2022_07_29_CIP_2022-2026_ImplementationPlan_F.pdf

FEMA’s Continuous Improvement Program 2022- 2026 Implementation Plan

July 29, 2022

FEMA Continuous Improvement Program 2022 - 2026 Implementation Plan i July 29, 2022

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FEMAA Continuouss Improvementt Programm ii July 29, 2022

This Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Continuous Improvement Program (CIP) 2022-2026 Implementation Plan reflects the direction of CIP that the 10 Regions and Headquarters (HQ) are jointly agreeing to pursue, understanding the ever-changing environment, varied resources, and dynamic operating environment. The Regional National Preparedness Division Directors and HQ Continuous Improvement Integration Branch Chief commit to using this Plan to guide the programmatic development over the coming years, while being flexible to collaboratively pursue solutions for emerging requirements. This Plan intends to advance the ability of CIP to more effectively and efficiently help build a culture of learning in emergency management.

Mike Icardi, Branch Chief, Continuous Dan McElhinney, Region 1 National Improvement Integration Preparedness Division Director / FPC

Russell Fox, Region 2 National Preparedness Lilian Hutchinson, Region 3 National Division Director / FPC Preparedness Division Director / FPC

Andrew Seward, Region 4 National

William Wooten, Region 5 National Preparedness Division Director (A) / FPC Preparedness Division Director (A) / FPC

Randy Meshell, Region 6 National Jay Van Der Werff, Region 7 National Preparedness Division Director / FPC Preparedness Division Director / FPC

Lanney Holmes, Region 8 National Preparedness Division Director / FPC

Scott Zaffram, Region 10 National Preparedness Division Director / FPC

MICHAEL C ICARDI

Digitally signed by MICHAEL C

ICARDI

Date: 2022.07.21 07:21:09 -04'00'

RUSSELL L FOX

Digitally signed by RUSSELL L

FOX

Date: 2022.07.21 11:38:49 -04'00'

RANDALL D MESHELL

Digitally signed by RANDALL

D MESHELL Date: 2022.07.21 11:11:02 -05'00'

ANDREW P SEWARD

Digitally signed by

ANDREW P SEWARD

Date: 2022.07.21

12:32:38 -04'00'

LANNEY D

HOLMES

Digitally signed by LANNEY D HOLMES Date: 2022.07.22 11:55:13 -06'00'

Digitally signed by JAY A VAN DER WERFF Date: 2022.07.22 13:21:39 -05'00'

WILLIAM H

WOOTEN

Digitally signed by WILLIAM H

WOOTEN

Date: 2022.07.22 14:23:56 -05'00'

DANTE J RANDAZZO Digitally signed by DANTE J RANDAZZO

Date: 2022.07.27 11:21:01 -07'00'

Dante Randazzo, Region 9 National Preparedness Division Director / FPC

DANIEL C MCELHINNEY

Digitally signed by DANIEL C MCELHINNEY

Date: 2022.07.28 09:19:37 -04'00'

Digitally signed by

SCOTT D ZAFFRAM

Date: 2022.07.28 11:56:16 -07'00'

LILIAN

HUTCHINSON

Digitally signed by

LILIAN HUTCHINSON

Date: 2022.07.29 10:51:29 -04'00' iii July 29, 2022

Contents

Introduction

CIP’s Vision

CIP’s Role in Supporting FEMA’s Mission

Strategic Alignment

Continuous Improvement Program Structure

Continuous Improvement Program Stakeholders

Using the Plan

Authorities

CIP Lines of Service

CIP Activities

Activity 1: Evaluation

Activity 2: Incident Management

Activity 3: Incident Support

Activity 4: Issue Resolution

Activity 5: Regional Operations Guidance and Tools

Activity 6: Training

Activity 7: National Collection Analysis Priorities

Activity 8: Summary of Findings

Activity 9: Continuous Improvement Technical Assistance Program

Activity 10: Internal Continuous Improvement Program Assessment

Activity 11: Program Consulting and Support

Appendix A: Activity Tactic Timelines

Appendix B: Activity Metrics and Indicators by Objective

Appendix C: Acronym List

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INTRODUCTION

The purpose of this Plan is to formalize and communicate the shared vision and role in supporting FEMA’s mission for FEMA’s CIP over the next four years, 2022–2026, and the major activities CIP will work to build capability and capacity to better support the Agency. These activities, and their corresponding outcomes, objectives, and tactics will guide and unify efforts of CIP staff in the field, Regions, and Headquarters; inform resource and prioritization decisions on projects and CIP development efforts; and communicate CIP’s alignment with FEMA’s strategic direction. The success of the Plan’s implementation will be seen in the collaborative approach to completing the objectives and tactics in consideration of the resource constraints and other priorities of each level of the organization.

CIP’s Vision A culture of learning within emergency management where change is deliberate, and improvement is championed for a prepared and resilient Nation.

CIP’s Role in Supporting FEMA’s Mission The FEMA CIP provides collaborative and consistent services, empowering our customers to improve their programs, processes, and decision-making.

