In July 2020, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) conducted a preparedness grant effectiveness case study of the State of Washington (the state). The purpose of the study was to understand the role that federal preparedness grants played in the state’s coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic response. FEMA examined how the state used grant funds to support core capabilities related to pandemics and broader emergency management capabilities and the impact those investments had on its COVID-19 pandemic response. This case study found that Homeland Security Grant Program (HSGP) and Emergency Management Performance Grant (EMPG) funds significantly contributed to the state’s capability to train and staff positions critical to the COVID-19 pandemic response and also helped provide health care and emergency management staff with resources to safely deliver key services to the public during the COVID-19 pandemic.
To inform this case study, FEMA relied on information that state officials in Washington provided through the Biannual Strategic Implementation Report (BSIR) and Threat and Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment (THIRA)/Stakeholder Preparedness Review (SPR). Staff from the FEMA National Preparedness Assessment Division (NPAD) and FEMA Region X also conducted three virtual case study interviews in July 2020 with representatives from the Washington State Military Department Emergency Management Division (EMD), the Seattle Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI); the Counties of King, Pacific, Cowlitz, and Clark; and the Cities of Olympia, Kirkland, Redmond, and Marysville to discuss preparedness grant funds used in Washington’s COVID-19 pandemic response.
Read the Full Report
