This is the accessible text file for GAO report number GAO-07-219 
entitled 'Hurricanes Katrina and Rita: Federal Actions Could Enhance 
Preparedness of Certain State-Administered Federal Support Programs' 
which was released on February 7, 2007. 

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Report to Congressional Committees: 

United States Government Accountability Office: 

GAO: 

February 2007: 

Hurricanes Katrina And Rita: 

Federal Actions Could Enhance Preparedness of Certain State- 
Administered Federal Support Programs: 

GAO-07-219: 

GAO Highlights: 

Highlights of GAO-07-219, a report to congressional committees 

Why GAO Did This Study: 

Hurricanes Katrina and Rita displaced over 1 million people and 
affected some of the poorest areas of the country. Many of those 
affected by the hurricanes received federal assistance from the Old 
Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (Social Security), 
Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Food Stamp, Unemployment Insurance 
(UI), and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) programs 
beforehand and others were newly eligible after the storms. Under the 
Comptroller General’s authority, GAO assessed the (1) challenges the 
hurricanes created for programs to take applications and pay benefits, 
(2) factors that helped or hindered programs’ efforts, and (3) areas 
that warrant further attention and actions being taken to improve 
programs’ disaster response. To do this work, GAO reviewed policies, 
reports, and plans, and interviewed program officials at the federal 
level and in Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas. 

What GAO Found: 

The mass destruction and displacement of people caused by the 
hurricanes created new challenges, including an unprecedented demand 
for services from these five programs. The demand for food stamps and 
UI benefits, and the disaster assistance they provide, rose sharply. 
New evacuee policies were created to provide food stamps and TANF 
assistance to evacuees nationwide. In contrast, Social Security and SSI 
had a significant increase for replacement benefits, but did not have a 
large increase in new applications. Disaster plans, flexible service 
delivery options, and access to contingency funding facilitated 
response, but not all programs had these elements in place. The 
federally administered Social Security and SSI programs had service 
delivery disaster plans in place to meet demand. However, such 
strategies were sometimes lacking for the state-administered Food 
Stamp, UI, and TANF programs. Flexible service delivery options such as 
800 numbers and Internet application services and debit cards for 
issuing benefits expedited services. Last, access to contingency 
funding was key to facilitating disaster response. Gaps remain in 
preventing improper payments, easing access to services, and improving 
disaster planning for the state-administered programs, although new 
efforts hold potential for addressing these areas. Some program 
officials said they relaxed program rules to better ensure that those 
in need received aid, which may have increased the risk of improper 
payments. Program officials are taking actions to address improper 
payments, although more sharing of information across programs and 
states would be useful. Regarding access to services, disaster victims 
sometimes faced difficulties accessing aid from multiple programs, a 
long-standing problem exacerbated by a disaster. The Department of 
Health and Human Services (HHS) has begun a promising effort—with links 
to state program administrators—to improve delivery of human services 
during disasters. This effort would be strengthened by additional 
actions, including collecting and disseminating information on service 
delivery and improper payments during disasters. Finally, to address 
planning gaps, federal officials are working with states to improve 
service delivery planning for the Food Stamp and UI programs, although 
HHS needs to work more systematically with states to assess the need 
for additional planning for state TANF programs. 

Table: Federal and State Responsibilities for Key Program Functions 
Vary: 

Key Functions: Funding benefits; 
Social Security and SSI: Federal responsibility; Food Stamps: Federal 
responsibility; 
UI: State responsibility; 
TANF: Federal and state shared responsibility. 

Key Functions: Funding administrative costs; Social Security and SSI: 
Federal responsibility; Food Stamps: Federal and state shared 
responsibility; UI: Federal responsibility; 
TANF: Federal and state shared responsibility. 

Key Functions: Establishing eligibility rules; Social Security and SSI: 
Federal responsibility; Food Stamps: Federal and state shared 
responsibility; UI: State responsibility; 
TANF: Federal and state shared responsibility. 

Key Functions: Supplying program offices and staffing; Social Security 
and SSI: Federal responsibility; Food Stamps: State responsibility; 
UI: State responsibility; 
TANF: State responsibility. 

Source: GAO analysis. 

[End of table] 

What GAO Recommends: 

GAO recommends that HHS take steps, such as disseminating information 
on promising practices and further study of case management approaches 
as part of its efforts to improve delivery of human services during 
disasters, as well as work with states to collect information on the 
need for TANF disaster planning. HHS agreed with the recommendations on 
actions to strengthen its recent efforts but did not agree to address 
TANF planning specifically. 

[Hyperlink, http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-07-219]. 

To view the full product, including the scope and methodology, click on 
the link above. For more information, contact Barbara Bovbjerg at (202) 
512-7215 or bovbjergb@gao.gov. 

[End of section] 

Contents: 

Letter: 

Results in Brief: 

Background: 

Widespread Devastation and Displacement of People Created Service 
Delivery Challenges such as Unprecedented Demand: 

Disaster Planning, Service Delivery Options, and Access to Funding 
Facilitated Response, but Not All Programs Had These Measures in Place: 

Gaps in Disaster Response Remain; Efforts Under Way Hold Promise for 
Improving Human Service Programs' Disaster Response: 

Conclusions: 

Recommendations for Executive Action: 

Agency Comments and Our Evaluation: 

Appendix I: Objectives, Scope, and Methodology: 

Appendix II: Comments from the Social Security Administration: 

Appendix III: Comments from the Department of Health & Human Services: 

Appendix IV: Comments from the U.S Department of Labor: 

Appendix V: GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments: 

Related GAO Products: 

Tables: 

Table 1: Selected Federal Support Programs: 

Table 2: Federal and State Responsibilities for Key Functions That 
Support Taking Applications and Issuing Benefits: 

Table 3: Program Application Options before the Hurricanes, by State: 

Table 4: Program Benefit Payment Methods before the Hurricanes, by 
State: 

Table 5: Lessons Learned about Strategies to Facilitate Response and 
Considerations for Disaster Planning: 

Table 6: Program Funding: 

Table 7: Some of the Initiatives States We Reviewed Are Exploring to 
Improve Disaster Preparedness: 

Table 8: Selected White House Report Recommendations to HHS to Improve 
the Delivery of Human Services during Disasters: 

Figures: 

Figure 1: FEMA Designated Disaster Counties for Hurricanes Katrina and 
Rita: 

Figure 2: SSA District Office in Downtown New Orleans after Hurricane 
Katrina and Flooding: 

Figure 3: Disaster Food Stamp Recipients under Hurricanes Katrina and 
Rita: 

Figure 4: Food Stamp Recipients in Hurricane-Affected States, August to 
December 2005: 

Figure 5: UI Claims in Hurricane Affected States, August to December 
2005: 

Figure 6: DUA Initial Applications Nationwide, January 2001 to August 
2006: 

Figure 7: States That Requested TANF Contingency Funds Following 
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita: 

Figure 8: Nationwide Social Security and SSI Immediate Payments, August 
31 to October 31, 2003, through 2006: 

Figure 9: Lake Charles Food Stamp and TANF Program Office Damaged by 
Hurricane Rita: 

Figure 10: DUA Payment Process: 

Abbreviations: 

ACF: Administration for Children and Families: 
APHSA: American Public Human Services Association: 
COOP: continuity of operations: 
DHS: Department of Homeland Security: 
DUA: disaster unemployment assistance: 
EBT: electronic benefit transfer: 
EFT: electronic fund transfer: 
ESF: emergency support function: 
FEMA: Federal Emergency Management Agency: 
FNS: Food and Nutrition Service: 
HHS: Department of Health and Human Services: 
IG: Office of Inspector General: 
NASWA: National Association of State Workforce Agencies: 
NRP: National Response Plan: 
OPHEP: Office of Public Health Emergency Preparedness: 
PIN: personal identification number: 
SSA: Social Security Administration: 
SSI: Supplemental Security Income: 
TANF: Temporary Assistance for Needy Families: 
UI: Unemployment Insurance: 
USDA: Department of Agriculture: 

United States Government Accountability Office: 
Washington, DC 20548: 

February 7, 2007: 

Congressional Committees: 

Hurricane Katrina made landfall in Louisiana and Mississippi on August 
29, 2005, and alone caused more damage than any other natural disaster 
in the history of the United States. Hurricane Rita followed less than 
a month later, adding to the devastation. These hurricanes displaced 
over 1 million residents in the most directly affected states--Alabama, 
Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas--and affected some of the poorest 
areas in the country. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) 
provided cash payments to help individuals and households with 
immediate disaster assistance such as shelter, clothing, and personal 
necessities. Beyond this FEMA aid, many in the affected areas were 
receiving assistance from other federal programs before the hurricanes, 
and others who lost their homes, employment, or other forms of support 
became newly eligible for assistance after the storms. Key among these 
programs are Old Age, Survivors; and Disability Insurance (Social 
Security); Supplemental Security Income (SSI); the Food Stamp Program; 
Unemployment Insurance (UI); and the Temporary Assistance for Needy 
Families (TANF) programs. Because millions of individuals and families 
nationwide rely on benefits and services provided by these programs, 
assessing these programs' hurricane response could help better prepare 
for ensuring Americans' income security in future emergencies. 

These programs primarily provide cash or food assistance to replace 
lost employment income or help low-income individuals meet basic needs, 
and represent a significant federal financial investment. In a recent 
year, Social Security and SSI provided $530.3 billion in income support 
nationwide, while the Food Stamp, UI, and TANF programs combined 
provided over $92 billion in benefits and services to eligible 
individuals during the same time period. To assist Congress in 
identifying what lessons can be learned to improve federal response 
following major disasters such as Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, we 
prepared this report under the Comptroller General's authority to 
conduct evaluations under his own initiative. Specifically we assessed 
(1) the challenges Hurricanes Katrina and Rita created in the immediate 
aftermath for these programs to take applications and pay benefits; (2) 
what helped the programs expedite applications and benefit payments 
after the hurricanes, and what issues, if any, emerged; and (3) which 
areas warrant further attention, and what actions are being taken to 
address these. 

To do this work, we reviewed policies, procedures, and other relevant 
documents for the five programs, as well as recent reports on the 
response to Hurricane Katrina.[Footnote 1] We interviewed headquarters 
and regional officials for each of the four agencies that oversee the 
five selected federal basic support programs: the Social Security 
Administration (SSA)--Social Security and SSI; U.S. Department of 
Agriculture (USDA)--Food Stamp Program; U.S. Department of Labor 
(Labor)--UI; and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)-- 
TANF. In addition to regular food stamps and UI benefits, the Food 
Stamp and UI programs also have disaster components to provide 
assistance in response to major disasters. In this report, we refer to 
Social Security and SSI as federally administered programs because the 
federal government establishes key program policies, funds all benefit 
and administrative costs, and operates offices primarily with federal 
employees. In contrast, we refer to the Food Stamp, UI, and TANF 
programs as state-administered because states are responsible for 
operating program offices and, to varying degrees among the programs, 
share responsibility with the federal government for setting policies 
and procedures, and providing funding. 

We conducted site visits in Louisiana and Texas to meet with federal, 
state, and local officials and conducted phone interviews with state 
officials in Alabama and Mississippi and federal officials in Atlanta 
who are responsible for regional program oversight. We also conducted 
phone interviews with state officials in Florida to learn about their 
experience in responding to recent tropical storms and hurricanes and 
in hosting evacuees from Hurricane Katrina. To obtain insights on 
hurricane victims' perspectives on programs' hurricane response, we 
interviewed national and state advocacy groups for beneficiaries. In 
addition, we reviewed federal, state, and office-specific disaster 
preparedness plans and guidance. To assess the reliability of data on 
applications filed and benefits received, we reviewed relevant 
documentation, and interviewed federal officials knowledgeable about 
the data. We determined the data were sufficiently reliable for the 
purposes of our report. We coordinated with the federal Offices of the 
Inspector General (IG) and state auditors on these and other issues. We 
also spoke with a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) official about 
plans for the delivery of federal disaster assistance. We conducted our 
work between November 2005 and December 2006 in accordance with 
generally accepted government auditing standards. See appendix I for 
more information about our objectives, scope, and methodology. 

