Reznick Group Recommends Creation of New Federal Disaster Recovery Project Management Office

March 21, 2011 - PRLog -- BETHESDA, Md.  — In a white paper released by the Reznick Group, a top-20 national accounting, tax, and business advisory firm, the firm draws on years of experience working on financial recovery efforts after large scale disasters to conclude that a new federal office is needed to address shortcomings in the current system.

The white paper entitled, Redefining Federal Disaster Management: Envisioning a New Office for Federal Disaster Recovery Management, can be found on the Reznick website at http://www.reznickgroup.com/governmentservices.

Author and Reznick Group Principal Timothy Bender writes that, “In the minds of many, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is the public face of government disaster response.  In point of fact, however, responsibility for disaster response is spread over dozens of federal, state and local entities, as well as nongovernmental organizations such as the Red Cross.”

The paper notes that, “There is, however, no overarching body that is able to coordinate with authority the distribution of short-term and long-term responsibility among agencies. While FEMA’s mandate includes the coordination of first response, in practice it lacks the authority to direct the actions of other agencies, particularly over a longer time frame.”  It goes on to say that a, “structural problem involves the sharing of information across agencies and jurisdictions.”

The paper concludes that, “The solution, then, is to redefine federal disaster recovery management to include the entire spectrum of activities between first response and the completion of long-term recovery efforts. This redefined mandate could be overseen by a new disaster recovery project management office, which would have the authority to coordinate resources and responsibilities for overall disaster recovery, from immediate response to long-term reconstruction. FEMA would still be responsible for coordinating first response, but the new office—which could be part of FEMA, another agency or department, or independent—would then oversee the transfer of responsibility as the immediate challenge of first response gave way to solving longer-term problems. “

For more information, visit http://www.reznickgroup.com/governmentservices.

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About Reznick Group: Reznick Group’s Government Services Practice provides accounting, business advisory and financial services to federal, state and local governments, as well as public sector contractors. The firm’s experience includes audit, accounting and financial services, disaster program management, risk assessments, compliance and monitoring, and the design and implementation of technology solutions. The firm employs a comprehensive project management approach that provides clients with repeatable and reliable processes and delivers government services accounting insights that help government organizations improve communication, administer fiscal and operational strategies and meet compliance requirements.

Reznick Group is a top-20 national accounting, tax and business advisory firm founded in 1977 and headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland. The firm maintains offices nationwide.