Strategic Alignment This CIP 2022-2026 Implementation Plan supports FEMA’s strategic priorities as described in the 2022–2026 FEMA Strategic Plan. FEMA’s Strategic Plan drives this Plan as it focuses the work of all FEMA components, including the CIP, towards achieving a shared vision and mission. The goals of the 2022–2026 FEMA Strategic Plan are:

• Goal 1: Instill Equity as a Foundation of Emergency Management

• Goal 2: Lead Whole of Community in Climate Resilience

• Goal 3: Promote and Sustain a Ready FEMA and Prepared Nation

CIP will primarily support these goals through the disaster data collection and analysis activities detailed in this Plan, including Evaluation, Incident Management, Incident Support, the National Collection Analysis Priorities (NCAP), and Summary of Findings (SoF). By continuing to pursue and mature these activities, CIP will produce after-action and other advisory and decision support products that help FEMA learn about strengths, areas for improvement, and potential best practices related to equity, climate resilience, and readiness. Additionally, CIP will be able to help the Agency assess whether it is making progress toward achieving these goals during disaster response and recovery through these activities and its Program Consulting and Support activities.

Maturing CIP’s Issue Resolution and Program Consulting and Support activities will also help FEMA achieve all three of its 2022-2026 goals. Through both activities, CIP will help offices across the Agency drive change and improve their programs and processes. This includes working with program offices to address issues and remove barriers related to equity, climate resilience, and readiness.

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CIP will also support all three goals through its Internal CIP Evaluation, which will help CIP track and understand the impacts of its activities within the Agency.

Additionally, CIP will support Goal 3 internally through Training and Regional Operations Guidance and Tools and externally through the Continuous Improvement Technical Assistance Program (CITAP). By maturing its Training and Regional Operations Guidance and Tools activities, CIP will strengthen the capabilities of the CIP workforce and provide the tools and resources staff need to be ready to conduct their jobs successfully. Through CITAP, CIP will help state, local, tribal, and territorial (SLTT) partners build their capacity for continuous improvement and learn lessons from past disasters to better prepare for future disasters.

Overall, through this strategic alignment, CIP prioritizes its goals and objectives while coordinating activities with its partners to support all of FEMA’s strategic goals and achieve a prepared and resilient Nation.

Continuous Improvement Program Structure CIP is coordinated by the Continuous Improvement Integration Branch (CIIB) within the National Preparedness Assessment Division (NPAD) at FEMA HQ and includes the Regional Continuous Improvement Coordinators (RCIC) in the National Preparedness Divisions within all ten FEMA Regions, and regional field staff at the Puerto Rico Joint Recovery Office (JRO), in coordination with Region 2, and the Texas Integration and Recovery Office (TIRO). The CIIB Chief leads CIP in coordination with Regional leadership, primarily the Regional Integration Branch Chiefs (RIBC) or similar Regional position, and the Federal Preparedness Coordinators (FPC). CIIB, the RCICs, and regional field staff are primarily responsible for the implementation of this Plan with support from other program stakeholders.

During disasters, CIP deploys to the field in coordination with the Field Leadership Cadre, working primarily with the Chief of Staff (CoS), in support of the Federal Coordinating Officer (FCO), and with all deployed staff. Specific engagement with deployed staff will primarily be driven by disaster priorities and focus areas.

Continuous Improvement Program Stakeholders While CIIB staff and the RCICs are primarily responsible for the implementation of this Plan, collaboration with stakeholders is critical. CIP stakeholders include but are not limited to:

• FEMA HQ leadership, including the Associate Administrators of Resilience, the Office of Response and Recovery, Mission Support, and the Office of Policy and Program Analysis;

• FEMA regional leadership, including the Regional Administrators (RA), FPCs, other Division Directors, and the Continuous Improvement Working Groups (CIWG);

• FEMA field leadership and incident management staff, including the FCOs, CoSs and other Joint Field Office (JFO) leadership;

• FEMA incident support leadership and other staff deployed in support of the National Response Coordination Center (NRCC) and Regional Response Coordination Centers (RRCC), including the National Response Coordination System (NRCS) Chief and Regional Coordinating Officers (RCO);

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• FEMA HQ program offices, including the program offices within the Office of Response and Recovery; and

• SLTT and other whole community partners.

CIP supports its stakeholders by providing collaborative and consistent products and services to support decision-making and improve future disaster operations. CIP also provides guidance and technical assistance to help stakeholders build their capacity for continuous improvement. In turn, stakeholders share feedback and inputs with CIP and work with CIP to drive change within the Agency. This includes, but is not limited to, providing guidance and data to support CIP research priorities, validating and sharing feedback on CIP products, coordinating with CIP to elevate and resolve issues, and building their own continuous improvement capabilities.

Using the Plan CIP, to include the CIIB Chief, FPCs, HQ National Integration and Regional and Field Integration Section Chiefs, RIBCs or similar position, and staff will use this Plan to help guide operational decision-making over the next four years. Leadership at the Regions and HQ will use this Plan to prioritize activities and make tradeoffs of staff time and funding when resources are limited. CIP leadership at the Regions and HQ will also use this Plan when considering needs for additional staff or funding. CIP staff at the Regions and HQ should use this Plan to guide their support of CIP’s activities, working to achieve the outcomes, objectives, and tactics in this Plan and coordinating with leadership as needed on prioritization and obtaining resources needed to mature each activity. This Plan leans forward in thinking about the next four years and where CIP wants to go. Some of the tactics and related outcomes are aspirational and dependent on sufficient staffing and resources and will be affected by disaster frequency and severity as CIP balances requirements.

