Readout of Secretary Napolitano's Meeting with Jewish Community Leaders

Press Release

Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano today met with New York Jewish community leaders from the UJA-Federation at the White House, to discuss a variety of topics including information sharing and underscoring the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) partnerships with faith-based communities to prevent, prepare for and respond to terrorist threats.

"DHS recognizes the important role the nonprofit community has in our homeland security efforts," said Secretary Napolitano. "We work closely with nonprofit organizations throughout the country- including the faith-based community- to share information, offer training, conduct risk assessments and provide resources to give the nonprofit sector the tools to address threats and help keep communities safe."

During the meeting, Secretary Napolitano highlighted the Department's efforts to support faith-based communities through DHS grants and information sharing, including collaboration through the Faith Based Task Force under the Homeland Security Advisory Council.

In FY 2012, DHS sustained funding for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program despite significant overall cuts to grants in order to support target hardening and physical security enhancements at nonprofit organizations that are at high risk of terrorist attack. For the first time, FEMA also made nonprofit organizations eligible for Law Enforcement Terrorism Prevention Activities (LETPA) funding in the FY 2012 grant guidance. Through this funding, DHS encourages states, urban areas, and regions to work closely with the nonprofit community to address terrorism prevention concerns and the needs of the nonprofit sector.

Last year, Secretary Napolitano announced the expansion of the "If You See Something, Say Something™" public awareness campaign to Jewish community by partnering with the Jewish Federations of North America and the Secure Community Network--a mechanism for information sharing with faith- and community-based organizations designed to quickly improve overall security awareness in a crisis situation.

The "If You See Something, Say Something™" campaign--originally implemented by New York City's Metropolitan Transportation Authority and now licensed to DHS for a nationwide campaign--is a simple and effective program to engage the public and key frontline employees to identify and report indicators of terrorism and terrorism-related crime to the proper transportation and law enforcement authorities.

For more information, visit www.dhs.gov.

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