Home

Homeland Security Report, 2008–2013

Homeland Security Report, 2008–2013 One Team, One Mission, Securing Our Homeland
U.S. Department of Homeland Security Strategic Plan Fiscal Years 2008–2013

This Department of Homeland Security’s overriding and urgent mission is to lead the unified national effort to secure the country and preserve our freedoms. While the Department was created to secure our country against those who seek to disrupt the American way of life, our charter also includes preparation for and response to all hazards and disasters. The citizens of the United States must have the utmost confidence that the Department can execute both of these missions.

The 2008 Strategic Plan serves to focus the Department’s mission and sharpen operational effectiveness, particularly in delivering services in support of Department-wide initiatives and the other mission goals. It identifies the goals and objectives by which we continually assess our performance.

The Department uses performance measures at all levels to monitor our strategic progress and program success. This process also keeps the Department’s priorities aligned, linking programs and operations to performance measures, mission goals, resource priorities, and strategic objectives.

Faced with the challenge of strengthening the components to function as a unified Department, DHS must coordinate centralized, integrated activities across components that are distinct in their missions and operations. Thus, sound and cohesive management is the key to Department-wide and component-level strategic goals. We seek to harmonize our efforts as we work diligently to accomplish our mission each and every day.

Americans are a resilient people. We have overcome great adversities in the past, and we will do so again. Regardless of what challenges may come, we will work tirelessly to protect our country. In the face of national challenges, we are one Nation. And here at DHS, we are one Department, unified to ensure the security of the American people – a Department that will continue striving to protect our homeland while ensuring the strength of our economy and preserving our cherished American freedoms and liberties.

In this spirit, it is important to acknowledge that this Strategic Plan is a living document and will be revised as needed to guide a dynamic Department and its ever-changing requirements.

Download Homeland Security Report, 2008–2013

PDF format, 926KB, 44Pages.

Vision
A secure America, a confident public, and a strong and resilient society and economy.

Letter from the Secretary
I am proud to present the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) 2008 Strategic Plan. This is the Department’s second Strategic Plan, based on the overarching direction stated in the National Strategy for Homeland Security.

With it, we will build on the progress we have made and define the successes we seek to achieve in the future. We have worked with determination to integrate the Department’s varied elements; this new Plan charts a course to help further strengthen our efforts.

We are a unified Department with a shared focus: strengthening our Nation – through a partnership with individual citizens, the private sector, state, local, and tribal governments, and our global partners. We must also coordinate across Federal agencies, while shaping homeland security policy and coordinating incident management. We seek continually to improve the operations of the Department, to discharge our duty of safeguarding the home front.

This includes:
1. Clarifying, defining, and communicating leadership roles, responsibilities, and lines of authority at all government levels;
2. Strengthening accountability systems that balance the need for fast, flexible response with the need to prevent waste, fraud, and abuse;
3. Consolidating efforts to integrate the Department’s critical mission of preparedness; and
4. Enhancing our capabilities to respond to major disasters and emergencies, including catastrophic events, particularly in terms of situational assessment and awareness, emergency communications, evacuations, search and rescue, logistics, and mass care and sheltering.

The Second Stage Review (2SR) process I ordered the Department to undertake in 2005 was designed to institutionalize the lessons learned since DHS was created in 2003. As a result of this review, we implemented a new management structure and philosophy. Because it is not feasible to secure our homeland against every conceivable threat, we have instituted risk management as the primary basis for policy and resource allocation decision making.

Risk management assesses threats, vulnerabilities, and consequences, examines the best opportunities to mitigate risk, and provides a useful framework for obtaining and allocating the resources necessary to reduce risk to acceptable levels. We will anticipate emerging threats and take appropriate early action.

We must protect the homeland while also being prudent stewards of the resources provided by the American taxpayer. The Department must integrate sound practices from the private sector into the way we do business.

My vision is to use those resources to recruit and retain a highly qualified professional workforce, and to deploy practical, cross functional strategies, policies, programs, resources, and technologies to fulfill our mission.

In these first years of the 21st century, America faces many challenges. But we have one particular competitive advantage: our resilience as a people. We have shown that when faced with adversity, we collectively possess both creativity and determination. I look forward to implementing this plan as a strong complement to our untiring American spirit.

Bookmark

Email This

Comments (0) add comment