Results in Brief: 

Hurricanes Katrina and Rita caused widespread destruction and 
displacement of people, resulting in challenges for federal basic 
support programs, including an unparalleled demand for services. Many 
individuals from the affected region moved to various locations 
throughout the country, and in some areas, the programs had to serve a 
large concentration of evacuees. The demand for disaster food stamps, 
regular food stamps, UI benefits, and disaster unemployment assistance 
rose sharply. Newly available federal TANF funds for evacuees were used 
to provide aid to needy families affected by the hurricanes. In 
contrast, Social Security and SSI did not experience a large increase 
in new applications, but did experience increased demand for the 
replacement of lost or missed benefits. 

Disaster plans, flexible service delivery options, and access to 
federal contingency funding helped facilitate hurricane response, but 
not all programs had these measures in place. The federally 
administered Social Security and SSI programs had service delivery 
disaster plans in place to address an unprecedented demand for 
replacement benefits. Disaster planning at the service delivery level 
varied across the state-administered federal programs, and in some 
cases, these programs struggled to ramp up capacity quickly to try to 
meet demand. In addition, while some programs had preexisting service 
delivery options that helped expedite services after the hurricanes, 
other programs did not have these options available. For example, SSA 
had the flexibility to shift staff where needed and already had a 
nationwide 800 number and an Internet application process to expedite 
services for Social Security and SSI prior to Katrina. In contrast, the 
UI programs in Louisiana and Mississippi had always required in-office 
visits for filing claims. After the hurricane, Labor helped both states 
route calls from their residents to UI claims takers in other states 
with call centers--an innovative action for this program. Access to 
federal contingency funds was also important for expediting services, 
and Congress and agencies acted quickly to address immediate funding 
needs. 

Gaps remain in the areas of preventing improper payments, easing access 
to services, and improving disaster planning for the state-administered 
programs, although efforts are under way that may address these areas. 
As program officials relaxed some program rules to better ensure that 
those eligible received aid, the risk of improper payments increased. 
Some efforts are under way to identify improper payments that occurred 
and whether sufficient internal controls were in place. Sharing this 
type of information among programs and states can help reduce programs' 
vulnerability to fraud and abuse during emergencies. Even though some 
efforts were made to ease individuals' access to aid, disaster victims 
still faced difficulties accessing aid from multiple programs, a long- 
standing problem even under routine conditions. In addition, to address 
some gaps in service delivery planning, USDA is revising its disaster 
food stamp program handbook and taking other steps to improve disaster 
planning. Labor has similar efforts under way, including developing 
information for states on improving disaster preparedness. HHS 
officials cited legislative restrictions that limit their ability to 
regulate states, emphasizing that TANF disaster planning is a state 
responsibility. However, HHS has not systematically worked with states 
to get information on states' TANF disaster preparedness or identify 
promising practices for dissemination. The White House study on federal 
response to Hurricane Katrina, noting some of the difficulties in the 
delivery of human services, recommended that HHS take a leading role in 
improving disaster response in delivering human services. In response, 
HHS has taken initial steps to work with states and other federal 
agencies to explore ways to improve the delivery of human services for 
disaster victims. More attention to specific plans for collecting and 
disseminating promising practices and exploring case management 
approaches would strengthen this promising effort. 

To build on HHS' recent efforts to improve the delivery of human 
services during disasters, we recommend HHS take several actions, 
including drawing on its existing human services network and expertise 
to explore further case management options for service delivery during 
disasters as well as collecting and disseminating information on 
promising practices related to disaster planning, service delivery, and 
mitigating risks for improper payments. Finally, to better ensure 
disaster preparedness for the TANF program, we recommend that HHS work 
with states to see what steps may be needed to ensure key planning 
elements are in place. 

In commenting on a draft of this report, SSA, USDA, and Labor agreed 
with our findings. HHS agreed with our recommendations related to its 
recent efforts to improve the delivery of human services. However, HHS 
disagreed with our recommendation that it work with states on TANF 
disaster preparedness, stating that it is more appropriate to address 
TANF issues as part of HHS' comprehensive cross-program planning 
efforts, rather than requiring a separate initiative for TANF, singling 
it out as a special case, and reinforcing a "siloed approach" to 
delivering services. We agree with HHS that it is essential that its 
effort to improve human services during disasters look across multiple 
programs and not take a fragmented approach. However, we still think 
that HHS needs to have more systematic information about state TANF 
programs' preparedness to carry out its federal oversight 
responsibilities for this important income support program for low- 
income families. It can obtain this information through its cross 
program effort or in other ways and we have clarified our 
recommendation language to reflect that. We also provided DHS a copy of 
the draft and incorporated its technical comments as appropriate. 

Background: 

Hurricanes Katrina and Rita affected over 1 million people and caused 
extensive damage in the four most directly affected states: Alabama, 
Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas. Many of those affected depended on 
federal assistance programs such as Social Security, SSI, the Food 
Stamp Program, UI, and TANF before the hurricanes. While all of these 
are federal programs, some are funded, designed, and administered by a 
combination of federal and state governments. 

Programs Provide Routine Services and Some Disaster Assistance: 

The Social Security and UI programs pay cash benefits to replace lost 
employment income when individuals stopped working. The Food Stamp, 
SSI, and TANF programs pay cash benefits or provide other assistance to 
help low-income individuals meet their basic needs. Besides the routine 
assistance these programs provide, the Food Stamp and UI programs also 
offer disaster food stamps and disaster unemployment assistance (DUA) 
in the event of a major disaster. Table 1 describes the benefits and 
services of each program. 

Table 1: Selected Federal Support Programs: 

Assistance to help low-income individuals meet basic needs: 
Food Stamp Program: Disaster Food Stamp Program; 
Provides nutrition assistance to low-income households; 
Provides immediate short-term nutrition assistance to households in 
response to major disasters (initiated by states with U.S. Department 
of Agriculture approval). 

Assistance to help low-income individuals meet basic needs: 
Supplemental Security Income (SSI); 
Provides minimum cash income to qualified aged, blind, or disabled 
persons. 

Assistance to help low-income individuals meet basic needs: Temporary 
Assistance for Needy Families (TANF); 
Provides cash assistance and services targeted to needy families 
including emergency payments, child care, transportation assistance, 
and other social services. 

Assistance to replace lost employment income: Unemployment Insurance 
(UI): Disaster Unemployment Assistance (DUA); 
Provides temporary cash benefits to workers who lose their jobs through 
no fault of their own; 
Provides monetary assistance to workers who lost their jobs as a result 
of a major disaster and who are not eligible for regular state UI. 

Assistance to replace lost employment income: Old Age, Survivors, and 
Disability Insurance (Social Security); 
Provides monthly benefits to qualified retired workers and disabled 
workers and their dependents, and survivors of deceased workers. 

Source: GAO analysis of USDA, SSA, HHS, and Labor program information. 

[End of table] 

Although the programs serve similar needs, the federal and state 
governments have varying roles and levels of responsibility for each 
program. Table 2 illustrates the federal and state responsibilities for 
key program areas. The federally administered Social Security and SSI 
programs are fully funded by SSA and staffed by federal 
employees.[Footnote 2] Generally, eligibility rules and benefit amounts 
are established in federal law. During emergency situations, any of 
SSA's regional commissioners has the authority to invoke disaster 
procedures to expedite the processing of initial claims generated as a 
result of a disaster. In addition, SSA has ongoing "immediate payment" 
procedures to replace payments to beneficiaries who cannot access their 
monthly benefits by mail or direct deposit.[Footnote 3] Once invoked, 
the procedures are in effect for all related claims taken nationwide. 
Over 1,300 SSA offices provide Social Security and SSI services to the 
public. 

Table 2: Federal and State Responsibilities for Key Functions That 
Support Taking Applications and Issuing Benefits: 

Key Program Areas: Funding benefits; 
Program: Social Security: Federal responsibility; 
Program: SSI: Federal responsibility; 
Program: Disaster Food Stamp Program: Federal responsibility; 
Program: Food Stamp Program: Federal responsibility; 
Program: DUA: Federal responsibility; 
Program: UI: State responsibility; 
Program: TANF: Federal and state shared responsibility. 

Key Program Areas: Funding administrative costs; 
Program: Social Security: Federal responsibility; 
Program: SSI: Federal responsibility; 
Program: Disaster Food Stamp Program: Federal and state shared 
responsibility; 
Program: Food Stamp Program: Federal and state shared responsibility; 
Program: DUA: Federal responsibility; 
Program: UI: Federal responsibility; 
Program: TANF: Federal and state shared responsibility. 

Key Program Areas: Establishing program rules for eligibility and 
benefit amounts; 
Program: Social Security: Federal responsibility; 
Program: SSI: Federal responsibility; 
Program: Disaster Food Stamp Program: Federal responsibility; 
Program: Food Stamp Program: Federal responsibility; 
Program: DUA: Federal and state shared responsibility; 
Program: UI: State responsibility; 
Program: TANF: Federal and state shared responsibility. 

Key Program Areas: Ensuring quality control; 
Program: Social Security: Federal responsibility; 
Program: SSI: Federal responsibility; 
Program: Disaster Food Stamp Program: Federal and state shared 
responsibility; 
Program: Food Stamp Program: Federal and state shared responsibility; 
Program: DUA: Federal and state shared responsibility; 
Program: UI: Federal and state shared responsibility; 
Program: TANF: State responsibility. 

Key Program Areas: Supplying program offices and staffing; 
Program: Social Security: Federal responsibility; 
Program: SSI: Federal responsibility; 
Program: Disaster Food Stamp Program: State responsibility; 
Program: Food Stamp Program: State responsibility; 
Program: DUA: State responsibility; 
Program: UI: State responsibility; 
Program: TANF: State responsibility. 

Key Program Areas: Service delivery options for taking applications; 
Program: Social Security: Federal responsibility; 
Program: SSI: Federal responsibility; 
Program: Disaster Food Stamp Program: State responsibility; 
Program: Food Stamp Program: State responsibility; 
Program: DUA: State responsibility; 
Program: UI: State responsibility; 
Program: TANF: State responsibility. 

Key Program Areas: Benefit payment options; 
Program: Social Security: Federal responsibility; 
Program: SSI: Federal responsibility; 
Program: Disaster Food Stamp Program: Federal responsibility; 
Program: Food Stamp Program: Federal responsibility; 
Program: DUA: State responsibility; 
Program: UI: State responsibility; 
Program: TANF: State responsibility. 

Source: GAO analysis of SSA, USDA, Labor, and HHS program statutes, 
guidance, and information. 

Legend:  Federal responsibility Federal and State shared responsibility 
State responsibility: 

[End of table] 

The other programs are all state-administered federal programs in which 
the federal government and states vary in their responsibilities. USDA 
fully funds food stamp and disaster food stamp benefits and generally 
sets program rules and benefit levels nationally. States pay 50 percent 
of administrative costs, have some options to set program 
rules,[Footnote 4] and operate Food Stamp Program offices. The UI 
program is funded by state and federal taxes on employers. Labor 
oversees and monitors state UI programs, and states determine 
eligibility criteria, benefit amounts, and duration of payments, which 
vary across states.[Footnote 5] While Labor oversees the DUA program, 
FEMA funds the benefits and administrative costs for this program. For 
the TANF program, states receive funds from HHS in the form of a capped 
block grant.[Footnote 6] Federal funding levels do not vary based on 
caseload, although TANF emergency and loan funds were created by law as 
safety net mechanisms for states to access additional federal resources 
in the event of a recession or other emergency. Within federal 
guidelines, each state determines what aid and services to provide, 
what eligibility requirements to use, and how to deliver the services. 
As a result, state programs vary widely. States typically have local or 
regional welfare offices, and in the states we reviewed, most of the 
Food Stamp and TANF programs are co-located. 

Eligibility rules for the disaster food stamp and DUA programs are 
relaxed to allow individuals who might not qualify for regular program 
benefits to receive disaster assistance. For example, a broad range of 
resources are counted to determine eligibility for regular food stamps, 
whereas only accessible resources such as cash and savings accounts are 
considered for disaster food stamps. Based on household size, the 
Disaster Food Stamp Program automatically pays applicants the maximum 
monthly allotment payable under the regular Food Stamp Program. In 
addition, regular food stamp clients may receive a supplemental amount 
that increases their monthly benefit to the maximum monthly disaster 
benefit allotment. In the past, disaster food stamp applications were 
generally accepted over a period of 7 days, and applicants received 1 
month of benefits. DUA benefits are provided to individuals who were 
affected by the disaster but do not qualify for regular UI program 
benefits. Eligible individuals may include persons who are self- 
employed or have a short work history. Before applying for DUA, 
individuals must apply for UI and be found ineligible. Applicants 
normally must file for DUA within 30 days and are allowed 21 days to 
submit the required supporting documentation. Individuals can receive 
DUA for up to 26 weeks. 

