NCJ Number
244069
Date Published
September 2013
Length
79 pages
Annotation
This report to Congress presents an assessment of efforts by the Department of Homeland Security to ensure that U.S. resources abroad are better aligned with the Nation's priorities for fighting terrorism.
Abstract
This report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) presents an assessment of efforts by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to ensure that U.S. resources abroad are better aligned with the Nation's priorities for combating terrorism. Analysis of DHS data identified five types of contributions that DHS has made to U.S. missions and found that the Department has significantly or moderately contributed to fighting terrorism goals for each of the identified contribution types. In addition, two factors were identified that facilitate DHS's ability to contribute, namely facilitating a collaborative climate and leveraging resources and clarifying roles and responsibilities. The analysis also identified a variety of challenges that DHS faces in their efforts to contribute to U.S. missions abroad. The analysis of DHS was undertaken to identify the following: what programs, activities, and resources DHS has abroad to help combat terrorism; how, if at all, DHS has contributed to U.S. missions' efforts to combat terrorism, and what factors, if any, have facilitated or hampered these contributions; and the extent of the action that DHS has taken to align its resource use abroad with departmental and government-wide strategic priorities. Based on the findings from the assessment, the GAO recommends that: DHS establish (1) department-wide strategic priorities; (2) an institutionalized mechanism to review resource alignment abroad; and (3) a method to collect reliable and comparable cost data for resources abroad. The Department of Homeland Security has concurred with these recommendations. Tables, figures, and appendixes