On an annual basis, the CIIB Chief will use this Plan to lead a collaborative effort to identify priority projects and initiatives that will comprise CIP’s focuses for that year. These will be formalized in an annual CIP priority memo. These will be efforts where leadership and staff at the Regional and HQ levels are asked to invest time in their design, development, review and/or finalization.

Additional progress across the activities, objectives, and tactics will occur continually, and will be balanced with the priority projects. This will consider the requests on time from staff across the program, recognizing there are finite resources, increasing disasters requiring after-action reviews, and other continuous improvement activities occurring to build capability and address areas previously identified. Each Region has distinct requirements and approaches to the implementation of CIP in their Region, and it is understood that their level of engagement across the activities will vary based on a number of factors. The CIIB Chief, and HQ Section Chiefs will proactively work with the Regions to ensure that all projects have sufficient time and opportunity for all CIP staff to provide input on them as they have the desire and capacity to contribute.

Authorities This Plan follows requirements and guidance set by Congress and Agency policy, including:

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Post-Katrina Emergency Management Reform Act of 2006 (PKEMRA)

PKEMRA Section 6 USC 750 states that the FEMA Administrator, in coordination with the National Council on Disability and the National Advisory Council, shall establish a remedial action management program to:

• Analyze training, exercises, and real-world events to identify and disseminate lessons learned and best practices;

• Generate and disseminate, as appropriate, AARs to participants in exercises and real-world events; and

• Conduct remedial action tracking and long-term trend analysis.

FEMA Directive 107-1: Continuous Improvement Program

Directive 107-1 defines the policy and responsibilities for FEMA CIP and how it applies to all FEMA components.

FEMA Instruction 107-1-1: After-Action Review Implementation

Instruction 107-1-1 provides CIP staff with guidance, recommendations, and baseline requirements for how to conduct after-action reviews for Major Disaster Declarations (MDD). The Instruction provides a standardized approach across CIP for:

• Determining the type of after-action review to conduct following an MDD;

• The maximum length of time it should take to conduct each review and develop a corresponding product; and

• Considerations for distribution of the final product.

CIP Lines of Service CIP provides four lines of service: Evaluation, Advisory and Decision Support, Program Consulting and Support, and Technical Assistance. These define the boundaries and focuses of CIP in how the program engages with the Agency.

Evaluation: CIP conducts the systematic collection and analysis of information about FEMA operations to improve Agency effectiveness and/or inform decisions about current and future performance. CIP does this by applying consistent processes to discover and validate operational areas for improvement (AFI), strengths (STR), potential best practices (PBP), and innovations (INV) that responsible program offices (RPO) can act on.

Advisory and Decision Support: CIP provides leadership and decision makers advice for problem solving and courses of action (COA) based on the best analytical information available. CIP does this through research, historical knowledge, policy knowledge, facilitation, data collection and information sharing from the wider Continuous Improvement community of practice to make the best decision at that time given the depth of information available.

Program Consulting and Support: CIP provides solutions-oriented improvement support through customized and flexible application of industry best practices, tools, and techniques to design, https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=granuleid:USC-prelim-title6-section750&num=0&edition=prelim https://usfema.sharepoint.com/teams/OPPAPolicy/Lists/Policy%20Master%20List/Attachments/198/Directive%20-%20Continuous%20Improvement%20Program.pdf https://usfema.sharepoint.com/teams/OPPAPolicy/Lists/Policy%20Master%20List/Attachments/1059/Instruction-%20After-Action%20Review%20Implementation%201.6.2022.pdf

5 July 29, 2022 develop, and implement solutions. CIP does this through a systematic approach to dealing with the transition or transformation of an organization's goals, processes, or technologies.

Technical Assistance: CIP delivers Technical Assistance to our SLTT partners and other federal agencies (OFA) through templates, tools and techniques, training, and customized engagement.

CIP ACTIVITIES

This section articulates CIP’s plan for the next four years, broken down by CIP’s major activities and provides information on the outcomes desired and objectives to be pursued over the next four years.

These activities support the vision of CIP and align to one or more of the lines of service. These activities capture both existing capabilities to be refined and matured, as well as new policies, procedures, systems, and tools to be developed. CIP worked from November 2021 through May 2022 to brainstorm information, collaborate in small groups, review these during an offsite in April 2022, and finalize them for the Plan. These create the framework for CIP moving forward and articulate how success will be measured and evaluated along each step. Appendix A includes the planned sequencing of the completion of the tactics over the next four years. Appendix B contains the detailed metrics and indicators for success for each of these activities that CIP will use in evaluating their success of implementation.

These are a flexible framework to be reviewed annually and used flexibly, considering the dynamic operating environment of FEMA’s role and the way CIP supports it. There are many interdependencies, and it is incumbent on the project teams to coordinate and communicate regularly and ensure there is a collaborative team across all levels of the Agency within CIP working toward each of these solutions.