Basis for Federal Support Programs Assisting Disaster Victims: 

The Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act 
(the Stafford Act) primarily established the programs and processes for 
the federal government to provide major disaster and emergency 
assistance to states, local governments, tribal nations, individuals, 
and qualified private nonprofit organizations. Upon a governor's 
request, the President can declare an "emergency" or a "major disaster" 
under the Stafford Act, which triggers specific types of federal 
relief. For Hurricane Katrina, the President made a major disaster 
declaration for Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama on August 29, 2005. 
For Hurricane Rita, the President made the same declaration for 
Louisiana and Texas on September 24, 2005. These declarations 
authorized the federal government to engage in various emergency 
response activities, such as providing temporary housing and disaster 
unemployment assistance.[Footnote 7] 

For purposes of the National Response Plan (NRP), presidentially- 
declared disasters under the Stafford Act are considered incidents of 
national significance. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and 
FEMA may activate certain provisions of the National Response Plan 
(NRP) to coordinate federal support for disaster response. One 
provision specified in the NRP cites expediting the processing of new 
claims for federal benefits as a goal.[Footnote 8] While the NRP 
specifically mentions Social Security and DUA benefits, there are 
additional federal requirements for continuing federal benefit payments 
during emergencies. 

Federal agencies have been required since 1999 to have plans in place 
to ensure they could continue essential functions such as benefit 
payments in the event of an emergency. FEMA provided federal agencies 
guidance for developing continuity-of-operation (COOP) plans to address 
events that could disrupt normal agency operations and directed them to 
develop plans for their headquarters and subcomponent levels. However, 
the guidance did not explicitly direct federal agencies in the actions 
they should take regarding program services provided by states. 

Widespread Devastation and Displacement of People Created Service 
Delivery Challenges such as Unprecedented Demand: 

Hurricanes Katrina and Rita caused large-scale destruction and 
displacement of people, resulting in challenges for federal basic 
support programs such as an unparalleled demand for services. Many 
people in the affected areas depended on federal assistance before the 
hurricanes and needed help to continue getting their aid. As a result 
of the hurricanes, many others were newly eligible because they had 
lost their homes or jobs, or were temporarily displaced. The demand for 
food stamps, disaster food stamps, UI, and DUA benefits rose sharply. 
Newly available federal TANF funds were used to provide aid to needy 
families affected by the hurricanes. In contrast, Social Security and 
SSI did not have a large increase in new applications, but did 
experience a large increase in requests for the replacement of lost or 
missing benefits. 

Hurricanes Caused Widespread Devastation and Large-Scale Displacement: 

FEMA designated 117 counties and parishes across Alabama, Louisiana, 
Mississippi, and Texas as disaster counties. (See fig. 1.) Most people 
fled the area as a result of the hurricanes. Homes, businesses, and 
entire communities were damaged or destroyed. According to the U.S. 
Bureau of Labor Statistics, an estimated 1.2 million people age 16 and 
over evacuated as a result of Hurricane Katrina. The U. S. Census 
estimated that the population of disaster-designated counties in 
Louisiana alone decreased by almost 345,000 between July 1, 2005, and 
January 1, 2006. In contrast, Mississippi's population decreased by 
approximately 42,000, and Alabama's population remained about the same. 
According to the Red Cross, 8 months following the disasters, more than 
750,000 persons remained displaced across all 50 states. 

Figure 1: FEMA Designated Disaster Counties for Hurricanes Katrina and 
Rita: 

[See PDF for image] 

Sources: GAO analysis of FEMA data; Map Resources (map). 

[End of figure] 

In addition to facing the large number of hurricane victims seeking 
assistance, the programs we reviewed faced challenges providing 
services after the hurricanes because of damage and disruption to their 
own facilities. In hurricane-affected areas, records, equipment, and 
program offices were damaged or destroyed. Coastal areas in Louisiana, 
Mississippi, Texas, and Alabama were heavily damaged. Many program 
offices were closed for only a few days, but several damaged facilities 
did not open for months, and a few were permanently closed as a result 
of the destruction, such as the SSA district office in New Orleans 
shown in figure 2. 

Figure 2: SSA District Office in Downtown New Orleans after Hurricane 
Katrina and Flooding: 

[See PDF for image] 

Source: SSA Office of Inspector General. 

[End of figure] 

Demand for Services Rose Sharply after the Storms: 

In the aftermath of the hurricanes, demand for services increased 
dramatically for all programs. Many individuals in the hurricane- 
affected states already depended on federal assistance programs before 
the hurricanes. For example, the Urban Institute estimated that about 
21 percent of the people in Orleans Parish, the county that includes 
New Orleans, were receiving food stamps in 2000.[Footnote 9] According 
to SSA data, over 1.2 million Social Security beneficiaries were 
located in counties affected by Hurricane Katrina. Demand for services 
rose significantly for the many hurricane victims who were newly 
eligible, adding to the existing demand for services of those already 
receiving benefits. 

Disaster Food Stamps and Regular Food Stamp Program: Caseloads for 
disaster food stamps and regular food stamps increased significantly 
following the hurricanes. In addition to providing disaster food stamps 
to hurricane victims in the disaster-affected states, USDA--for the 
first time ever--adopted a policy of providing disaster food stamps to 
evacuees nationwide. Usually disaster food stamps are available only in 
areas where the disaster occurred. This new policy authorized states 
across the country to provide the maximum monthly food stamp benefits 
to Katrina victims for up to 3 months.[Footnote 10] Seventeen states, 
including the 4 hurricane-affected states--Alabama, Louisiana, 
Mississippi, and Texas--issued disaster food stamps to evacuees. 

With the new evacuee policy and significant need for disaster food 
stamps in the hurricane-affected states, caseloads for the Disaster 
Food Stamp Program far exceeded those of any previous disaster. For 
example, USDA issued $274 million for disaster food stamp assistance 
during the 2004 disaster season. In contrast, USDA issued over $680 
million for disaster food stamp assistance to close to 1.5 million 
households as a result of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Figure 3 shows 
the number of households that received disaster food stamps in each 
hurricane-affected state and in all other states. Households who would 
not normally qualify for regular food stamps because of their income or 
resources could apply for and receive disaster food stamps if they met 
certain program requirements. 

Figure 3: Disaster Food Stamp Recipients under Hurricanes Katrina and 
Rita: 

[See PDF for image] 

Source: GAO analysis of USDA data. 

Note: Disaster food stamp numbers for the hurricane affected states 
include both disaster food stamps paid to hurricane victims in the 
hurricane-affected states and to evacuees from other states. States 
were not required by USDA to report the number of evacuees they served. 
Therefore, these totals may exclude some evacuee recipients because 
some states reported evacuees served and some did not. 

[End of figure] 

Caseloads for regular food stamps also increased following the 
hurricanes. As shown in figure 4, Louisiana and Texas experienced a 
dramatic rise in new recipients of regular food stamps following 
Hurricane Katrina. The number of recipients continued to rise after 
Hurricane Rita. Alabama and Mississippi had smaller but significant 
increases in their caseloads. 

Figure 4: Food Stamp Recipients in Hurricane-Affected States, August to 
December 2005: 

[See PDF for image] 

Source: GAO analysis of USDA data. 

Note: Numbers reflect recipients of regular food stamps only, not 
disaster food stamps. 

[End of figure] 

In addition to new applicants applying for disaster food stamps, in the 
affected areas most regular Food Stamp Program recipients received 
benefits to replace food destroyed in the disaster as well as automatic 
supplements without having to apply at a disaster site. According to 
USDA, Alabama issued $4.3 million in supplemental benefits to almost 
30,000 households. Mississippi provided supplemental benefits to over 
224,000 households, totaling more than $24.1 million. Louisiana 
provided 282,626 households with over $33.3 million in supplemental 
benefits as a result of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. 

UI and DUA programs: More than half a million people lost their jobs 
following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita--as a result the UI program had a 
sharp rise in applicants for regular UI and DUA benefits. Regular UI 
claims increased across all four states following Hurricanes Katrina 
and Rita. (See fig. 5.) Louisiana and Mississippi experienced a 
substantial jump in UI claims after Hurricane Katrina. For example, in 
Louisiana, regular UI claims increased by approximately 134, 000 in 
September 2005--an increase of over 900 percent. 

Figure 5: UI Claims in Hurricane Affected States, August to December 
2005: 

[See PDF for image] 

Source: GAO analysis of Labor data. 

[End of figure] 

The DUA program received a greater number of applications following the 
hurricanes than for any other disaster in the history of the program. 
Over 233,000 DUA claims were filed, compared with just over 7,000 filed 
after the September 11 terrorist attacks, according to Labor data. (See 
fig. 6.) In addition, on March 6, 2006, Congress extended DUA benefits 
for eligible individuals for an additional 13 weeks beyond the 26 weeks 
DUA is typically payable.[Footnote 11] As shown in figure 6, this 
caused an additional surge in claims. The majority of DUA claims were 
filed in Louisiana--almost 185,000. According to Labor, after 
hurricanes Katrina and Rita, a total of $413.7 million was paid in DUA 
benefits to beneficiaries from the four affected states--far more than 
FEMA paid following any disaster or in any other year in the 32-year 
history of the program. 

Figure 6: DUA Initial Applications Nationwide, January 2001 to August 
2006: 

[See PDF for image] 

Source: GAO analysis of Labor data. 

[End of figure] 

Although hurricane evacuees may file for UI and DUA benefits in the 
state to which they evacuated, they receive benefits from the state 
where they were employed. Therefore, the increase in UI claims reflects 
an increase in workloads both for the state where the claims were 
taken, and for the state where the claims were adjudicated and benefits 
paid. For example, in Texas 38,000 Louisiana evacuees received UI and 
DUA benefits during November 2005. Almost 300,000 Louisiana evacuees 
across the country received over $1 billion in regular UI and DUA 
benefits following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. 

TANF: The TANF program also experienced an increase in workloads as new 
federal funding became available for evacuees. Congress passed 
legislation on September 21, 2005, to ease states' access to the 
existing TANF contingency and loan funds.[Footnote 12] We had 
previously reported that the contingency fund, as originally 
established in 1996, has not proven to be an inviting option to states 
in need for several reasons, including the requirement that states use 
increased amounts of their own funds to be eligible for the additional 
federal funds.[Footnote 13] The post-hurricane legislation eliminated 
this funding requirement and gave all states that were assisting 
hurricane victims immediate access to TANF contingency funds to provide 
short-term, nonrecurrent payments to evacuees from Alabama, Florida, 
Louisiana, and Mississippi. The maximum contingency fund amount each 
state was eligible to receive was 20 percent of its annual TANF block 
grant. In total, 20 states requested TANF contingency funds to provide 
emergency cash assistance to evacuees.[Footnote 14] (See fig. 7.) 
Information on the total hurricane victim and evacuee TANF caseload is 
not readily available, however. HHS asked states to report on the total 
number of newly approved evacuee families receiving TANF cash 
assistance or nonrecurrent, short-term benefits through the end of 
October 2005, but reporting did not continue beyond that time. Based on 
our interviews with hurricane-affected states, we have some indication 
that regular TANF caseloads were not affected overall, but the evacuee 
program contributed to increased workloads in those states that 
provided emergency benefits. 

Figure 7: States That Requested TANF Contingency Funds Following 
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita: 

[See PDF for image] 

Source: GAO analysis of HHS data. Copyright Corel Corp, all rights 
reserved (map). 

[End of figure] 

In addition, Congress gave Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi access 
to TANF loan funds--a loan in name only, not expected to be repaid--to 
support hurricane victims within their own state. These states were 
given access to an additional 20 percent of their block grant amounts. 
Mississippi and Alabama chose to implement emergency TANF programs for 
hurricane-affected residents of their own states that were consistent 
with the one time, emergency payments they provided to evacuees from 
other states. Instead of providing emergency payments, Louisiana 
established a contract with Louisiana Family Recovery Corps to provide 
services such as mental health services to families across the state 
that were displaced by the hurricanes. 

