HLS 6060 DF1 Initial: National Preparedness and Budgetary Decision Making

National Preparedness and Budgetary Decision Making
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National Preparedness and Budgetary Decision Making
National preparedness is a cycle of operations aimed at developing elements and systems that are essential for the optimization of the capability to protect against, prevent, respond to, and heal from domestic occurrences (Homeland Security, 2011). The most common events under focus are those that necessitate effective coordination among various stakeholders that include states, Federal governments, the private sector and other entities who have a shared vision of minimizing the effects of catastrophes on people’s lives, property, and economy (Homeland Security, 2008).
National preparedness requires a significant investment of resources which include workforce, machines, foodstuffs and other necessities, and technology. The requirements for preparedness are thereby substantially dependent on national budgetary allocations, thus going hand in hand with budgetary decision making. For a national preparedness program to succeed, it is important that concerned agencies undertake campaigns to create awareness and raise the necessary finances to prevent and respond to emerging issues, with disaster prone regions receiving higher attentions than other areas (Homeland Security, 2011).
Disasters like the Hurricane Katrina, and the 9/11 terrorist attack significantly exposed the loopholes that existed in the US national preparedness program (Homeland Security, 2011). The result was a transformation of architectures, policies, and strategies to enhance effectiveness after a presidential directive whose main aim was to strengthen security and resilience of the US on threats like terrorism, cyber-attacks, catastrophic natural disasters, and pandemics. After the 9/11 terrorist attack, the US government had to change its budgetary allocations after informed decisions; that saw Washington reducing the number of states and towns receiving funds under the Urban Areas Initiative grant program to 31 cities down from 131 cities after noting that the 31 cities were highly prone to terrorist attacks (Mayer, Carafano, & Zuckerman, 2011). In addition, by spreading resource allocation across a vast area of jurisdiction undermined the effectiveness of the preparedness program (Mayer, Carafano, & Zuckerman, 2...