EVALUATION OF STATE HAZARD MITIGATION PLANS: AN ASSESSMENT OF PLAN QUALITY AND STAKEHOLDER INVOLVEMENT

Abstract

Plan quality serves as the primary foundation for successful hazard mitigation practices, yet there is little research that investigates the impact of stakeholders on state hazard mitigation plan quality. The objective of this research was to determine how stakeholders involved in the planning process affected the overall quality of hazard mitigation plans at the state level. Plan quality was determined quantitatively, all stakeholders were identified, categorized by status (i.e., citizen, government official), and the relationship between the number of stakeholders and state hazard mitigation plan quality was tested. The findings suggest minor variation in plan quality scores across all 50 states. The results also suggest that stakeholders represented as a percentage of all stakeholders, and not the count of all stakeholders, had a significant impact on overall plan quality. Further analysis of the motivations behind the creation of a high quality hazard mitigation plan, and understanding and investigation of stakeholder involvement may provide greater insight to the impact certain stakeholders have on hazard mitigation plan quality at the state level.