Social Security and SSI: SSI and Social Security experienced a 
significant increase in requests for immediate payments following the 
hurricanes, but did not have a large rise in new applicants. From 
August 31, 2005, to October 31, 2005, 110,141 immediate payments were 
made nationwide. This is a dramatic increase when compared to similar 
time periods in previous years. For example, in 2004, 23,697 immediate 
payments were issued nationwide during the same time period. While 
Social Security and SSI programs did not experience a large increase in 
new applicants after the hurricanes, these programs may see an increase 
over time. SSA officials we interviewed said that some hurricane 
victims may have long-term health issues, making them eligible for SSI 
and/or Social Security Disability Insurance.[Footnote 15] Others who 
are eligible may eventually choose to retire and apply for Social 
Security. 

Figure 8: Nationwide Social Security and SSI Immediate Payments, August 
31 to October 31, 2003, through 2006: 

[See PDF for image] 

Source: GAO analysis of SSA data. 

[End of figure] 

Disaster Planning, Service Delivery Options, and Access to Funding 
Facilitated Response, but Not All Programs Had These Measures in Place: 

Disaster planning, flexible service delivery options, and access to 
federal contingency funds helped facilitate programs' hurricane 
response, but not all programs had these measures in place. Programs 
with pre-existing disaster plans in place were better positioned than 
other programs to meet the unprecedented demand for services. Some 
programs had flexibility and preexisting service delivery options that 
facilitated taking applications and issuing benefits. These included 
call centers, Internet application processes, and debit card systems to 
pay benefits. Some programs put new procedures and systems in place to 
expedite services and pay benefits, but in some cases, officials 
encountered difficulties implementing new options. In addition, access 
to federal contingency funds was also important for expediting 
services, and Congress and agencies acted quickly to address immediate 
funding needs. 

Programs with Disaster Plans for Service Delivery Were Better Prepared 
to Address Unprecedented Demand: 

Social Security and SSI were the only programs for which the federal 
government had authority for service delivery and had disaster policies 
and procedures already in place to respond to emergencies and 
disasters. SSA used FEMA guidance to develop COOP plans for the Social 
Security and SSI programs. SSA was prepared to set up temporary, full- 
service offices because the agency has an agreement with the General 
Services Administration (GSA) to secure trailers and leased office 
space on short notice. Other plans enabled SSA to communicate with more 
than 1,200 SSA employees directly affected by Hurricanes Katrina and 
Rita. On a routine basis, SSA employees are given telephone numbers to 
call to receive instructions during emergencies. SSA also provided 
detailed guidance to regional offices and offices that serve the public 
and required them to have plans in place. The regional officials we 
contacted told us they review offices' plans annually and require 
managers to review procedures with staff periodically. 

While SSA had clear federal lines of authority for all aspects of 
program service delivery during disasters, the other agencies we 
reviewed did not. Federal planning requirements and guidance vary 
across the state-administered federal programs. The Food Stamp Act 
requires states to have plans to address certain events related to 
operating a Disaster Food Stamp Program. USDA additionally provides 
states guidance in a number of areas such as strategies for issuing 
food stamp benefits when routine procedures cannot be used.[Footnote 
16] States must review disaster food stamp program plans annually, make 
revisions as necessary, and submit revisions to USDA. According to USDA 
officials, states generally run a large-scale disaster food stamp 
program at off-site locations such as civic centers or sports stadiums 
that can accommodate more applicants than local food stamp offices 
could serve. Food Stamp Program officials in Mississippi had a 
partnership with the state emergency management agency to provide 
tents, water, security personnel, and other necessities. In contrast, 
there are no federal requirements for states to develop disaster plans 
for the UI, DUA, and TANF programs, and Labor and HHS officials told us 
they have not provided states guidance on the issue; therefore, states 
have flexibility in developing disaster plans. 

However, even with disaster planning for the Food Stamp Program, we 
found that some local Food Stamp Program and TANF offices in the states 
we reviewed were overwhelmed in the aftermath of the hurricanes. 
Similarly, some local UI programs were also unprepared for a large- 
scale disaster. Local food stamp, TANF, and UI officials we visited in 
Louisiana reported difficulty finding supplies, additional security, 
and facilities to manage the large volume of people seeking services. 
In an extreme example, Hurricane Rita damaged the food stamp/TANF 
office in Lake Charles, Louisiana, destroying most of the building, 
furnishings, and equipment. (See fig. 9.) After Hurricane Rita, 
officials relocated to another office, but initially did not have any 
state or federal assistance to find supplies and basic office equipment 
as well as security and other assistance to manage large crowds of 
people seeking disaster food stamps. At first, local officials used 
their personal cell phones to conduct business. 

Figure 9: Lake Charles Food Stamp and TANF Program Office Damaged by 
Hurricane Rita: 

[See PDF for image] 

Source: GAO. 

[End of figure] 

Flexible Service Delivery Options Helped Expedite Applications and 
Ensure Payments, but Not All Programs Had These Options in Place: 

Programs that had flexible service delivery options in place before the 
hurricanes or could quickly implement them were better positioned to 
manage increased demand and the mobility of evacuees than other 
programs. These service delivery options included: flexible staffing, 
options for taking applications, and alternatives for issuing benefits. 

Flexible Staffing: 

Social Security and SSI had greater flexibility than state-administered 
federal programs to shift staffing where needed. SSA deployed 171 
employees from across the country to help out in areas serving large 
numbers of hurricane victims. SSA shifted all workloads from offices 
forced to close to other offices and opened temporary locations in GSA 
trailers or in other federal buildings. The Food Stamp and UI programs 
shifted staff from other duties and other locations within their states 
to address increased demand for services. For example, Florida 
officials sent food stamp eligibility workers from other parts of the 
state to the panhandle area, where evacuees were concentrated. However, 
even with additional staff, some programs in Louisiana and Mississippi 
did not have enough staff statewide to meet demand. 

State-administered federal programs also relied on temporary workers 
and help from other states, but these arrangements were not always in 
place. UI officials in Texas, who were prepared to hire temporary 
workers as part of routine operations, could quickly recruit workers 
for call centers. While other states offered to help, Food Stamp and UI 
program officials in hurricane-affected states did not have 
arrangements in place before the hurricanes to easily make use of out- 
of-state workers. USDA, Labor, and the American Public Human Services 
Association (APHSA)--a professional association of state and local 
human services program officials--helped recruit workers from other 
states. This included helping to work through agreements and logistics 
for out-of-state workers, but in some cases, these arrangements were 
cumbersome. For example, it took about 5 weeks to work out an agreement 
for Texas to help take UI claims for Louisiana, according to regional 
Labor officials. In total, 15 states sent about 163 Food Stamp Program 
workers, and 21 states sent workers or helped take UI and DUA claims 
for the hurricane-affected states. 

Options to Take Applications: 

SSA had application options in place for Social Security and SSI that 
facilitated its response to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Even though 
these programs did not experience a sharp increase in new applications, 
they had the following options in place: 

* nationwide 800 number, 

* call centers, 

* an Internet application process, and: 

* electronic data exchanges among states for birth certificates and 
other documents needed for new claims or for reconstructing lost paper 
files. 

SSA relied on its telephone and Internet services to serve those who 
were newly eligible, as well as those already receiving services. In 
addition, SSA had software in place that enabled its staff to flag 
applicants from disaster-affected areas for expedited service. 

State-administered federal programs with application options that were 
not dependent on in-office visits were better positioned to respond to 
significant increases in applications and to evacuees crossing state 
lines than other programs. Before the hurricanes, application options 
for the Food Stamp, TANF, and UI programs varied by state. (See table 
3.) 

Table 3: Program Application Options before the Hurricanes, by State: 

State: Alabama; 
Program: Social Security: Online, call center, in person; 
Program: SSI: Call center, in person[A]; 
Program: Disaster Food Stamp Program: In person for new applicants [B]; 
Program: UI & DUA: Call center; 
Program: Food Stamp Program & TANF[C]: In person. 

State: Louisiana; 
Program: Social Security: Online, call center, in person; 
Program: SSI: Call center, in person[A]; 
Program: Disaster Food Stamp Program: In person for new applicants [B];
Program: UI & DUA: In person; 
Program: Food Stamp Program & TANF[C]: In person. 

State: Mississippi; 
Program: Social Security: Online, call center, in person; 
Program: SSI: Call center, in person[A]; 
Program: Disaster Food Stamp Program: In person for new applicants [B];
Program: UI & DUA: In person; 
Program: Food Stamp Program & TANF[C]: In person. 

State: Texas; 
Program: Social Security: Online, call center, in person; 
Program: SSI: Call center, in person[A]; 
Program: Disaster Food Stamp Program: In person for new applicants [B];
Program: UI & DUA: Call center, online; 
Program: Food Stamp Program & TANF[C]: In person. 

State: Florida; 
Program: Social Security: Online, call center, in person; 
Program: SSI: Call center, in person[A]; 
Program: Disaster Food Stamp Program: In person for new applicants [B];
Program: UI & DUA: Call center, online; 
Program: Food Stamp Program & TANF[C]: In person, call center, online. 

Source: GAO analysis of program information from SSA, HHS, USDA, and 
Labor and states. 

[A] SSI applicants can complete disability reports online, but must 
complete an interview in person or over the phone to apply for 
benefits. 

[B] Most supplemental and replacement benefits were done automatically 
without the need for an application form. 

[C] In Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas, some exceptions are 
made for special needs cases to allow individuals to apply via 
telephone. 

[End of table] 

Some states adopted new forms and procedures to expedite processing of 
applications after Hurricane Katrina. Louisiana and Mississippi 
developed an abbreviated, Web-based application form for UI and DUA. 
Texas officials developed an abbreviated application form for the Food 
Stamp Program and implemented an online system to input applications 
with laptop computers. Florida officials also developed a shortened 
application to run an emergency TANF program for hurricane evacuees and 
changed their online application so individuals could self-identify if 
they did not have the required documentation. Food stamp employees in 
Alabama and Mississippi manually completed simplified application forms 
at sites designated for disaster food stamps and sent the forms to a 
centralized data entry location to expedite processing. 

The UI programs in Louisiana and Mississippi adapted call center 
technology to completely change the way UI and DUA claims were taken in 
their states. Before Hurricane Katrina, both states mainly required in- 
office visits for filing claims. After the hurricane, the Mississippi 
UI program set up call centers to take UI and DUA claims. In addition, 
Labor helped Mississippi and Louisiana route calls from their residents 
to UI claims takers in other states with call centers--an action that 
had never been taken before. At the same time, interstate claims 
presented some challenges to the UI program. In Louisiana and 
Mississippi, phone service was disrupted in some areas, and the few 
operational phone lines, overwhelmed with calls, were busy for extended 
periods. Other states taking claims for Louisiana and Mississippi could 
not easily get applicant information from program officials. A national 
client advocacy group told us that some hurricane victims grew 
frustrated and gave up. 

Options for Issuing Benefits: 

For Social Security, SSI, and the Food Stamp Program, benefit payment 
methods are determined on a federal level and are consistent across 
states. (See table 4.) Payment procedures for the UI program and TANF 
are determined by each state and can vary across states. 

Table 4: Program Benefit Payment Methods before the Hurricanes, by 
State: 

State: Alabama; 
Program: Social Security & SSI: Checks, direct deposit, emergency 
advance payments, immediate payments; 
Program: Food stamps: EBT[A]; 
Program: Disaster food stamps: EBT; 
Program: UI: Checks, direct deposit; 
Program: DUA: Checks, direct deposit; 
Program: TANF: EBT. 

State: Louisiana; 
Program: Social Security & SSI: Checks, direct deposit, emergency 
advance payments, immediate payments; 
Program: Food stamps: EBT; 
Program: Disaster food stamps: EBT; 
Program: UI: Checks direct deposit; 
Program: DUA: Checks, direct deposit; 
Program: TANF: EBT. 

State: Mississippi; 
Program: Social Security & SSI: Checks, direct deposit, emergency 
advance payments, immediate payments; 
Program: Food stamps: EBT; 
Program: Disaster food stamps: EBT; 
Program: UI: Checks; 
Program: DUA: Checks; 
Program: TANF: EBT. 

