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Department of Homeland Security Approves Use of Preparedness Funds for First Responder Training Courses

Press Release from SLGCP
Originally Published on DHS, July 9, 2004
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Washington, D.C. – The Department of Homeland Security's Office of State and Local Government Coordination and Preparedness (SLGCP), in cooperation with the Department's United States Fire Administration (USFA), announced today the approval of additional preparedness training courses for emergency responders.

"With the addition of these courses, the Department of Homeland Security is ensuring that our nation's emergency responders have the maximum training and resources to equip them in better protecting our nation. We are pleased to work with USFA to offer a more comprehensive training program and to enhance preparedness in our states and localities," said C. Suzanne Mencer, Executive Director of SLGCP.

"We are excited that our partnership with SLGCP is providing the nation's emergency response and management leaders with the opportunity to receive this critical preparedness training. This initiative between USFA and SLGCP will assist in developing the foundation for incident management teams at the state and local level," said U.S. Fire Administrator R. David Paulison.

In his Homeland Security Presidential Directive 8, President George Bush directed the Department of Homeland Security to multiply and enhance the training courses available to first responders. The newly approved courses, offered by USFA and the National Fire Academy, include Introduction to Unified Command for Multi-Agency and Catastrophic Incidents, All Hazards Incident Management, and Command and General Staff Functions in the Incident Command System.

With this approval, states and urban areas can use allocated Homeland Security Grant Program (HSGP) and Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) funding to conduct or attend these courses. Additionally, states and urban areas can now use this funding to reimburse overtime and backfill costs associated with attending these courses as well as other SLGCP approved courses. The HSGP and UASI funding constitutes $6 billion of the total $8 billion in funding allocated or awarded by the Department of Homeland Security to state and local governments and first responders since its creation on March 1, 2003.

On March 1, 2003, the Office for Domestic Preparedness became a part of the Department of Homeland Security. The Homeland Security Act of 2002 (Public Law 107-296) designated ODP as the principal federal agency responsible to build, coordinate, and sustain the preparedness of the United States to reduce vulnerabilities, prevent, respond to, and recover from acts of terrorism.

As an entity of the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the mission of the USFA is to reduce life and economic losses due to fire and related emergencies, through leadership, advocacy, coordination, and support. For more information on USFA, please visit www.usfa.fema.gov.

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