For churches

What a church security assessment covers

An assessment is a walk through your building with a list of questions. You can do one yourself with a free federal tool, and a security grant application needs one.

VantageIQ Technologies · October 4, 2026 · 2 minute read

What it looks at

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) publishes a free self-assessment for houses of worship. It guides the people who run the building through a security-focused review, and CISA says it is not meant to be an in-depth assessment. It covers six areas.

• Security and emergency management.
• Perimeter security.
• Parking and barriers.
• Access and entry control: how people get in.
• Video cameras.
• The security or safety team.

Each answer sits on a scale of three or five steps, from very low to very high, and comes with options for improving. The options are voluntary, and the tool says the scale does not set your priorities for you.

Who can do it

• You. The self-assessment is designed for it.
• Your local police or emergency management office. Some states accept their assessment for a grant application, so ask whether yours offers one.
• A CISA Protective Security Advisor. In its 2023 security goals CISA says its advisors support faith communities with assessments, site visits and training at no cost. Contact your CISA regional office, or write to central@cisa.dhs.gov.

What to do with what you find

A list of weaknesses helps nobody until each one has an owner. For every finding write down four things: how serious it is, who will fix it, by when, and what it will cost. Then look at the list every month until it is empty.

The grant that asks for one

The Federal Emergency Management Agency's Nonprofit Security Grant Program pays for security planning, equipment, training and exercises at nonprofits at risk of terrorist or other extremist attack, including houses of worship. For fiscal year 2026 the limit was $200,000 for each site, for up to three sites, and the notice named cameras, access controls and fencing among the things it pays for. That cycle has closed.

• You apply through your state's administrative agency, not to the federal agency.
• Each site needs its own vulnerability assessment. One assessment does not cover several campuses.
• The notice does not say who must carry it out. Tennessee, Pennsylvania and North Carolina are among the states that accept a self-assessment.
• The amounts, the rules and the deadlines change every year, and each state sets its own dates. Ask your state agency before you start.