Activity 1: Evaluation The Evaluation activity focuses on the process of conducting after-action reviews through systematic collection and analysis, from incident start to product completion, per requirements and guidance under Directive 107-1 and Instruction 107-1-1.1 This includes after-action review scoping, data collection and analysis, validation, product development and concurrence, and sharing after-action review information with customers, among other activities. This also includes the resources, such as tools, trainings, and guidance, necessary to effectively complete each after-action review related activity. All Evaluation practices implemented by CIP should efficiently and meaningfully contribute to the after-action review process and ultimately aid efforts to improve Agency operations.

Evaluation Outcome by 2026

By 2026, CIP desires the objectives and tactics under Evaluation lead to a CIP workforce that is trained, qualified, and equipped with the resources necessary to complete all Evaluation related

1 The Evaluation activity does not account for the CIP “evaluation” pillar. CIP conducts continuous improvement via a four-pillar process – “evaluation” is the fourth pillar. In that context, evaluation refers to CIPs assessment of completed corrective actions to determine the extent to which the actions have addressed the root causes of the issues or whether additional actions are required, and shares success stories when issues are resolved.

This evaluation pillar will be addressed under the Issue Resolution activity.

6 July 29, 2022 services and provide valid, actionable, and timely observations to operational and program leadership that will be used to inform operations and/or improve FEMA’s performance and effectiveness.

Evaluation Objectives and Tactics

To accomplish this outcome, three objectives and 11 tactics have been identified for the next four years.

Objective 1.1: CIP provides timely, actionable, and valid information and analyses that is used to inform operations, improve Agency effectiveness, and/or future performance.

A. Data Integration: Establish a better process and system for funneling/collecting/integrating data from across the Agency (e.g., Recovery Reporting and Analytics Division [RRAD], Field Operations Directorate (FOD) Deployment Tracking System (DTS), or National Exercise Division (NED) to support CIP after-action review analyses.

B. Observation Methodology: Develop data quality standards for CIP observations and analyses.

This will include the minimum quantitative and qualitative data needed per observation to ensure its validity, along with guidance and procedures if an observation cannot meet these standards.

C. Field/Regional Peer Review Guidance: Develop Regional/Field observation peer review guidance to support quality assurance efforts, similar to the CIIB Peer Review guidance outlined in Instruction 107-1-1.

D. Update Observation Development Guide: Update the Observation Development Guide based on the new standards, rules, and requirements produced from the Peer Review, Validation, and Methodological guides.

Objective 1.2: FEMA staff regularly use after-action review data to inform operations, improve Agency effectiveness, and/or future performance.

A. Data Sharing Guidance: Further establish rules and guidance for sharing CIP after-action review data; specifically rules for storing, sharing, and using data that are not included in the after-action review final product. This will likely be done in close collaboration with the SoF and Issue Resolution teams.

B. Observation Transparency Rules: Work closely with the Issue Resolution team to develop business rules surrounding the transparency of after-action review observations/data with all FEMA stakeholders, including all data presented to CIWGs.

C. Knowledge Management: Further develop rules, procedures, and innovative ideas about how to increase the sharing of after-action review data and products with all stakeholders, internal and external to the agency; this should include proactive ways for sharing lesson learned data to decision-makers during incidents.

Objective 1.3: CIP staff are equipped with consistent, standardized, and efficient resources necessary to execute Evaluation services.

A. Evaluation, Automation, and Analysis: Further the development of standardized resources which will help to reduce the burden of work and time associated with evaluation activities and processes.

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B. Response Collection Resources: Response after-action review efforts may vary from traditional recovery procedures, therefore CIP needs to develop resources to support staff who conduct response collections.

C. Standardized Regional Concurrence Process: To support the timely completion of after-action reviews and elevation of observations, develop a standardized regional after-action review product concurrence process that can promote a consistent approach across CIP.

D. HQ Involvement in After-Action Reviews: Per Instruction 107-1-1, there are triggers for HQ CIIB involvement in regional after-action review efforts, and this process should be outlined further to provide additional clarity on how that coordination would take place and its requirements.

Activity 2: Incident Management The Incident Management activity focuses on the management, deployment, and qualification of CIP staff to incidents in the field. This includes but is not limited to coordinating deployments to the field, managing FEMA’s continuous improvement cadre, qualification and training of staff, and issuing FEMA Qualification System (FQS) position titles.

Incident Management Outcomes by 2026

By 2026, CIP desires the objectives and tactics under Incident Management lead to a CIP that has:

• Sufficient and qualified available personnel required to respond to all routine deployment requests with FEMA personnel;

• Funding, processes, trained personnel, and plans in place to respond to non-routine CIP deployments;

• Personnel that consistently conduct Evaluation, Advisory & Decision Support, and Program Consultation activities while deployed; and

• Personnel that comply with all requirements and guidance outlined in Directive 107-1 and Instruction 107-1-1.

