisting survivors in their times of greatest need. This Strategic Plan 

presents an outstanding opportunity for our Agency to improve by simplifying our processes, strengthening 

our workforce, and building new and stronger partnerships – working together to help people before, 

during, and after disasters to create a more prepared and resilient Nation.

Administrator Long speaks at an Agency-wide Town Hall regarding the Strategic Plan and the future of FEMA. 

Source: Colt Hagmaier
38