Federal Emergency Management Agency Financial Planning

Obstacles to Strategic Financial and Fiscal Planning

The governmental policies are intended not only for the implementation of long-term initiatives but also for the mitigation of consequences of disasters. In the United States, there is a special entity engaged with these issues known as Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and it assists states in the management of emergencies (“About us,” 2020). This paper aims to provide a brief description of FEMA, discuss the internal and external factors affecting its activity, and demonstrate the way they impede the development of strategic financial plans. It also offers suggestions on how to overcome the specified obstacles.

Brief Description of the Federal Emergency Management Agency

The governmental organization under consideration, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, is involved in the process of bringing awareness to American citizens regarding the need for preparedness for any disasters. It was created in 1979 under the administration of President Carter as a response to the devastating catastrophes in the past since they demonstrated the incapability of the country to handle them efficiently (“About us,” 2020). At present, FEMA helps people before, during, and after disasters and emphasizes the role of emergency planning in all the country’s regions for the elimination of the accompanying risks (“About us,” 2020). In this way, they serve as a link between the government and the states in homeland safety matters.

Internal and External Factors

There are several internal and external factors affecting the activity of FEMA. The former include workforce management, response, and disaster resilience (U.S. Government Accountability Office, 2018). In other words, the outcomes of their operations correlate with the adequate training of staff, identification of previous challenges and their elimination, and the suitable strategy for improving the overall efficiency.

The latter, in turn, are related to the effectiveness of emergency management partnerships and the availability of resources for their operations (“External factors,” 2016). The need for coordination of their actions with other entities is defined by the responsibility of the government and the states for the consequences of disasters. In this way, it does not solve the problems but facilitates the process of finding the appropriate solutions. As for the resources, the agency is significantly dependent on the Administration and Congress since they make the ultimate decisions regarding the distribution of funds.

How These Factors Impede the Development of Strategic Financial Plans

The mentioned factors can impede the development of FEMA initiatives since the organization depends on external funding and information. Therefore, a strategic financial plan can be successful only in the case if they manage to cooperate with all the entities involved in the process since they do not have their funds (Federal Emergency Management Agency, 2018). Moreover, it is vital to ensure the well-coordinated operation of its offices (Federal Emergency Management Agency, 2016). Otherwise, the incapability of FEMA to address the specified needs might result in their failure in disaster management.

How to Overcome the Obstacles

To overcome the obstacles stemming from the internal and external factors affecting the work of FEMA, it is critical to optimize its operations. For this, they should focus on three aspects: federal support, state management, and internal functioning (Goss, 2018). Hence, they should ensure financing by the government, the correspondence of states’ actions to the overall strategic plan, and the competency of their personnel.

Conclusion

To summarize, the initiatives of FEMA are intended to mitigate the consequences of various disasters throughout the country. However, their effectiveness depends on internal and external factors connected to outside support and their domestic activities. They might adversely affect the outcomes of FEMA management of emergencies. Therefore, the coordination of work of all involved entities as well as the proper training of staff is needed.