State: Texas; Program: Social Security & SSI: Checks, direct deposit, 
emergency advance payments, immediate payments; 
Program: Food stamps: EBT; 
Program: Disaster food stamps: EBT; 
Program: UI: Checks; 
Program: DUA: Checks; 
Program: TANF: EBT. 

State: Florida; Program: Social Security & SSI: Checks, direct deposit, 
emergency advance payments, immediate payments; 
Program: Food stamps: EBT; 
Program: Disaster food stamps: EBT; 
Program: UI: Checks, direct deposit; 
Program: DUA: Checks, direct deposit; 
Program: TANF: EBT. 

Source: GAO analysis of program information from SSA, HHS, USDA, Labor 
and states. 

[A] Program recipients use electronic benefit transfer (EBT) cards. 

[End of table] 

SSA could provide immediate emergency checks nationwide--an important 
measure because Hurricane Katrina disrupted mail delivery of monthly 
Social Security checks, and many SSA and SI beneficiaries in the 
hurricane-affected areas were dependent on this income source. The 
emergency payments were not the usual U.S. Treasury checks, but third- 
party drafts drawn on a commercial bank and often completed by hand. 
After Hurricane Katrina hit, SSA asked the vendor to produce a large 
supply of these blank checks quickly and developed a letter for 
financial institutions to help authenticate the third-party draft 
checks. SSA also worked with the Louisiana Banking Association to help 
reassure banks that the checks were legitimate. 

Programs that had debit card systems before the hurricanes were able to 
provide benefits without interruption, but some experienced challenges 
processing and issuing benefits. Food stamp recipients use electronic 
benefit transfer (EBT) cards with personal identification numbers 
(PIN), which work much like debit cards. These cards can be used across 
all states with the exception of cards issued by the state of 
Wyoming.[Footnote 17] The Food Stamp and TANF programs in all the 
states we interviewed use debit card systems for both food stamps and 
TANF and could continue paying benefits to those who evacuated or 
relocated to other states. However, Louisiana experienced some 
disruption in activating new debit cards because the 800 number used to 
provide PINs was routed through New Orleans, where the telephone lines 
were down. The state's EBT vendor set up a system to issue debit cards 
with pre-selected PINs until the 800 number was restored. In addition, 
some retailers did not know how to process EBT transactions manually in 
areas where telephone service and electronic communications were 
disrupted. The Louisiana UI program, overwhelmed in efforts to issue 
unemployment checks, rushed to implement a debit card system and 
encountered a number of challenges. For example, it was difficult to 
distribute debit cards to evacuees located around the state and 
country. 

Table 5 presents a summary of strategies we identified that facilitated 
hurricane response for taking applications and paying benefits, as well 
as actions to consider for disaster planning. Some practices were 
specific to planning and preparing for disasters. Others were steps 
programs were taking to streamline procedures and use technology to 
improve routine program operations, such as online applications and 
call centers. 

Table 5: Lessons Learned about Strategies to Facilitate Response and 
Considerations for Disaster Planning: 

Strategies to Facilitate Response: Increasing operating capacity and 
providing basic necessities for customers; 
What Worked: 
* Temporary facilities and mobile units enabled programs to continue 
operations in areas damaged by the hurricanes; 
* The Food Stamp Program operates at alternative sites to accommodate a 
large number of people while maintaining routine services; 
* Partnerships with other federal or state agencies such as the General 
Services Administration and states' emergency management agencies; 
Actions to Consider for Disaster Planning: 
* Have arrangements for alternate office sites or mobile units in 
place; 
* Have arrangements for alternate communication systems to be available 
during power outages; 
* Have procedures for increasing supplies; 
* Have agreements in place with other agencies and organizations to 
help with security and basic necessities for customers. 

Strategies to Facilitate Response: Communicating with staff affected by 
the disaster; 
What Worked: 
* Procedures such as 800 numbers to communicate with staff for 
emergencies and disasters; 
Actions to Consider for Disaster Planning: 
* Have procedures to communicate with staff before major disruptions. 

Strategies to Facilitate Response: Increasing staffing; 
What Worked: 
* SSA has standard procedures and shifted staff nationwide; 
* Some state- administered federal programs shifted staff from across 
the state or from one duty to another; 
Actions to Consider for Disaster Planning: 
* Train staff with other duties or from other programs ahead of time so 
they will be familiar with program rules and procedures. 

What Worked: 
* Retired workers and hurricane affected workers who are temporarily 
unemployed served as temporary workers; 
Actions to Consider for Disaster Planning: 
* Identify need and sources for obtaining workers before disasters 
occur; 
* Plan for training and other arrangements for hiring and accommodating 
temporary workers. 

What Worked: 
* USDA, Labor, and ASPHA helped recruit workers from other states, 
assisted with logistics and in some cases, provided reimbursement; 
Actions to Consider for Disaster Planning: 
* Have agreements to get workers from other states, which may address 
housing, reimbursement, and other logistics. 

Strategies to Facilitate Response: Expediting applications; 
What Worked: 
* 800 numbers and call centers helped programs handle large increases 
in applications; 
* The UI program greatly expanded capacity by routing calls to non-
hurricane affected states; 
Actions to Consider for Disaster Planning: 
* Have application options available to increase capacity and to rely 
on when routine processes are disrupted. 

What Worked: 
* Online application options helped programs handle large increases in 
applications; 
Actions to Consider for Disaster Planning: 
* Have other options available when communication via Internet is 
disrupted. 

What Worked: 
* Abbreviated forms enabled programs to take and process applications 
in a much shorter time; 
Actions to Consider for Disaster Planning: 
* Have abbreviated application forms available that collect key 
information needed for computer systems to process applications. 

What Worked: 
* Off-site or centralized processing centers away from customers helped 
some programs more efficiently provide services; 
Actions to Consider for Disaster Planning: 
* Have alternative procedures to expedite processing. 

Strategies to Facilitate Response: Expediting and continuing benefit 
payments; 
What Worked: 
* Immediate emergency checks enabled SSA to expedite payment of 
benefits; 
Actions to Consider for Disaster Planning: 
* Have well-established procedures for ensuring quality control. 

What Worked: 
* Debit cards were portable and could be used by hurricane victims who 
moved within their home states or to other states; 
Actions to Consider for Disaster Planning: 
* Have procedures to address disruption in service when phone lines and 
ATMs were down; 
* Plan for distributing new cards when disaster victims do not have a 
stable address. 

What Worked: 
* Electronic Funds Transfer could be used by hurricane victims who 
moved within their home states or to other states; 
Actions to Consider for Disaster Planning: 
* May need to have contingencies for hurricane damaged areas where 
electricity was out and financial institutions were closed. 

What Worked: 
* SSA had partnerships to help with alternative procedures such as 
working with financial institutions to substantiate immediate emergency 
checks and with the U.S. Postal Service to set up temporary mail 
stations; 
Actions to Consider for Disaster Planning: 
* Have agreements and alternative procedures in place to expedite and 
continue benefits. 

Source: GAO analysis of program information from and interviews with 
SSA, USDA, Labor, HHS, states, and professional and advocacy 
organizations. 

[End of table] 

Additional Funding Was Available for Increased Costs, but Some Funding 
Questions Remain for State-Administered Federal Programs: 

The availability of federal and state funds to meet the increased 
demand for assistance was key to facilitating program response, 
although the funding structure varied greatly among the programs. 
Funding varies as to the source--federal funds, state funds, or a 
combination--and as to whether the funding levels are fixed or open- 
ended entitlements from which eligible applicants are guaranteed 
receipt. (See table 6.) For Social Security and SSI, federal funding 
was available and there were no funding constraints that limited SSA's 
ability to deliver services. In contrast, all other programs had some 
role for states to share costs or a new federal funding source was made 
available, creating some uncertainty and confusion. 

Table 6: Program Funding: 

Regular programs: Food Stamps; 
Entitlement[A]: Yes; 
Funding source for benefits: 100% federal; 
Funding source for administrative costs: 50% federal and 50% state. 

Regular programs: UI; 
Entitlement[A]: Yes; 
Funding source for benefits: 100% funded by state tax on employers; 
Funding source for administrative costs: 100% funded by federal tax on 
employers. 

Regular programs: TANF; 
Entitlement[A]: No; 
Funding source for benefits: Capped federal funding with required state 
funding; 
Funding source for administrative costs: Capped federal funding with 
required state funding[D]. 

Regular programs: SSI; 
Entitlement[A]: Yes; 
Funding source for benefits: 100% federal[B]; 
Funding source for administrative costs: 100% federal. 

Regular programs: Social Security; 
Entitlement[A]: Yes; 
Funding source for benefits: 100% federal; 
Funding source for administrative costs: 100% federal. 

Disaster programs: Disaster Food Stamp Program; 
Entitlement[A]: Yes; 
Funding source for benefits: 100% federal paid by USDA; 
Funding source for administrative costs: 50% federal (USDA) and 50% 
state funding. 

Disaster programs: DUA; 
Entitlement[A]: Yes; 
Funding source for benefits: 100% federal paid by FEMA; 
Funding source for administrative costs: 100% federal paid by FEMA. 

Disaster programs: TANF Emergency Funds; 
Entitlement[A]: No; 
Funding source for benefits: 100% federal paid by HHS (Contingency Fund 
and Loan Fund[C]); 
Funding source for administrative costs: 100% federal paid by HHS 
(Contingency Fund and Loan Fund). 

Source: GAO analysis of SSA, USDA, Labor, and HHS program information. 

[A] All individuals who qualify for Social Security or UI receive 
assistance. However, these programs are traditionally considered to be 
different from other entitlement programs because they have work 
history requirements. 

[B] Federal SSI benefits are augmented by state funds in some states. 

[C] Loan funds are loans in name only--states are not expected to repay 
them. Congress used its existing authority to appropriate these funds 
under the loan program, but the loans were intended to function similar 
to the contingency funds. 

[D] There is a spending cap on the amount states may spend of their 
federal TANF funds and their state maintenance-of-effort funds on 
certain administrative activities. 

[End of table] 

USDA provided some additional funding to address increased demand for 
disaster food stamps and regular foods stamps. This included paying 50 
percent of the administrative costs to have food stamp workers from 
other states help the hurricane-affected states. In addition, USDA 
reimbursed Florida for sending teams of state officials to Louisiana 
and Mississippi to provide technical assistance on setting up disaster 
sites. 

Congress provided access to TANF contingency funds for any state to be 
reimbursed for providing short-term, one time payments to evacuees, but 
some states may not have been prepared to run such a program.[Footnote 
18] According to HHS officials, some states had rules and procedures to 
run a one-time emergency program as part of their regular TANF program 
and others did not. For example, states such as Arkansas modified their 
state TANF plans to operate an emergency program. However, HHS 
officials said that some states may have needed approval from their 
state legislature, which could have prevented them from implementing an 
emergency program for evacuees in a timely manner. In addition, HHS 
officials also said that restrictions associated with the Katrina 
contingency funds may have discouraged states from using the funding. 
For example, contingency funds had to be provided directly to hurricane 
victims, and states were prohibited from using the funds to pay third 
parties such as child care providers. Given concerns about potential 
fraud and abuse, states may have considered it more appropriate to pay 
third parties for services rather than giving money to hurricane 
victims. 

Labor provided funds to hurricane-affected states to help the UI 
program address increased demand, but Labor and state officials we 
interviewed said the payment process for DUA is time-consuming and may 
not cover all costs incurred during major disasters. Labor provided 
additional funds to hurricane-affected states that helped them repair 
damaged facilities, hire temporary workers, and reimburse states that 
helped take UI claims. Labor officials said they had some reserve 
administrative funding available because unemployment claims had been 
lower than expected before the hurricanes. However, Labor officials 
also said that during a normal program year, these funds would not have 
been available. In contrast, FEMA funds both benefits and 
administrative costs for DUA. Labor and some state officials we 
interviewed said that the DUA funding process is time-consuming. In 
some cases, states had to borrow state funds to continue paying 
benefits or withhold disaster benefits while waiting for funding. 
Funding requests go through various levels of approval at both Labor 
and FEMA--ranging from 8 to 32 days--and states may need to repeat the 
process multiple times because funding is provided in small increments. 
(See fig. 10.) In addition, FEMA does not reimburse states for the 
administrative costs of taking DUA claims that are denied. Labor 
officials said that when a large number of DUA claims are taken, states 
have to absorb the costs for denied claims. For example, Alabama UI 
officials said that about 44 percent of their DUA claims for Hurricane 
Katrina were denied. Labor also noted that FEMA does not reimburse 
states for automation of DUA claims processing or DUA-related disaster 
preparedness and said it hopes to work with FEMA on these issues. 