Incident Management Objectives and Tactics

To accomplish this outcome, three objectives and 10 tactics have been identified for the next four years. There is also regular coordination between the Incident Management activity and Training activity, which will oversee the delivery and management of training, and the Incident Support activity, which supports NRCC and RRCC operations.

Objective 2.1: Staff are available at the capacities needed to meet all after-action review requirements listed within Directive 107-1 and Instruction 107-1-1.

A. Validate annual workforce projections and determine necessary capacity for the mission requirements.

B. Coordinate recruitment for FQS positions.

C. Coordinate staff and contractor deployments for mission requirements, including encouraging staff deployments.

D. Host Cadre communication.

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Objective 2.2: CIP integrates into an Incident Management Cadre.

A. Merge with existing Cadre, and integrate CIP positions.

B. Identify cadre management and workforce hiring requirements, complete hiring process, and onboard new staff.

C. Define and outline the roles and responsibilities of CIP between incident management and incident support, including how field staff engage with the RCICs.

Objective 2.3: CIP develops a qualified workforce.

A. Update Position Task Book (PTB) requirements.

B. Identify and recruit sufficient Coach & Evaluator (C&E) staff and develop plan to support C&E pairings.

C. Proactively manage staff in CIP FQS positions to include encouraging them to deploy twice a year and decertifying inactive members.

Activity 3: Incident Support The Incident Support activity focuses on all efforts related to CIP’s support of NRCC and RRCC activations. This includes, but is not limited to, managing rosters, deploying personnel, information collection, product development, knowledge management, providing advisory and decision support to leadership, and the opportunities in which the NRCC and RRCC CIP roles can interact, coordinate, and share information.

Incident Support Outcomes by 2026

By 2026, CIP desires that staff deployed in incident support roles are trained and qualified in product development, advisory support, and collaboration between the NRCC and RRCC to meet the needs of an activation and inform real-time operations.

Incident Support Objectives and Tactics

To accomplish this outcome, three objectives and eight tactics have been identified for the next four years. There is also regular coordination between the Incident Management activity and Training activity who will oversee the field deployment of CIP, and the delivery and management of training.

Objective 3.1: Increase the capacity of CIP staff trained and qualified to successfully perform NRCC and RRCC CIP duties to flexibly meet the needs of an activation.

A. Develop/update job aids, checklists, guides, workshops, and/or discussions that build preparedness, understanding of the role, comfort with adaptability, and flexibility. Implement system for updating products during steady state.

B. Build a prepared, qualified, and reliable bench of rostered staff who are on call during specific times. Develop a staff rotation cycle.

Objective 3.2: Build upon the communication, coordination, and information/product sharing between the NRCC and RRCC to meet the needs of an activation.

A. Develop/update checklists of recommended things to do before, during, and after a disaster.

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B. Develop/update yearly review/refresher trainings on CIP deployed staff duties and NRCC/RRCC coordination, communication, and collaboration processes prior to high activation seasons.

C. Further define roles and responsibilities and lines of communication among RRCCs and the

NRCC.

D. Implement tabletop exercise trainings.

Objective 3.3: Increase the value add of CIP products and advisory support provided to decision makers to inform operations during activations and to CIP staff who may be using documents or products while deployed.

A. Build a product repository that NRCC and RRCC CIP staff fill out while deployed where the impact of NRCC/RRCC support or products (e.g., hotwash, timeline, special collections, Quick Look Reports [QLR], etc.) is tracked, and create a system/process for updating products during steady state.

B. Discuss who the stakeholders are and where they see CIP products fitting into the operational landscape.

Activity 4: Issue Resolution CIP’s Issue Resolution activity flows out of PKEMRA and Directive 107-1 as the Agency’s system of record for ensuring that FEMA tracks observations and is learning in a deliberate way. This includes developing and maintaining the policies, procedures, processes, and systems involved in tracking observations and improvement actions from real-world incidents and National Level Exercises.

Issue Resolution Outcomes by 2026

By 2026, CIP desires that the Agency is able to act in a timely manner on identified areas and communicate the successes of action taken to better help people and jurisdictions before, during, and after disasters.

Issue Resolution Objectives and Tactics

To accomplish this outcome, four objectives and 13 tactics have been identified for the next four years.

Objective 4.1: Establish policy and guidance agencywide that defines the issue resolution processes and systems.

A. Develop an Issue Resolution Instruction policy which clarifies and formalizes terminology, roles & responsibilities, process, and business rules.

B. Develop Resolution Action Completion Guidance that will define and clarify the methods, standards, and evidence required in order to classify an action and observation as Complete.

Objective 4.2: Establish a single system of record and user interface for CIP Issue Resolution, develop a product roadmap, and implement a regular system enhancement process & schedule that meets current and new requirements.

A. Launch initial Issue Resolution System by May 31, 2022.

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B. Establish a System Enhancement Cycle with releasees that speak to user demand signals and proactively enhance functionality and user experience.

C. Establish a governance charter and change control process to inform and prioritize system enhancement decisions.

D. Successfully transition Comprehensive After-Action Report Analysis Tool (CAARAT) data to single system of record by June 30, 2023, and collaborate to create an improved repository for employees to access after-action and exercise observations by December 31, 2023.

