National Network of Fusion Centers Capability and Capacity Enhancement

The Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), in partnership with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), seeks to enhance the capability and capacity of the National Network of Fusion Centers. State and major urban area fusion centers (fusion centers) serve as focal points within the state and local environment for the receipt, analysis, gathering, and sharing of threat-related information between the federal government and state, local, tribal, territorial, and private sector partners. Fusion centers are owned and operated by state and local entities with support from federal partners in the form of deployed personnel, training, technical assistance, exercise support, security clearances, connectivity to federal systems, technology, and grant funding.

The CNA Corporation will use the federal funds to support the National Network of Fusion Centers (NNFC) with a Fusion Center Exercise and Evaluation Program that will focus on areas for improvement identified in national assessments, in previous exercises, and by exercise program stakeholders. CNA has partnered with Helios Global, a small business leader in designing terrorism-prevention exercises, to design and deliver this program. In particular, CNA will develop a set of three standard exercises and will work with the participating jurisdictions to customize the exercises to its specific level of capability and needs. CNA will then deliver up to 10 exercises across the country, reaching multiple jurisdictions with each exercise to maximize participation in the program. CNA will also design and implement a methodology for exercise evaluation that is consistent with the DHS annual assessment process for the NNFC and develop after-action reports and corrective action plans for each exercise that identify best practices and areas for improvement and that include actionable steps for fusion centers to take in order to make improvements. CNA will also synthesize findings across exercises in semiannual reports that assess capability and capacity at the network level and will provide recommendations for programmatic improvements.

CA/NCF