What keeps Janet Napolitano up at night?

WASHINGTON - The future and preparing for it remain a top concern for Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano.

In an interview with WTOP, Napolitano says her department is working on an "overall strategic direction" and long term plans for the next four years.

"What we have designed is a process to be completed by December. It's called the Quadrennial Homeland Security Review (QHSR). What that's designed to do is give us long-term strategic guidance for the department."

But she doesn't need the QHSR to tell her what the main issues will be.

"I know, for example, that cyber security is going to be a big issue for us," she says. "I know that the sharing of intelligence better state and local sharing is going to be a big issue for us. I know that continuing to improve our disaster response resiliency long term recovery is going to continue to be an issue for us."

Napolitano says she believes that these issues need to be understood, shaped and secured in order to insure that the U.S. is ready for the future. A considerable part of being prepared for the future, according to Napolitano, is each American citizen assuming their shared responsibilities.

She recommends "being prepared to take care of yourself and your family should something happen - and not just relying on the government to take care of you."

In the event of a major terror attack or natural disaster, Napolitano's advises you not to sit and wait for the government to come to you.

"We may not be able to," she says. "We may have to focus for special needs populations."

DHS is pushing several methods to help prepare people to assume that responsibility. Among them is the Citizen Corps, a nationwide grassroots effort to educate and train Americans of all abilities on all-hazard preparedness.

Another is Preparedness Planning for Home Health Care Providers. Its goal is to ensure that the needs of patients, their service animals and caregivers are met.

Ready.gov is a national public service advertising campaign designed to educate and empower Americans to prepare for and respond to emergencies, including natural disasters and potential terrorist attacks.

"Thinking about our nation's safety and our nation's security is something that we all benefit from," says Napolitano. "We all share in it, we all have a responsibility for it."

(Copyright 2009 by WTOP. All rights reserved.)