Objective 4.3: Effectively operate the Issue Resolution System including monitoring system performance, helpdesk support, and user training.

A. Implement Issue Resolution System helpdesk staffing & training.

B. Develop system training resources to include Basic Guide, Embedded Help Features, and training updates after each release.

C. Identify opportunities for microlearning videos for the issue resolution system and develop and deploy videos.

D. Maintain required system documentation to include Annual Privacy Threshold Analysis update; full business process, including validation process; full Entity Relation (ER) diagram;

data dictionary; user profiles and security roles; data management protocols; module specific business rules and data flows; and system documentation updates after each release.

Objective 4.4: Conduct CIP, observation, and action reporting and support trend analysis that can influence observation uptake and reduce barriers to action.

A. Publish quarterly reports in a timely and accessible manner.

B. Establish a set of decision support trend analysis products related to chronic observations to be sent with observation decision forms and annually in advance of Resource Allocation Plan updates.

C. Establish incident summary & topic-based trend analysis (e.g., Housing, Hurricanes).

Activity 5: Regional Operations Guidance and Tools The Regional Operations Guidance and Tools activity will provide resources that support regional Continuous Improvement efforts as identified by the Regions for development. This activity intends to establish a structure and management of those resources that makes them easy to access and use as desired. This may include development of guidance, reports, and tools, information sharing on successful regional CIWG practices, and sharing information and tools across CIP through existing platforms which currently include SharePoint, OneNote, and Teams.

Use of these resources by regional staff will be optional and will be designed to flexibly apply to unique regional contexts while also capitalizing on standardized and consistent practices common to CIP. The resources developed will be driven by regional demand to ensure they are meeting actual needs, and data-driven by research and analysis to ensure it meets the highest-priority needs.

Regional Operations Guidance and Tools Outcomes by 2026

By 2026, CIP desires that this activity will lead to a more efficient process for accessing and applying collaborative and consistent services across the Agency and reduce the time it takes for new staff to access information and implement CIP activities.

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This will be pursued by providing a clearly defined set of resources that support regional Continuous Improvement efforts, a clear and easily navigable structure that allows staff to independently access them, an Operations and Maintenance Plan to ensure existing resources stay updated, and a process for continuing to engage regional staff for feedback and input to ensure we are correctly identifying and prioritizing their needs and aligning them to HQ resources and capabilities.

Regional Operations Guidance and Tools Objectives and Tactics

To accomplish this outcome, two objectives and six tactics have been identified for the next four years.

Objective 5.1: Create and present an overview of current resources and systems for accessing them with near-term implementation of resource and system efficiencies and modifications.

A. Develop and share an overview that lists all relevant resources and identifies how SharePoint (and any other platform) is designed to provide access to them, and update systems to provide access to resources.

B. Evaluate RCIC to Regional Liaison Officer (RLNO) engagement and revise “RLNO Tasks” document.

C. Get regional staff input on current resources and systems to identify what additional resources/revisions are desired.

Objective 5.2: Adjudicate requests, develop new resources, solicit feedback, and update systems.

A. Adjudicate requests for new resources and engage appropriate HQ team to facilitate their development.

B. Develop Operations and Maintenance Plan to ensure resources remain current.

C. Implement process to solicit ongoing input on resources and systems from regional staff.

Activity 6: Training The Training activity focuses on the training and skill development of staff across CIP, with a focus on training for the continuous improvement FQS positions. This includes assessing training needs, developing content and materials, delivering trainings, and evaluating training impacts and outcomes, among other activities.

Training Outcomes by 2026

By 2026, CIP desires that CIP staff continue growing in consistently, efficiently, and effectively delivering CIP’s four lines of service and understanding of program offices that builds a collaborative culture of continuous improvement within the Agency.

Training Objectives and Tactics

To accomplish this outcome, three objectives and 17 tactics have been identified for the next four years. The Training activity will coordinate significantly with Incident Management and Incident Support activities, and generally with all activities.

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Objective 6.1: Maintain and deliver CIP FQS position trainings for staff

A. Offer Continuous Improvement Advisor (CIAD) and Continuous Improvement Advisor Lead (CIAL) trainings each year by July 1 and maintain instructors. Evaluate by July 31 each year if additional deliveries are needed.

B. Finalize update to CIAL from pilot delivery.

C. Oversee CIAD/CIAL transition to FOD approved courses consistent with FQS requirements.

D. Assess CIAD and CIAL training for updates and revisions every 2 years.

Objective 6.2: Evaluate staff professional development and knowledge requirements, and regularly identify and deliver/facilitate delivery of trainings, to include the CIP lines of service.

A. Develop 2022 monthly training plan based on high-priority topics with existing or easily accessible training resources.

B. Conduct annual staff survey of current proficiency in technical expertise, lines of service, and Agency programs to identify learning gains and adjustments for each annual training plan.

C. Develop annual training plan based on staff survey. Identify existing Agency trainings to leverage and trainings to be developed or acquired. Identify staff expertise that could be leveraged.

D. Coordinate and facilitate the regular delivery of technical skill development trainings and proficiency trainings for CIP to include post-survey evaluations.

