FederalDaily.com > FEMA Pushing for 95 Percent Staffing Level

FederalDaily - June 21, 2006

FEMA Pushing for 95 Percent Staffing Level

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Director R. David Paulison vowed to achieve “95 percent staffing” levels by mid-May. But by last week, he admitted that the goal remained unmet. This week, FEMA spokesman Aaron Walker gave FederalDaily.com a status report. “We are still at about 85 percent staffing,” he said. The 95 percent goal would be 2,100 employees, and Walker said FEMA is now at 1,885 employees. Staffing, he said, remained below target for two reasons: “Lots of promotions from within, and we have an aging work force—we have 30 retirees a month.” He called keeping up with the losses “hard.” That said, Walker reported FEMA has “more than 300” employees in the hiring phase. “We’re confident that we’ll be hiring these 300 people in the next four weeks or so, putting us much closer to our goals.”

EEOC, OPM Overlap Work and Waste Money

A new Government Accountability Office report said that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the Office Personnel Management (OPM) still waste money and time on “overlapping” workplace diversity efforts—despite a 2005 Office of Management and Budget order to cooperate to eliminate the problem. Not only are their efforts redundant, but 56 percent of federal EEO and human capital officers said that, overall, EEOC has been of little or no help in developing diversity. More than 80 percent said the same of OPM. “I am disappointed that the two federal agencies most responsible for ensuring equal employment opportunities for federal workers have provided as little help as they have,” said Sen. Joe Lieberman, D-Conn. On the other hand, the two agencies got better grades when the survey questions were couched in terms of people—79 percent reported that specific guidance from EEOC personnel was useful, while only 42 percent thought the same of OPM personnel.

DOJ Criticizes Whistleblower

Former FBI Minneapolis field office counsel Coleen Rowley—who blew the whistle on her superiors’ unresponsiveness to specific warnings of impending attack in the lead-up to 9/11—is once again in the spotlight this week. A new Department of Justice (DOJ) Office of Inspector General report (available in heavily redacted form to the public) again criticizes Rowley’s actions, even though she was, as Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, puts it, “the only one who did anything to make sure the FBI was held responsible for its lack of responsiveness.” Upon reading the full report, Grassley said, “What is more troubling than the report’s minor criticisms of Rowley is the way it describes the adversarial relationship between the Minnesota field office and headquarters.” The public version of the report—which is missing most specifics on Rowley—is available at DOJ.gov.

PTSD Surges among Recent Vets

Recent data from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) shows that the number of veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan only to be diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has skyrocketed in recent months. The reports show that in May 2005, 9,688 such vets received an initial diagnosis of PTSD. In May of this year, that number increased to 25,317—a 261 percent increase in one year. “I am very concerned that the VA is not prepared to address the growing number of servicemembers and veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with mental health needs,” said Rep. Michael Michaud, D-Maine. Michaud and other critics pointed out that cuts in areas of the VA’s budget have led to the reduced availability of mental health services, specifically a 25 percent drop in PTSD therapy sessions per patient over the last decade.