IG praises post-Katrina volunteer program

A federal volunteer service program implemented in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina was effective, but future efforts could benefit from better communication and training, according to a new report from the Homeland Security Department's inspector general.

The report, released Thursday by DHS Inspector General Richard Skinner, congratulated the Federal Emergency Management Agency on implementing the program "efficiently and effectively," with limited prior experience.

According to FEMA, the government deployed more than 1,000 federal employees to help with Katrina relief efforts on a voluntary basis. These volunteers supplemented the large number of employees assigned to the area as part of their regular position.

Skinner's review of the program identified areas that should be improved in advance of another incident requiring the use of federal volunteers.

Planning, organization and communication between FEMA and participating agencies must be enhanced, the review stated. Since only a limited plan for the program's implementation existed before Katrina, volunteers and agency points of contact said there was a good deal of logistical confusion. For example, volunteers were unclear as to what expenses were reimbursable and how to report and get paid for overtime.

The IG recommended that FEMA communicate with agency points of contact in addition to volunteers. By contacting volunteers directly during the Katrina deployment, FEMA neglected to keep agencies fully informed, the report stated. Not only were agencies unable to keep track of volunteers' departure and return dates and locations, some supervisors were not even aware their employees had been deployed.

Volunteers interviewed for the report described their experience with the program as extremely rewarding and productive and indicated they would volunteer for future assignments if given the opportunity.

But to improve volunteers' productivity, DHS recommended that FEMA shorten the period between training and deployment. Volunteers identified this as a time that was "awkward and unproductive." Volunteers also said they struggled to find places to stay near their assigned locations due to the influx of displaced people and response personnel.

The review also found that FEMA often did not take volunteers' individual skill sets into consideration during assignment. While some agency points of contact identified the talents of their volunteers prior to deployment, abilities generally weren't taken into account during placement.

Many federal volunteers received training quickly, but the IG noted some of this training was redundant. All volunteers participating in the federal program underwent standardized training, but some had received similar instruction through their agencies. The report recommended that FEMA provide specialized training based on the tasks volunteers are assigned, instead of blanket training that may be unnecessary.

Finally, while volunteers described their experience as overwhelmingly positive, Skinner said they "were often unprepared for the psychological demands they encountered working in a disaster environment."

FEMA made pre- and post-deployment psychological support available, but many volunteers did not know about it. Counseling needs to be provided before and after volunteer deployment consistently so volunteers can recognize the signs of psychological distress, the report said.

FEMA's director of human resources agreed with the findings and recommendations in a draft copy of the report, the IG said. In follow-up discussions, the IG again urged the agency to create an informational tool kit for disaster volunteers and agency points of contact to help eliminate any logistical confusion. Auditors originally recommended FEMA create this packet in April 2006.