Developing Metrics and Scoring Procedures to Support Mitigation Grant Program Decisionmaking

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) launched the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIG) program to award predisaster mitigation grants. FEMA asked the Homeland Security Operational Analysis Center (HSOAC) to develop metrics-quantitative measurements of important concepts-that can inform decisionmaking for the BRIG program. Building from discussions with program leadership, a review of stakeholder comments, and a close reading of BRIO'S legal requirements., the authors established three lines of effort (LoEs) for analysis. The indirect benefits line reviewed published measurement techniques and blended them into instructions for an input-output simulation model that better measures the full benefit to a community of mitigating an asset. The applicant institutional capability (AIC) line reviewed analogous research and interviewed subject-matter experts to develop a checklist for assessing the ability of applicants to propose or execute mitigation projects, focusing on staff retention, skills, and experience, as well as management capacity and technical capacity. The community resilience line developed an assessment framework based on BRIC's legal requirements, discussions with BRIC leadership, and standard best practices in measurement. Then, the LoE conducted a preliminary review of published resilience metrics, highlighting the potential value of action-based community resilience metrics for performance evaluation, population-based metrics for equity evaluation, and building code-based metrics as needed to improve statutory compliance. Each LoE produced a metric or framework for assessing metrics that could support BRIC grant decisionmaking and program performance evaluation. The report concludes with 11 recommendations for FEMA to consider. Book jacket.