Figure 10: DUA Payment Process: 

[See PDF for image] 

Source: GAO analysis of Labor information. Art Explosion (images). 

[End of figure] 

Gaps in Disaster Response Remain; Efforts Under Way Hold Promise for 
Improving Human Service Programs' Disaster Response: 

Gaps remain in the areas of preventing improper payments, easing access 
to services, and improving disaster planning for state-administered 
programs, although efforts are under way that may address these areas. 
As program officials relaxed some program rules to better ensure that 
those eligible received aid, the risk of improper payments increased. 
Some efforts are under way to identify improper payments that occurred 
and whether sufficient internal controls were in place. Even though 
some efforts were made to ease individuals' access to aid, disaster 
victims still faced difficulties accessing aid from the multiple human 
service programs providing it, a long-standing problem even under 
routine conditions. In addition, federal agencies have taken steps 
designed to improve states planning for service delivery for the Food 
Stamp, UI, and DUA programs, although HHS needs more information on the 
planning needs of state TANF programs. In response to the White House 
study on hurricane response, HHS has taken initial steps to work with 
states and other federal agencies to explore ways to improve the 
delivery of human services for disaster victims. More attention to 
specific plans for collecting and disseminating promising practices and 
exploring case management approaches would strengthen this promising 
effort. 

Programs Faced Challenges Balancing Program Integrity with Access to 
Services after the Hurricanes: 

Balancing program access with preventing improper payments is a long- 
standing challenge states face in their daily operations that became 
more apparent following the hurricanes. In the wake of the hurricanes, 
verification rules typically in place for state-administered programs 
were sometimes eased to help individuals who lacked documents 
customarily used to establish identity or eligibility to be assisted by 
programs. For example, USDA allowed states to accept a signed affidavit 
as proof of identity from food stamp applicants who lacked identity 
documents and postponed verifying disaster victims' eligibility for 
benefits until December 2005.[Footnote 19] Alabama officials we 
interviewed also said they allowed TANF applicants to self-declare 
their eligibility. Labor waived rules to allow states to pay DUA 
benefits based on applicants' self-reported employment information and 
allowed applicants 90 days to submit supporting documents. To 
facilitate UI and DUA payments, Louisiana automatically gave claimants 
12 weeks of benefits and suspended requirements for them to make weekly 
reports to confirm their continuing eligibility.[Footnote 20] Officials 
for these state-administered programs acknowledged that they focused on 
easing access to services to meet people's needs during the disaster 
while at the same time realizing that relaxing controls to provide 
emergency payments may have increased risks for improper payments. 

Immediately following the hurricanes, it was also sometimes difficult 
for states to take their usual preventive measures to screen applicants 
to determine if they were currently participating in or had provided 
false information to the program to which they applied. States 
sometimes took special measures to determine applicants' eligibility 
for program assistance. For example, in Florida, food stamp program 
integrity officials were present at application intake sites to monitor 
for suspicious activity and review questionable cases. Alabama and 
Florida sent food stamp applications to centralized locations for 
electronic processing where the states' computer systems were used to 
identify current program participation within their respective 
states.[Footnote 21] 

States also took measures to identify ineligible individuals after 
making payments. When victims applied to programs in other states, 
program administrators for some of the states we reviewed told us they 
usually contacted the applicant's home state to determine if the 
applicant was already enrolled in the home state's program. However, 
because the telephone services were unavailable for prolonged periods 
in some areas--parts of Louisiana were without service for about 6 
weeks--state officials sometimes could not use routine procedures to 
determine whether out-of-state evacuees were receiving food stamps or 
disaster food stamps in their home states. In such situations, some 
states used other measures to identify ineligible individuals. For 
example, the American Public Human Services Association asked states to 
send Louisiana lists of evacuees receiving food stamp benefits in their 
state to ensure Louisiana knew individuals were receiving food stamp 
benefits while out of state. HHS regional officials in Dallas said that 
New Mexico and Oklahoma took the initiative to notify Louisiana when 
they enrolled evacuees in their TANF programs. For the UI program, 
Labor worked with businesses to make sure employers notified Louisiana 
of workers who returned to work. Following the hurricanes, Louisiana 
began matching its state's UI participant rolls to the National 
Directory of New Hires to identify individuals working in other states 
and therefore ineligible to receive UI benefits.[Footnote 22] As for 
the TANF program, in 2006 Louisiana began monitoring TANF debit card 
use to identify participants who resided out-of-state and were 
therefore no longer be eligible for TANF. 

Our work and that of the programs' IG offices have highlighted 
programs' vulnerability to fraud when providing assistance to disaster 
victims. In the case of FEMA assistance, we reported that the lack of 
appropriate controls for confirming disaster victims' eligibility for 
assistance resulted in millions of dollars in questionable 
payments.[Footnote 23] Like FEMA, making payments to disaster victims 
increased the programs' we reviewed risk for fraud. The SSA IG and the 
USDA IG found reasonable controls were in place to prevent and detect 
improper payments for the Social Security and SSI programs and for the 
Food Stamp Programs in Alabama and Florida. The USDA IG has conducted a 
similar review for Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas and plans to issue 
its report in early 2007. The Labor IG has issued several management 
letters to Labor program officials to assist them in reducing potential 
fraud. These letters reported some potential fraud such as individuals 
receiving multiple UI and/or DUA benefits in Louisiana or Mississippi, 
while also receiving other work-related assistance from the same or 
another state. The HHS IG has not conducted or planned any work 
specifically related to TANF assistance provided hurricane victims, 
although it has looked more generally at improper payments under 
selected states' TANF programs. Under the TANF block grant, states bear 
the main fiscal risk of improper payments although the federal 
government has an interest in ensuring funds are properly 
spent.[Footnote 24] 

Hurricanes Highlighted the Long-standing Challenge to Ease Individuals' 
Access to Multiple Programs: 

Disaster victims also faced difficulty accessing needed aid from 
multiple programs providing assistance, another long-standing problem 
even under routine conditions. Our earlier work has highlighted the 
cumbersome process that applicants who are eligible for more than one 
form of aid have to go through to apply for each program.[Footnote 25] 
They typically visit several different program offices and repeatedly 
provide some of the same information for each application. The 
difficulty of seeking aid from multiple programs and providers can be 
exacerbated during disasters. For example, we previously reported that 
when multiple charitable organizations offered assistance to victims of 
the September 11 terrorists' attacks, victims faced a maze of service 
providers and felt that they needed help finding and accessing the 
available assistance.[Footnote 26] 

A review of the overall federal response as well as our work pointed 
out some of the situations faced by those seeking aid after the 
hurricanes. The 2006 White House study of the federal response to 
Hurricane Katrina reported that some efforts to assist those in need 
were undermined by difficulties victims encountered in their attempts 
to obtain program services. For example, the report noted that the 
disaster recovery centers established to help victims were not always 
set up to take applications for all services needed or to assist 
victims with services they were currently receiving. Similarly, an 
advocacy group for low-income families that we interviewed said it was 
especially difficult for hurricane victims with children or without 
transportation to visit more than one location to apply for multiple 
programs. 

Our previous work indicates that service delivery challenges posed by 
multiple providers can be mitigated if sufficient attention is paid to 
enhancing coordination among service providers and on easing access to 
aid. As we noted in our report on assistance provided after September 
11, the existence of established working relationships among relevant 
federal programs and states--with frequent contacts and an 
understanding of each other's roles and responsibilities--can make a 
difference in performance in the chaos of a disaster. In that report, 
we also noted that regarding easing access to aid for those eligible, 
several strategies can help improve access. These include the 
following: 

1. a clearinghouse of available assistance can help inform victims in 
need of aid; 

2. the provision of case management services can help to identify gaps 
in service, target aid to those most in need, and provide aid over the 
long term;[Footnote 27] 

3. the adoption of a simplified, one-stop application process that 
could minimize applicants' burden by streamlining the process and might 
include questions that can help to minimize fraud and abuse; and: 

4. data sharing across programs, in addition to easing the application 
process, could help to reduce the risks of improper payments due to 
duplicate payments and reduce the costs of program 
administration.[Footnote 28] 

While any data-sharing efforts face challenging privacy issues and 
inherent differences in program requirements, they hold potential for 
improving access for people in need as well as more efficient program 
administration.[Footnote 29] 

Programs Are Taking Steps to Improve Disaster Preparedness, but Gaps 
Remain for TANF: 

The states we reviewed are exploring a variety of initiatives to 
improve disaster preparedness for the Food Stamp, UI, and DUA programs, 
as shown in table 7. For example, Florida officials said they plan to 
train UI claim takers statewide to take DUA applications as a way to 
increase staffing levels when needed. Also, as a way to expedite 
disaster food stamp processing, Alabama is developing a Web-based 
application form to allow clients to pre-register online and take 
completed forms to application processing sites. On the other hand, 
initiatives to develop formal disaster preparedness plans for the TANF 
program were not being taken by any of the states we reviewed. As 
discussed earlier, no federal requirements exist for TANF disaster 
planning at the state level. 

Table 7: Some of the Initiatives States We Reviewed Are Exploring to 
Improve Disaster Preparedness: 

Strategies to facilitate preparedness: Increase physical capacity; 
Initiatives states are exploring: 
* Identifying alternative sites for providing food stamp and UI call 
center services; 
* Installing back-up generators to ensure UI offices can provide 
services during power outages. 

Strategies to facilitate preparedness: Increase staffing; 
Initiatives states are exploring: 
* Training all UI program workers statewide to take DUA applications; 
* Training all food stamp workers statewide to take disaster food stamp 
applications. 

Strategies to facilitate preparedness: Expedite application taking; 
Initiatives states are exploring: 
* Implementing Web-based UI and food stamp applications to allow online 
filing. 

Strategies to facilitate preparedness: Continue benefit payments and 
issue new benefits; 
Initiatives states are exploring: 
* Implementing a debit card systems to pay UI benefits; 
* Devising alternative procedures for issuing food stamp customers 
debit cards and PIN numbers during disasters. 

Strategies to facilitate preparedness: Improve overall preparedness; 
Initiatives states are exploring: 
* Contracting for an independent study of state's UI disaster response. 

Source: GAO analysis based on information provided by states. 

[End of table] 

At the federal level, SSA headquarters administrators are taking 
actions to help improve disaster preparedness for Social Security and 
SSI program services. After responding to an emergency or disaster 
situation, SSA routinely solicits feedback from SSA employees involved 
in its disaster response to identify lessons learned. SSA uses the 
feedback it receives to compile lessons learned and to revise the 
agency's disaster strategies. For example, SSA officials we interviewed 
noted they sometimes needed a means to contact other government 
agencies outside of normal work hours. In light of the recent feedback, 
SSA formally compiled information for contacting key U.S. Department of 
the Treasury officials around the clock if events arise concerning 
payments to SSA customers. SSA issued a memo reminding all regions of 
the employee emergency 800-number and the procedures for providing 
employees cards that contain the number. Also, beginning in 2007, SSA 
plans to take additional steps to remind employees of the importance of 
knowing the agency's emergency contact procedures. In addition to 
broadly sharing information within the agency, SSA also shares its 
experiences with postal delivery and customers' benefit payments with 
the U.S. Postal Service and U.S. Department of the Treasury, 
respectively. 

Federal officials for the Food Stamp Program are also pursuing 
initiatives to improve disaster preparedness for this program. USDA 
sponsored a national meeting that representatives from all states 
attended to discuss food stamp debit card issues and plans to revise 
the current Disaster Food Stamp Program Handbook to highlight some of 
the strategies states used for Hurricane Katrina and to clearly outline 
all the waiver choices available to states. 

