The purpose of this assignment is to explore how homeland security is defined, constructed, and delivered in your local jurisdiction at a strategic level. Create a policy memo of 750–1,000 words that summarizes the major topics listed below. Your memo should outline your research findings on the major topic areas and research questions. You may consider your local jurisdiction as a town or city, county, or state of your choice. You are encouraged to interview local homeland security practitioners, either in person or via e-mail to complete this assignment.

Assignment Guidelines

• Address the following in 750–1,000 words:
• What jurisdiction did you choose for this assignment?
  • How is homeland security defined by your jurisdiction?
    • Is there a written definition or strategy? 
    • Is this document public? If not, why not? 
      • If there is not a written definition at the local level, consider the findings of your research in the context of the definitions and environment outlined in resources provided (e.g., the National Strategy for Homeland Security). 
  • How does your local strategy differ from the national strategy? 
    • How is it similar? 
    • Are these differences appropriate?
  • What is the scope of the strategy? Explain.
    • Does it define the key participating agencies and disciplines?
  • Does the local strategy include participation by the private sector? Does it include nongovernmental organizations?
  • How are the state and federal government incorporated into the strategy? Explain.
    • If they are not, should they be?
  • Who (what agency) wrote the strategy? 
  • What agency provides primary HS leadership? Is there more than one? 
  • What are the platforms for interagency coordination of HS strategic issues (e.g., meetings, conference calls, and task forces)?
  • Has the focus on HS as a metadiscipline, wavered in the years since 9/11 in your jurisdiction?
  • Is the level of strategic focus on HS at the local level appropriate for the HS environment that the nation and your jurisdiction find themselves in today?
• Be sure to reference all sources using APA style.
• Compile your answers into a final Word document, and submit it to your instructor.

Please submit your assignment.

Click on Student Expectations to view the expectations for this assignment.

For assistance with your assignment, please use your text, Web resources, and all course materials.

Phase Materials

• Assessment: How Are You Smart?
  Assessment: How Are You Smart?

• Assessments
  Ageless Learner provides a learning style manual self-assessment from Marcia L. Conner that can be printed to score. Visual, auditory, and tactile and kinesthetic learning styles are covered. Learning Styles Assessment is at the top of the list on this page.

• Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
  Official Web site of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

• Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
  Official Web site of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Contains information on types of disasters, planning, recovery, rebuilding, and federal assistance.

• Homeland Security
  The White House overview of and resources for Homeland Security.

• How Your Learning Style Affects Your Use of Mnemonics.
  This explanation of how the different learners use their learning style to remember content focuses on visual learners, auditory learners, and kinesthetic learners. Click “Memory Improvement” in top-right navigation for memory aids.

• IS-230.a Fundamentals of Emergency Management
  This course, from the Emergency Management Institute’s Independent Study Program provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), discusses the networking of resources and capabilities in order to facilitate an all-hazards approach. Once successfully completed, you will receive official certification for course completion.

• National Strategy for Homeland Security
  Search “nat_strat_homelandsecurity_2007” for the National Strategy for Homeland Security.

• Quadrennial Homeland Security Review (QHSR)
  Search for quadrennial homeland security review. Quadrennial Homeland Security Review (QHSR) Report to Congress.

• The Vark Questionnaire: How Do I Learn Best?
  When the learner completes this brief test, the assessment provides scores for each learning style and preferred style of the learner: visual, aural, reading and writing, and kinesthetic. This Web site provides bulleted lists per preferred learning style describing how to absorb information, how to study, and how to perform well on a test.