E. Develop compendium of available relevant trainings for staff to access and share information on helpfulness.

F. Identify and develop relevant training development plans for staff.

G. Develop and regularly update list of core skills and capabilities, and staff who can help train, mentor, and equip others.

H. Maintain and annually review new staff onboarding trainings and engagement.

I. Coordinate with lines of service and activity leads to identify and coordinate a training approach across the lines of service, and integrate into a cohesive annual approach.

Objective 6.3: CIP manages dynamic and accessible training resources.

A. Analyze systems and approaches to maintaining resources and develop potential courses of action for CIP to consider adopting.

B. Design, develop, and launch a CIP training system.

C. Identify a multi-year plan to expand the number of relevant and accessible trainings and resources, and the mediums staff can access them through.

D. Launch the CIP learning system agencywide.

Activity 7: National Collection Analysis Priorities The NCAP activity focuses on collecting consistent data across disasters on priorities set by senior leadership as required under Directive 107-1 and Instruction 107-1-1. This includes but is not limited to priority identification, methodology development, analysis of survey data and other sources, and development of dashboards, quarterly briefings, and other reporting products.

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National Collection Analysis Priorities Outcome by 2026

By 2026, CIP desires that the NCAP will provides timely, actionable data and findings or recommendations to FEMA stakeholders, collecting consistent data across disasters on priorities set by senior FEMA leadership.

National Collection Analysis Priorities Objectives and Tactics

To accomplish this outcome, three objectives and 10 tactics have been identified for the next four years. This activity coordinates heavily with the Evaluation and Summary of Fundings activities to create efficiencies and share learning.

Objective 7.1: Create a new/improve the existing NCAP data management system so it is flexible, user friendly, and facilitates production of high-quality analysis and products.

A. Ongoing data management to ensure that data is clean, accessible, and managed in a flexible system to meet current and future needs.

B. Identifying NCAP items that are the most burdensome for HQ and RCICs, and alleviate or streamline those steps.

C. Upgrading tools we use (e.g., SurveyMonkey, databases) to take advantage of features to assist and ensure efficiencies in data collection, analysis, and reporting.

Objective 7.2: NCAP identifies stakeholders and audiences that find value in the project, data, and associated products across all levels of the Agency (field, regional, HQ). Stakeholders are increasingly utilizing NCAP data and products.

A. Identification and agreement with HQ and RCICs on the ultimate NCAP stakeholders and customers, as well as strategy development around how to engage with them. Work to an end state where regions can utilize data and analysis from NCAP national priorities and can capture their own data without a long/burdensome survey.

B. Identify ways to share and provide access to NCAP tools and frameworks, including survey/interview questions.

C. Identify ways to share and provide access to NCAP data beyond quarterly briefings and Tier III reports (e.g., server, survey summaries, etc.) that provide value to NCAP priority stakeholders.

D. Identification and implementation of opportunities to improve consistency of NCAP qualitative and quantitative analysis and use more rigorous analysis methods.

E. Identify if and how NCAP data and analysis can or should create recommendations or observations, and if it does, how those do or do not feed into our issue resolution system and if there is action taken.

Objective 7.3: NCAP requirements and resources put towards the project are rightsized for the project’s scope and impact, and stress on the NCAP team is reduced.

A. Assess and track NCAP effects and actions taken in the past and estimated for future work, analyzing resources committed compared to impact.

B. Identify NCAP project resource gaps.

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Activity 8: Summary of Findings The SoF activity focuses on the annual collection of data from across disasters and identification of trends related to non-NCAP topics as required under Directive 107-1 and stated under PKEMRA’s mandate for “long-term trend analysis.” This includes, but is not limited to, collecting and consolidating observations and inputs from across the Agency, identifying trends across disaster events, programs, and regions, and developing key findings to be shared with Agency leadership.

Summary of Findings Outcome by 2026

By 2026, CIP desires that this activity is efficiently developed and widely shared as a compelling product with defensible findings that are valuable to HQ program offices, Regional leadership, and RCICs in supporting their efforts to improve disaster operations and affect observable change in the Agency.

Summary of Findings Objectives and Tactics

To accomplish this outcome, two objectives and six tactics have been identified for the next four years. This activity coordinates heavily with the Evaluation and Summary of Fundings activities to create efficiencies and share learning.

Objective 8.1: Leadership, CIIB, & RCICs value and use the SoF report, which evolves to provide more timely and actionable information to inform decision-making, support strategy development, and generate strategic documents for all data collected and available for analysis.

A. FEMA’s 2022-2026 Strategic Plan and the Annual Planning Guidance are used as guidance for findings and identifying the next steps for implementing actions from the information identified.

B. An RCIC joins SoF project team as part of the project team for execution.

C. Identify how to use non-elevated observations to provide broader and timelier analytical products. This includes assessing the need for more frequent products that include shorter information, trends and themes for leadership. This effort will also identify a process to determine which trends and themes should be elevated for action.

Objective 8.2: Inputs for SoF and the observations they provide are high quality, relevant, timely, diverse, and actionable.