Labor is also taking steps to improve disaster preparedness for the UI 
program. Labor officials said that an assessment conducted after 
Hurricane Katrina found that most states are not adequately prepared 
for emergencies that exceed their processing capacity for the UI 
program. To help states prepare for future disasters, Labor established 
a new DUA coordinator position to assist state coordinators when needed 
and provided recommendations to FEMA to streamline the DUA funding 
process. In addition, Labor has contracted to document federal and 
state UI program administrators' lessons learned, assess state UI 
disaster preparedness, and draw on the disaster strategies of others 
such as SSA and FEMA. The contractor also plans to help Labor develop 
issue papers with recommendations for improving disaster preparedness. 
Time will tell whether these steps will lead to improved preparedness 
among state programs or whether additional guidance from Labor will be 
warranted. 

HHS has taken some steps to work with states on disaster preparedness 
for the TANF program but does not have plans to work more 
systematically with all states to assess whether additional planning is 
needed. HHS said that officials in its Atlanta office, covering 
Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South 
Carolina, and Tennessee, reviewed these states' overall state disaster 
preparedness plans, noting how widely these plans varied in the degree 
of detailed information included. This region took other actions, 
including sharing practices within the hurricane-affected region. For 
example, HHS regional staff held meetings in 2006 with state 
commissioners and program representatives for TANF and other HHS 
programs in Alabama, Florida, and Mississippi. HHS said it had plans to 
visit three additional states to discuss disaster preparedness if 
travel funds permit. HHS also said that TANF disaster preparedness is a 
state responsibility and, as we noted earlier, there are no specific 
federal requirements for state TANF programs to have plans in place. In 
addition, HHS has noted its lack of authority to regulate states. In 
creating the TANF block grant, Congress emphasized the importance of 
state flexibility, and to that end, legislation restricted HHS' 
regulatory authority over the states except to the extent expressly 
provided in the law. With states having flexibility in developing 
disaster plans as well as HHS' limited role, HHS does not have any 
systematic information on states' preparedness nationwide for providing 
TANF assistance in disasters. 

Federal Efforts to Improve Delivery of Human Services during Disasters 
Hold Promise: 

In response to the White House study recommendations for improving 
human service programs response to disaster, HHS has taken steps to 
clarify and enhance its national role in coordinating emergency human 
services within the existing structure of the National Response 
Plan.[Footnote 30] Human services refer to a broad array of federal 
programs that can provide disaster assistance to victims, including the 
ones we address in this report and others. The White House study 
contained a number of recommendations that echo our findings in this 
report and in our previous work related to improving service delivery. 
Selected study recommendations are shown in table 8. 

Table 8: Selected White House Report Recommendations to HHS to Improve 
the Delivery of Human Services during Disasters: 

White House Recommendations: 
* Designate HHS as the single federal coordinating entity for providing 
human services during disasters. 
* Federal programs should plan and prepare for the delivery of services 
in a disaster environment. 
* Develop an inventory of human services programs of the federal 
government. 
* Develop a single, comprehensive enrollment process for all human 
service programs. 
* Identify statutory authorities to waive impediments to delivering 
services during an emergency and to fund administrative costs. 
* Develop process to assess victims' needs and process applications at 
one-stop centers. 
* HHS should coordinate with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) 
to develop deployable interagency teams. 
* Inventory existing federal infrastructure and resources that could be 
utilized. 

Source: GAO analysis of the recommendations contained in the White 
House study. 

[End of table] 

In response to the White House study recommendations issued in February 
2006, HHS has developed a strategy to facilitate delivery of emergency 
human services at multiple levels within HHS and across other federal 
programs providing human services. To oversee its efforts, HHS 
identified human services coordinators within the Secretary's Office of 
Public Health Emergency Preparedness (OPHEP) and the Administration for 
Children and Families (ACF), which oversees the TANF program as well as 
other key programs that provide aid to low-income and vulnerable 
individuals and families. HHS has also created an interagency human 
services work group to compile information on ways to improve human 
services programs' response to a disaster and to establish a mechanism 
to coordinate planning for service delivery among federal agencies. 

HHS' efforts also include links to state program agencies, which are 
important when states have key service delivery responsibilities that 
determine response. At the regional level, ACF human services 
coordinators will work with state and federal agencies and non- 
government organizations to coordinate planning efforts to address 
human services needs during disasters. At the local level, ACF regional 
administrators will coordinate support for state agencies administering 
HHS programs, and to the extent possible, for other federal human 
service programs. 

In addition, other HHS efforts are under way: 

* On the basis of input on major human services needs during the 
Hurricane Katrina response, HHS is creating an inventory of the federal 
infrastructure and resources (such as databases of emergency volunteers 
or federally funded health centers) available to assist disaster 
victims as well as information on existing federal waiver authorities 
that can help human services programs adjust to meet disaster needs. 

* For future disasters, HHS is working with states to ensure that they 
have a plan to use disaster recovery centers to enroll individuals in 
HHS programs. HHS plans to have staff on-site at disaster recovery 
centers to help states enroll and re-enroll disaster victims in human 
services programs at a single location. HHS participation at the 
disaster recovery center level would be in response to a state's 
request through FEMA and would likely entail on-site technical 
assistance. 

* HHS solicited and received suggestions from state agencies and 
private businesses on the feasibility of using a debit card system as a 
simple and efficient means to deliver assistance to disaster victims. 
HHS plans to convene a panel that includes persons with technical and 
programmatic expertise to evaluate the suggestions and decide the next 
steps, which officials said could be to pilot debit card use. 

As HHS continues to develop information on options for facilitating the 
delivery of human services to disaster victims, HHS officials say they 
are considering other approaches, including case management. More 
specifically, HHS noted that many of its programs provide case 
management within each program and that its Office of Refugee 
Resettlement operates a case management network that could serve as a 
model for the use of a case management system for all federal and state 
programs for major disasters. However, HHS had not developed further 
information on this promising approach, such as a study paper, to 
facilitate further consideration of case management. Also, while HHS' 
efforts have generally focused on measures program administrators can 
take to deliver human services assistance to disaster victims, HHS 
efforts have not placed as much emphasis on collecting and sharing 
information with program administrators on strategies for mitigating 
risks for improper payments. Sharing information on how fraud occurred 
and on the promising practices that can be used during emergencies to 
reduce programs' vulnerability to fraud and abuse can help program 
administrators and policymakers make informed decisions about 
reasonable controls for emergency payments and provide enhanced 
oversight. 

HHS' initial approach shows promise and is in keeping with strategies 
that are key to enhancing human services programs' response to future 
events, discussed earlier, such as involving states and exploring ways 
to ease access, such as through case management. HHS will also face 
hurdles due to the number of programs involved, the variation in 
program requirements, as well as the variation across states and 
localities in program policies and service delivery approaches. At the 
same time, HHS is well positioned to make progress in this area, 
particularly because of its expertise in administering human services 
programs, experience working with vulnerable populations typically 
targeted by these programs, its regional presence, and its long- 
standing working relationships with states. 

In addition to HHS' efforts focused on human services programs, DHS has 
recently created an interagency task force on disaster assistance 
coordination, based on an executive order issued in August 
2006.[Footnote 31] The task force's mission is to improve the 
promptness and efficiency with which disaster victims obtain access to 
federal disaster assistance. Its initial plan, due by March 2007, will 
explore several strategies, including a single and streamlined point of 
application for assistance; a clearinghouse that includes information 
on all forms and sources of disaster assistance (federal, state, local, 
and private sector); as well as controls to reduce improper payments. 
DHS has formed the interagency task force, which includes a 
representative of HHS, and expects to implement all elements of the 
plan by December 2008. 

HHS officials told us that they are participating on the DHS task force 
and have provided some information to DHS about the steps they have 
taken to improve disaster response across federal programs. HHS 
officials said, however, that the HHS interagency taskforce last 
convened in August 2006 and will not reconvene until HHS has more 
clarification on how its efforts relate to DHS' and where coordination 
is needed. HHS has developed timetables for some aspects of the work it 
plans to do, but these time frames may change in order to support and 
not conflict with DHS' work. 

Conclusions: 

The scope and destruction of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita brought 
widespread displacement of residents in affected states, creating 
extraordinary challenges for the federal basic support programs we 
reviewed and testing these programs' capacities to quickly and 
effectively respond. Despite the efforts these programs made to serve 
those in need, the magnitude of the challenges exposed differences in 
programs' disaster preparedness for the federally administered and the 
state-administered programs. While the role of the federal government 
in disaster preparedness is clear for the federally administered Social 
Security and SSI programs, the role of federal oversight varies for 
state-administered federal programs. In these programs, states play an 
important role in preparedness and make key decisions about program 
operations generally. At the same time, because of the large number of 
people served and the significant federal investment in these programs, 
the federal government has an important role to play in ensuring that 
these programs are taking appropriate steps to prepare nationwide and 
in facilitating the sharing of information across states. The steps 
USDA and Labor are taking should help state programs increase their 
preparedness to quickly expand capacity and better meet increased 
demand in the event of a major disaster in the future. While we 
acknowledge certain restrictions on HHS' ability to regulate states, 
HHS needs to know more about state TANF programs' preparedness to carry 
out its federal oversight responsibilities. 

Federal agencies and states we reviewed are generally taking actions to 
improve preparedness of their respective programs. In addition, HHS has 
taken a significant step by initiating a broad effort to explore how 
preparedness and response can be improved across human services 
programs. The inherent difficulties of moving forward on issues that 
involve numerous federal agencies as well as states, while at the same 
time changing long-standing ways of doing business, call for sustained 
attention and leadership commensurate with the daunting challenges. 
Sustaining and building upon the existing momentum will not be easy but 
could lead to meaningful changes in the future. With appropriate focus 
and follow-through, these efforts could result in useful information on 
lessons learned and promising approaches that could be widely 
disseminated in the near term. In the longer term, these efforts could 
lead to coordinated service delivery approaches that are effective and 
efficient in getting available assistance to those in need, resulting 
in an overall improved response by human services programs in future 
events. This would benefit those directly affected by disasters and 
lead to improved use of government resources. 

Recommendations for Executive Action: 

In recognition of the importance of HHS' effort to improve the delivery 
of human services in future disasters, we recommend that the Secretary 
of HHS or his designee take the following steps to strengthen its 
efforts: 

* Work with DHS and its interagency work group to determine the most 
efficient and effective way to conduct HHS' work related to improving 
the provision of human services during disasters without duplicating 
efforts. 

* Establish mechanisms for routinely collecting and disseminating 
information on promising practices for delivering human services during 
disasters. These mechanisms should help ensure that information can be 
collected from and provided to state and local officials directly 
involved in service delivery, as well as draw on the experiences of 
other federal programs. Key areas of focus should include: 

- disaster planning, 

- service delivery, and: 

- eligibility determination and verification procedures that mitigate 
risks for making improper payments during an emergency situation. 

* Develop specific information on options for implementing case 
management services across federal assistance programs during 
disasters, drawing on its human services expertise and in concert with 
other federal agencies as appropriate. 

In addition, to better ensure the disaster preparedness of the TANF 
program, we recommend that the Secretary of HHS, as part of its overall 
efforts or separately as needed, develop a systematic approach to work 
with all states to identify key elements of disaster planning needed 
for the TANF program, share this information among states, and take 
steps to understand the extent to which all states have these key 
planning elements in place, and to consider whether additional actions 
are warranted to better ensure disaster preparedness among state TANF 
programs. 

Agency Comments and Our Evaluation: 

We provided SSA, USDA, HHS, and Labor with a draft of this report for 
comment. In commenting on the draft, SSA, USDA, and Labor agreed with 
our findings as they pertain to their programs. HHS agreed with the 
three recommendations related to its recent efforts to improve the 
delivery of human services and disagreed with our recommendation to 
work with states to address disaster planning for state TANF programs. 
We also provided DHS a copy of the draft and incorporated its technical 
comments as appropriate. Written comments from SSA, HHS, and Labor 
appear in appendixes II, III, and IV. 

SSA appreciated being cited for its flexibility and efforts to perform 
needed activities and services in the face of many challenges posed by 
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. It also echoed one of the report's themes, 
acknowledging the importance of easing access to services in future 
emergencies. 

In its comments, Labor noted that it hopes to work with FEMA to address 
some of the funding issues for administering DUA that we identified as 
well as some additional administrative issues and we have added that 
information to the report. Labor also noted that some of the steps one 
of the states took to facilitate eligible individuals access to UI and 
DUA payments created a conflict with Federal Unemployment Compensation 
law and DUA regulations for issuing payments. We have added that 
information to the report. 

