IE 11 Not Supported

For optimal browsing, we recommend Chrome, Firefox or Safari browsers.

Suspicions Confirmed: FEMA Needs More Staff

New GAO report highlights Public Assistance Program shortfall.

Claire Rubin shared this Government Accountability Office (GAO) report, Opportunities to Enhance Implementation of the Redesigned Public Assistance Grant Program, which has a new format to it. It confirms what I've written about recently. FEMA does not have the quantity and right balance of people and skills for 21st-century disaster recovery administration. 

Watch for future FEMA inspector general and GAO reports on the inappropriate interpretation of rules and regulations in the disbursement of federal funding for disaster response and recovery. With the three major disasters in the last few months alone, many mistakes will have been made.

Eric Holdeman is a contributing writer for Emergency Management magazine and is the former director of the King County, Wash., Office of Emergency Management.