Defining Our Mission: A Content Analysis of U.S. Emergency Management Agency Mission Statements

Savitt Amanda () and Montano Samantha
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Savitt Amanda: Center for Climate Adaptation Research, 320 Bradley Street, Saco, ME 04072, USA
Montano Samantha: Center for Climate Adaptation Research, 320 Bradley Street, Saco, ME 04072, USA

Journal of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, 2025, vol. 22, issue 2, 97-117

Abstract: The identity and mission of emergency management is a topic of frequent discussion among researchers and practitioners. However, the extent to which there is consensus across emergency management agencies about what their missions are is unclear. This study seeks to answer that question through a content analysis of the mission statements from 226 emergency management agencies representing all levels of government in the United States (i.e. federal, state, territorial, tribal, and local). Mission statements are a tool organizations use to indicate both externally and internally their raison d’etre. This study found there is consensus regarding emergency management agencies’ concern with “all-hazards” and the use of phases to organize their work. There were differences found in how agencies accounted for their constituencies, partner agencies, role identity, and goals. Despite some differences, this study found that overall agency mission statements across levels of government in the US align, suggesting consensus in the field of the mission of emergency management.

Keywords: emergency management; mission statements; professionalization (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1515/jhsem-2024-0028

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