Report gives DHS mixed grades after one year
The Homeland Security Department has made considerable progress in several areas since it was created one year ago, but lags in overall management, immigration controls and coordination with state and local governments, according to a report released Thursday.
Overall, the department received a grade of C+ on its first anniversary in a report from the Century Foundation, a nonpartisan public policy research organization. DHS earned grades of B- in the areas of aviation security and intelligence, C+ for overall management and immigration controls and C for coordination with state and local governments.
"In many ways we've had substantial progress in the last year, but the conclusion that we have in this report, as reflected in the grades, is that the most progress has been in areas where the government was already moving forward substantially," said Donald Kettl, who helped write the report and is a professor of political science at the University of Wisconsin. "On the other hand, the biggest problems the department has had are in precisely those areas where the department…was supposed to make the most difference."
Homeland Security spokesman Brian Roehrkasse said he had not yet read the report, but rattled off a list of DHS' accomplishments, particularly with regard to coordination with state and local governments, which received the lowest grade. For example, he said the department has expanded the Homeland Security Information Network and created a "one-stop shop" for grants within the office for state and local government coordination and preparedness.
The department also launched the National Incident Management System this week, which offers a unified structure for federal, state, and local government to use for incident response.
"We believe the department has achieved very high marks over the past year based on the progress we have made," Roehrkasse said. "However, we understand we have a long way to go and this effort is a marathon, not a sprint."
According to the report, areas where Homeland Security has excelled include tracking the entry and matriculation of foreign students; hiring checkpoint screeners; creating an effective, ongoing system for conducting screener background checks; expanding federal air marshal coverage on planes; and getting the information analysis and infrastructure protection directorate up and running.
The department's shortcomings include: ensuring security in general aviation and air cargo; reducing the backlog of immigration and naturalization cases; allocating federal grant money to state and local governments based on the risk of an attack; using federal grant funds to strengthen state and local government first responders; and working with Congress and key stakeholders to develop clear policy goals.
"If we fail to create those strategies, we run the risk of either responding to the last crisis or always fighting the last war," Kettl said. "Without a clear strategy we run the risk of looking over our shoulder at the past instead of looking ahead to the future."