Agencies need to better plan for the use of alternate facilities and telework centers during disruptions, the Government Accountability Office has said.
It said while the six agencies it looked at have taken steps to prepare their alternate facilities for use in emergencies, none of them followed all of FEMA’s guidance, which states that agency continuity of operations plans should include telework.
None of the agencies had conducted all applicable tests and exercises in the guidance such as annual exercises that involve moving COOP personnel to alternate facilities, according to GAO-06-713.
It said the agencies had not fully identified the resources necessary to support their essential functions in alternate sites, and that FEMA has taken a limited role in overseeing and assessing agency COOP capabilities.
A Department of Homeland Security official told GAO that FEMA has developed a schedule of oversight activities that includes conducting assessments of agency continuity plans beginning in July, but the assessment’s methodology is not finalized, according to the report.
It cited an increase in the number of agencies that have plans for essential personnel to telework during a COOP event – from three in a previous survey, to nine currently out of 23 agencies.
However, GAO said few have documented that they have made the necessary preparations to effectively use telework during such an event — for example, just one documented that it notified team members that they would be expected to telework during a COOP event.
