Department of Homeland Security

DHS does not have a unified approach for procuring and using handheld chemical identification devices despite the widespread use of these devices across multiple components. We recommended DHS establish a process to coordinate joint needs across components and maximize savings from strategic...

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) did not balance its Manufactured Housing Unit (MHU) program costs with disaster-related housing needs. In response to Hurricane Harvey in Texas, FEMA overestimated the number of MHUs it needed by nearly 2,600, which amounted to purchase, transportation...

Weld County, Colorado did not always follow Federal procurement standards in awarding contracts for disaster work. As a result of our review, we identified and discussed with FEMA various areas where it should review and adjust for cost reasonableness the funding amounts that a project and program...

We determined that the Colorado Department of Public Safety, Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management’s technical assistance and monitoring of the City of Evans’ (City) procurement and project-related activities are effective and that FEMA’s corrective actions met the intent of our...

Through its Criminal Alien Program (CAP), U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) can successfully identify aliens charged with or convicted of crimes. However, because ICE relies on cooperation from other law enforcement agencies, it sometimes faces challenges apprehending aliens in...

Aransas County’s procurement policies and procedures are not adequate to meet minimum Federal procurement regulations or address key procurement elements despite guidance and contacts with the Texas Department of Public Safety, Texas Division of Emergency Management (Texas). We recommended the...

As required under the Grants Oversight and New Efficiency (GONE) Act of 2016, Public Law 114-117, we conducted a risk assessment of FEMA’s grant closeout process to determine whether a full audit is warranted in the future. We identified risks in three overarching areas: Unreliable Systems of Record...

We verified that Refugio County, Texas awarded contracts that complied with Federal procurement regulations and FEMA guidelines. We determined that the County initially did not have written procurement policies to comply with all Federal procurement regulations. Instead, for purchases and...

The Diamondhead Water and Sewer District (District), received a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) grant award of $49.3 million from the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency (Mississippi) for damage resulting from Hurricane Katrina in 2005. We had concerns because it took the District...

In two of the four areas – training and collaboration – Washington’s Emergency Management Division (EMD) and FEMA complied with applicable policies, procedures, and regulations. In the third functional area – project execution, monitoring and oversight – we did not identify any significant...