Public Accountability Report

Illinois Emergency Management Agency and Office of Homeland Security’s major accomplishments:

The Illinois Emergency Management Agency and Office of Homeland Security (IEMA-OHS) is the lead coordinating agency for all emergencies and disasters in the State of Illinois and its primary responsibility is to better prepare the state for natural, manmade or technological disasters, hazards, or acts of terrorism.

• Fiscal: During fiscal year 2023, the agency oversaw $609 million in spending, of which, approximately $209 million was for the work tied to the agency’s disaster response/recovery including 23 counties for storm/flood damage and other critical emergency response incidents. $332.6 million in was disbursed in grant funds to state, local and non-profit entities. We recouped $63.4 million of its disaster expenses through FEMA’s Public Assistance Grants Program.
• Logistics continued to support the State with COVID-19 supplies by shipping more than 2.1 million pieces of PPE Statewide this year to support the Public Health initiative with COVID-19 test distribution to schools, VA homes and other congregate care settings including over 1.5 million tests. We have supported the state’s asylum seeker mission shipping nearly 2.8 million pieces of supplies. We have enhanced year-round all-hazards preparedness with pre-positioned critical supplies for flood relief to facilitate faster deployment to the Mississippi River.
• Emergency Response: Operations has been heavily involved with the severe weather and flooding and disasters with extended deployments in multiple counties including Calhoun, Christian, Clark, Coles, Cook, Cumberland, DeWitt, Douglas, Edgar, Hancock, Logan, Macon, McDonough, Monroe, Morgan, Moultrie, Pike, Sangamon, Scott, Vermillion, Warren, and Washington.
• Recovery: The Recovery Division is fully engaged with the statewide recovery effort addressing, Public Assistance, Individual Assistance and Hazard Mitigation to provide more efficient recovery of state and local jurisdictions and individuals with 3 Presidentially declared disaster declarations and multiple SBA Disaster Declarations.
• Statewide Communications Interoperability: The updated Illinois Statewide Communication Interoperability Plan is working well as agencies tested and exercised the procedures through a full-scale cross border exercise with Wisconsin. This successful exercise showcased the state’s continued commitment to improving emergency communications interoperability and supporting the public safety practitioners throughout the State including all current requirements with the DHS grant guidelines.
• Combating School Violence: To address the growing concerns of school violence in Illinois, Safe2Help Illinois is a free, confidential resources and information sharing platform available to all K-12 students in Illinois with a 24-hour helpline encourages students to share information that could prevent bullying, suicides, or other threats to school violence.
• Office of Nuclear Safety: In April, the Office of Nuclear Safety’s (ONS) Agreement State Program underwent a comprehensive evaluation by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) receiving the highest rating achievable for all indicators and was determined to be compatible with the NRC’s National Materials Program. In June, ONS’ Radiochemistry Laboratory was recognized for successfully completing a method validation of radioactivity in ground deposition soil samples.
• Homeland Security: The Office of Homeland Security has enhanced the statewide partnerships by sharing critical documents and coordinating and plans to better prepare partner agencies to increase safety levels. This includes response collaboration and grant programs that promote enhanced safety and protection that aligns with the identified Illinois Homeland Security Strategy in the Vision 2025 plan.
• Joint Information Center (JIC): the JIC was activated several incidents in response to multiple emergencies with local, county, other State agencies for critical messaging/information for disaster response and recovery.