FEMA | The Contracting Education Academy

February 8, 2017 By AMK

Engineer takes on emergency management projects

It’s not often you hear someone say, “I have a passion for deploying on emergency management debris missions.”

Meet Chad Braun.

In addition to working as a senior project engineer and civil engineer for the Corps of Engineers, Engineering and Support Center, Huntsville, Braun has been a quality assurance representative, team leader, supervisor and subject matter expert, providing QA oversight and technical assistance to the Federal Emergency Management Agency for projects to remove and dispose of debris after a natural disaster.

“My main role on these missions is to ensure that the debris removal and disposal is being performed in accordance with FEMA guidelines,” said Braun, who has twice been honored for his efforts. “This entails extensive coordination with contractors, local government officials, monitoring firms, homeowners and FEMA representatives. It’s rewarding work: the team is executing the mission so that the affected people and communities can start to rebuild and move forward with recovery.”

Read more about Chad Braun’s satisfaction with being a part of the Army acquisition workforce here: http://www.theredstonerocket.com/military_scene/article_e666201e-e88a-11e6-bca4-9be3e7467d6a.html

July 14, 2016 By AMK

Homeland Security accepting video proposals

Doing business with the Homeland Security Department could mean getting the cameras rolling.

DHS will be accepting video proposals besides written ones as part of a procurement innovation initiative, said Russell Deyo, undersecretary for management at DHS, in a recent speech.

For example, a May 25 request for information concerning a contract vehicle for agile software development called for vendors to submit video presentations.

“We’re working hard to be innovative,” Deyo said, speaking at the Homeland Security 2016 Conference of the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association (AFCEA) in Washington, D.C.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.federaltimes.com/story/government/acquisition/2016/06/21/dhs-accept-video-proposals/86174890/

December 2, 2015 By AMK

Government ends oversight of Gallup

Federal government oversight of The Gallup Organization, put in place as the consulting and polling company looked to settle allegations that it conducted business unethically, has ended early after a government official said he views Gallup as a responsible company.

Gallup entered a three-year agreement on April 19, 2013 with the Department of Homeland Security ahead of a July 2013 settlement of a whistleblower lawsuit.

On Oct. 9, 2014, less than halfway through the three-year term, the government granted Clifton’s request for an early termination of the agreement, according to a letter recently released to The World-Herald by the Federal Emergency Management Agency following a public records request. The request was made in August 2014.

“I believe that the measures you have implemented has set Gallup on a course that will make it a model company, and that the Government can view Gallup as a responsible company regarding contracts and contracts under federal grants,” wrote Michael D. Russell, senior counselor to the Homeland Security Department’s Under Secretary for Management, in the letter to Clifton.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.kearneyhub.com/news/regional/government-ends-oversight-of-gallup/article_6b71e7e6-8d35-11e5-b1e6-8b1e7b00cda9.html

August 27, 2014 By AMK

FEMA’s 50% rule costing gov’t hundreds of millions of dollars in overpayments

Hundreds of millions of dollars were lost due to a misinterpretation of a Federal Emergency Management Agency rule that funds the replacement or repair of facilities after a natural disaster, according to a recent Homeland Security Department inspector general report.

FEMA’s public assistance program provides financial assistance for people in the aftermath of hurricanes, earthquakes, tornadoes, floods and terrorists attack. The agency spends around $10 billion every year for the Disaster Relief Fund to help people rebuild after a natural disaster.

Under the 50 percent rule, FEMA will replace a facility if the estimated cost of repair exceeds 50 percent of the estimated cost to replace it.

But applying FEMA’s 50 percent repair or replace rule correctly can be very difficult and susceptible to error, misinterpretation and manipulation, the report dated Aug. 7 said.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.fiercehomelandsecurity.com/story/ig-femas-50-percent-rule-costing-govt-hundreds-millions-dollars-overpayment/2014-08-21

July 25, 2014 By AMK

Government’s biggest failures: 2001-2014

With scandals at agencies ranging from the IRS to the Veterans Affairs Department fresh in the public’s mind, a longtime scholar of federal management has published a new assessment of government’s failures since 2001.

In the paper, called A Cascade of Failures: Why Government Fails, and How to Stop It, Paul C. Light, the Paulette Goddard Professor of Public Service at New York University, examines 41 stories that resonated with the public in a major way, using the Pew Research Center’s News Interest Index as a yardstick. The nonpartisan index, which has been published since 1986, attempts to measure how closely Americans are following stories covered by news organizations.

“Federal failures have become so common that they are less of a shock to the public than an expectation,” Light writes. At the same time, he adds, “I did not write this paper as yet another cudgel against ‘big government.’ As I have long argued, the federal government creates miracles every day, often in spite of tighter budgets, persistent criticism and complex missions.”

Light concludes in the study that government failures have been increasing over time, from an average of 1.6 per year from 1986 to 2001 to 3 per year after that.

Keep reading this article at: http://www.govexec.com/management/2014/07/governments-biggest-failures-2001-2014/88678/

For the full list of 41 failures Light assessed, click here.

It’s not often you hear someone say, “I have a passion for deploying on emergency management debris missions.”

Meet Chad Braun.

Federal government oversight of The Gallup Organization, put in place as the consulting and polling company looked to settle allegations that it conducted business unethically, has ended early after a government official said he views Gallup as a responsible company.

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