A. The After-Action Review Product Tracker is used through a standardized process.

B. Improve the CIP product pipeline from RCIC to SoF team with product completion emails to all CIP.

C. Ensure the integration of the Issue Resolution System as a data source at the start of SoF to form a more integrated and functional relationship further showing the legitimacy of the SoF.

Activity 9: Continuous Improvement Technical Assistance Program The CITAP activity focuses on helping SLTT and other external partners build their capacity for continuous improvement. This includes developing national guidance, tools, and templates, 15 July 29, 2022 developing and delivering trainings, maintaining a community of practice, and providing customized advisory services, among other activities, that are equitably delivered and accessible to the broader emergency management community. The long-term goal of this activity is to increase preparedness and response capabilities among participating SLTT and other external partners, and to instill a culture of continuous improvement across the emergency management community.

Continuous Improvement Technical Assistance Program Outcome by 2026

By 2026, CIP desires that emergency managers are increasingly incorporating continuous improvement practices into their routine work and learning through real-world incidents and events.

Continuous Improvement Technical Assistance Program Objectives and Tactics

To accomplish this outcome, four objectives and 11 tactics have been identified for the next four years.

Objective 9.1: Develop and maintain a resource hub of continuous improvement guidance, tools, templates that are regularly used by emergency management partners.

A. Develop national-level guidance for continuous improvement implementation and best practices.

B. Update tools/templates on PrepToolkit site based on NCIG.

C. Develop after-action review tracking tools for improvement planning.

Objective 9.2: Increase the knowledge, skills, and abilities for emergency managers implementing continuous improvement by providing high quality, accessible, and customer driven training in an equitable way.

A. Develop training for how to establish a continuous improvement program in an agency, aimed at senior leadership.

B. Develop Vyond animated walkthrough videos of various parts of the Continuous Improvement process.

C. Develop a cycle of webinars/trainings to offer to SLTT and other whole community partners on a regular basis.

D. Conduct evaluation of SLTT partner requirements and needs to inform partner development priorities.

Objective 9.3: Grow the community of improvement practitioners through targeted community engagement across the wide spectrum of emergency management professionals.

A. FEMA provides a network through which SLTT and other external entities mature their continuous improvement processes, and the Community Forum grows in use and becomes a hub for broader continuous improvement engagement.

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Objective 9.4: Serve as a Subject Matter Expert (SME) for emergency managers, providing technical assistance to build and sustain the capability and capacity for continuous improvement within emergency management.

A. Develop a technical assistance approach with required resources, which may include awarding and executing a technical assistance contract. FEMA’s CIP is fully resourced to implement long-range CITAP efforts.

B. Identify technical assistance request and coordination of support process.

C. Develop a marketing plan and campaign for CITAP capabilities that will sink in to SLTT partners and external partners minds to say “I think we could use the help with this…”

Activity 10: Internal Continuous Improvement Program Assessment This activity will create and implement an evaluation plan to reflect how successfully CIP is fulfilling its vision statement. CIP will leverage its logic model to establish performance measures that will be analyzed and reported on. These reports will enable realistic ongoing measurement of CIP’s performance and provide data-driven findings to support enhanced decision making by leadership and staff.

Internal Continuous Improvement Program Assessment Outcome by 2026

By 2026, CIP’s performance measures successfully capture how well CIP is achieving its vision, and reports on these measures inform and guide decision-making and strategy at all levels of CIP.

Internal Continuous Improvement Program Assessment Objectives and Tactics

To accomplish this outcome, two objectives and six tactics have been identified for the next four years.

Objective 10.1: Regularly report on performance measures and expand how they are applied to CIP staff and activities.

A. Create and share the first report.

B. Formalize requirements/expectations for how report data will be incorporated into various

CIP and Agency processes and practices.

Objective 10.2: Identify how to expand the performance measures, available data, and ease of accessing and using the data.

A. Develop and implement process for reviewing, updating, and approving Logic Model, performance measures, and report content and format.

B. Coordinate regular revisions of the Logic Model and performance measures to include in future reports and monitor progress.

C. Train CIP staff on using the Power BI platform to independently access and analyze collected data.

D. Engage with other FEMA components and offices to see how other data systems could be incorporated into reports and Power BI platform.

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Activity 11: Program Consulting and Support CIP Program Consulting and Support is a set of CIP services focused on assisting FEMA program offices through customized and flexible application of industry best practices, tools, and techniques in order to design, develop, and implement solutions. The service includes providing support in process improvement, change management, project management, and program management.

Program Consulting and Support Outcome by 2026

By 2026, CIP has built the staff capability, tools, resources, and processes to affect change with program offices by delivering solutions-oriented assistance.

Program Consulting and Support Objectives and Tactics

To accomplish this outcome, three objectives and eight tactics have been identified for the next four years.

Objective 11.1: Train CIP Members - Provide a range of training opportunities for CIP staff, from independent study to advanced practitioner training. The focus will be on process improvement and some change management. Project/program management training will include references to external sources.

A. In coordination with the Training Activity, assess training requirements, identify internal and external training options and methods, and develop a plan for tiered training, including courses, mentoring, and experiential learning, and implement training plan.

B. Identify and implement a mentoring approach for staff development.

Objective 11.2: Create a…