Regarding HHS' response to our recommendations, it agreed with our 
recommendation about working with DHS and its interagency work group to 
improve the delivery of human services during disasters and noted that 
it is already participating in these efforts. As our recommendation 
notes, it is also important that the HHS and DHS efforts do not 
duplicate each other. In addition, HHS agreed with our recommendation 
about establishing mechanisms for routinely collecting and 
disseminating promising practices for delivering human services during 
disasters and said it has already initiated these efforts. HHS also 
agreed with our recommendation on developing options for implementing 
case management services across federal assistance programs during 
disasters and noted that it will look to engage DHS and its interagency 
work group in collaborating on this effort. 

HHS disagreed with our recommendation that it work with states on TANF 
disaster preparedness. HHS stated that it is more appropriate to 
address TANF issues as part of its comprehensive cross-program planning 
efforts, rather than requiring a separate initiative for TANF, singling 
it out as a special case, and reinforcing a "siloed approach" to 
delivering services. It also cited its belief that TANF disaster 
preparedness is an appropriate state responsibility and that there are 
no federal requirements for such planning, as we have already noted in 
the report. We agree with HHS that it is essential that its effort to 
improve human services during disasters look across multiple programs 
and not take a fragmented approach. Our recommendation did not specify 
the particular approach HHS should take to work with states to 
understand their level of preparedness for TANF. HHS can obtain this 
information through its cross-program effort or in other ways and we 
have clarified our recommendation language to reflect that. Also, we 
focus on TANF among HHS programs because it was the HHS program 
included in this report; we did not review other HHS programs. We also 
understand and believe that we state clearly in the report the 
limitations on HHS' authority to regulate states. However, we remain 
convinced that HHS, as part of its federal oversight responsibilities, 
should do more to obtain systematic information about all state TANF 
programs to identify whether additional steps are needed to ensure that 
this important income support program for low-income families is 
prepared for disasters. HHS also provided some additional information 
on steps it has taken to explore TANF preparedness with some states and 
we have added this information to the report. 

We are sending copies of this report to the Social Security 
Administration; the Departments of Agriculture, Health and Human 
Services, Homeland Security, and Labor; appropriate congressional 
committees, and other interested parties. We will also make copies 
available to others upon request. In addition, the report will be 
available at no charge on GAO's Web site at [Hyperlink, 
http://www.gao.gov]. Please contact me at (202) 512-7215 if you have 
any questions about this report. Contact points for our Offices of 
Congressional Relations and Public Affairs may be found on the last 
page of this report. Other major contributors to this report are listed 
in appendix V. 

Signed by: 

Barbara D. Bovbjerg: 
Director, Education, Workforce, and Income Security Issues: 

Congressional Committees: 

The Honorable Max Baucus: 
Chairman: 
The Honorable Charles E. Grassley: 
Ranking Minority Member: 
Committee on Finance: 
United States Senate: 

The Honorable Bennie G. Thompson: 
Chairman: 
Committee on Homeland Security: 
House of Representatives: 

The Honorable David Obey: 
Chairman: 
Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related 
Agencies: 
Committee on Appropriations: 
House of Representatives: 

The Honorable Jim McDermott: 
Chairman: 
The Honorable Jerry Weller: 
Ranking Minority Member: 
Subcommittee on Income Security and Family Support: 
Committee on Ways and Means: 
House of Representatives: 

The Honorable Michael R. McNulty: 
Chairman: 
The Honorable Sam Johnson: 
Ranking Minority Member: 
Subcommittee on Social Security: 
Committee on Ways and Means: 
House of Representatives: 

[End of section] 

Appendix I: Objectives, Scope, and Methodology: 

Objectives: 

Our report addresses the efforts of the Old Age, Survivors, and 
Disability Insurance (Social Security), Supplemental Security Income 
(SSI), Food Stamp, Unemployment Insurance (UI), and Temporary 
Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) programs to provide individuals 
with financial assistance in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and 
Rita. The federal agencies that oversee these programs are the Social 
Security Administration (SSA)--Social Security and SSI; U.S. Department 
of Agriculture (USDA)--Food Stamp; U.S. Department of Labor (Labor)-- 
UI; and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)--TANF. The 
focus of our work is the disaster planning that federal and state 
agencies carry out specific to service delivery rather than information 
technology-related disaster planning. We designed our study to provide 
information on (1) challenges the hurricanes created for the programs 
to take applications and pay benefits; (2) measures that helped 
programs take applications and pay benefits, and (3) the actions 
programs are taking to improve future disaster responses and what else 
may be needed. We used a mix of approaches that included (1) reviews of 
related reports, federal requirements, and federal and state agency 
data and (2) contacts with state, federal, and private-sector 
officials. 

We used data from SSA, USDA, and Labor to quantify the hurricanes' 
impact on taking applications and issuing benefit payments. To assess 
the reliability of those data elements, we (1) reviewed relevant 
documentation and (2) interviewed federal agency officials 
knowledgeable about the data. We determined the data to be sufficiently 
reliable for the purposes of this report. Additional details on our 
review are presented below. 

We visited program offices in Baton Rouge, Lake Charles, and New 
Orleans, Louisiana, and in Austin, Houston, and Dallas, Texas. We also 
conducted interviews of officials in Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida. 
We conducted our work from November 2005 through December 2006 in 
accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards. 

Literature Reviews: 

To gain an understanding of the challenges programs faced and to 
identify issues key to our work, we reviewed others' assessments of 
governments' and private-sector hurricane response.[Footnote 32] We 
used previously issued GAO reports to provide information on disaster 
victims' access to human service programs and programs' attention to 
preventing improper payments. 

Review of Federal Requirements: 

We reviewed federal rules for funding program benefit payments and 
administrative costs, including (1) the Stafford Act, (2) the QI, TMA, 
and Abstinence Programs Extension and Hurricane Katrina Unemployment 
Relief Act, and the TANF Emergency Response and Recovery Act of 
2005.[Footnote 33] Based on the National Response Plan, Presidential 
Decision Directive 67, FEMA Federal Preparedness Circular 65, the Food 
Stamp Act, and USDA guidance to states, we developed information on 
programs' disaster-related responsibilities. These documents spell out 
federal requirements for programs' disaster-related responsibilities. 
We used the FEMA and USDA disaster planning guidance to identify key 
strategies for major disasters. 

Contacts with States and State Advocacy Groups: 

We interviewed state Food Stamp Program, UI, and TANF officials 
responsible for program policy and administration to develop 
information on their states' disaster response and to obtain related 
documents. We visited Louisiana and Texas--states which have sustained 
significant damage and both sheltered the greatest number of evacuees-
-to conduct in-person interviews with state headquarters officials 
having policy or administrative responsibilities. In Louisiana we 
visited Baton Rouge, Lake Charles, and New Orleans to interview office 
managers and staff in two Food Stamp/TANF[Footnote 34] and two UI 
offices to obtain information on their experiences in providing 
services following the hurricanes. We additionally met with a State 
Disability Determination Services office manager to obtain information 
on the hurricanes' effect on SSA disability workload.[Footnote 35] In 
Texas, we visited Austin, Dallas, and Houston to conduct similar 
interviews with office managers and staff in two Food Stamp/TANF 
offices and one UI call center. 

Of the states for which major disaster declarations were made for 
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, we contacted Alabama and Mississippi--the 
other states where individuals received federal cash disaster 
assistance. We conducted telephone interviews with state headquarters 
officials also responsible for program policy and administration to 
similarly develop information on their states' disaster response and to 
obtain documentation. Based on federal, state, and private-sector 
officials identifying Florida as a state employing innovative disaster 
strategies, we conducted telephone interviews with Florida Food Stamp, 
UI, and TANF program administrators to develop information on their 
recent experience with Hurricane Wilma and innovative disaster 
strategies. Our findings are limited to the states we reviewed and are 
not generalizable to other states. 

For each state affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, we also 
attempted to contact one organization that advocates for populations 
the programs serve to obtain advocates' views on programs' hurricane 
response and areas warranting attention. The advocacy groups we spoke 
with are the Center for Public Policy Priorities, Public Policy Center 
of Mississippi, and Southeast Louisiana Legal Services. Finally, as 
another effort to obtain states perspectives, we contacted by e-mail 
the state audit agency for each of the 50 states and the District of 
Columbia to inquire about any work they had ongoing or information they 
could provide related to our study. 

Contacts with Federal Agencies and National Advocacy Groups: 

At the federal level, we interviewed SSA, USDA, Labor, and HHS 
headquarters and regional officials responsible for program policy and 
administration to obtain information on their disaster response and to 
obtain documentation. We conducted interviews with SSA, USDA, Labor, 
and HHS officials in headquarters locations and in regional offices for 
the states we visited. We additionally visited two offices in Louisiana 
and two offices in Texas to interview SSA office managers and staff who 
provided Social Security and SSI program services to the public in the 
hurricanes' aftermath. As with the states, we conducted telephone 
interviews with federal regional officials that oversee the federal 
basic support programs in Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida. We met 
with HHS headquarters officials to obtain information on HHS' plans for 
responding to the White House's recommendations that it devise and 
evaluate strategies to streamline disaster victims' access to human 
services programs. We additionally interviewed a Department of Homeland 
Security (DHS) official to determine DHS' plan to implement the 
Executive Order requiring it to chair a task force set up to make 
recommendations for improving delivery of federal disaster assistance. 
At that the time of our work, each of the respective federal Offices of 
the Inspectors General (IG) were reviewing the controls programs had in 
place to prevent improper payments. To avoid duplicating their work, we 
did not assess programs' controls. However, when available, our report 
includes information on the IGs' findings. 

We also drew on information obtained at a conference we attended 
sponsored by the American Public Human Services Association (APHSA) in 
December 2005, for human service agencies, and telephone interviews 
with representatives of APHSA, the Food Research and Action Center 
(FRAC), the National Association of State Workforce Agencies (NASWA), 
and the National Employment Law Project to obtain additional insights 
on programs' disaster response and assistance provided victims. We 
additionally met with APHSA officials and NASWA to obtain more details 
of their organizations' insights on the programs' disaster response. 

[End of section] 

Appendix II: Comments from the Social Security Administration: 

Social. Security: 
The Commissioner: 

January 08, 2007: 

Ms. Barbara D. Bovbjerg: 
Director, Education, Workforce, and Income Security Issues: 
Room 5968: 
U.S. Government Accountability Office: 
Washington, D.C. 20548: 

Dear Ms. Bovbjerg: 

Thank you for the opportunity to review and comment on the draft 
report, "Hurricanes Katrina and Rita: Federal Actions Could Enhance 
Preparedness of Certain State Administered Federal Support Programs" 
(GAO-07-219). We are pleased to be cited as an agency that demonstrated 
flexibility to perform needed activities and services and for 
responding diligently in the face of many challenges presented by 
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Enclosed please find a copy of our formal 
comments as they relate to the report's findings and contents. 

If you have any questions, please contact Ms. Candace Skurnik, 
Director, Audit Management and Liaison Staff, at (410) 965-4636. 

Sincerely, 

Signed by: 

Jo Anne B. Barnhart: 

Enclosure: 

Comments On The Government Accountability Office (GAO) Draft Report, 
"Hurricanes Katrina And Rita: Federal Actions Could Enhance 
Preparedness Of Certain State-Administered Federal Support Programs" 
(GAO-07-219): 

Thank you for the opportunity to review and comment on the above 
subject report. We are pleased with the recognition that GAO gave to 
the Social Security Administration (SSA) regarding our disaster 
planning and service delivery efforts. 

We have reviewed the report and acknowledge that in planning for future 
emergencies, the Federal sector must streamline the process when people 
are in critical need of services. 

[End of section] 

Appendix III: Comments from the Department of Health & Human Services: 

Office of the Assistant Secretary for Legislation: 
Department Of Health & Human Services: 
Washington, D.C. 20201: 

JAN 18 2007: 

Ms. Barbara D. Bovbjerg: 
Director, Workforce, and Income Security: 
U.S. Government Accountability Office: 
Washington, DC 20548: 

Dear Ms. Bovbjerg: 

Enclosed are the Department's comments on the U.S. Government 
Accountability Office's (GAO) draft report entitled, "Hurricanes 
Katrina and Rita: Federal Actions Could Enhance Preparedness of Certain 
State-Administered Federal Support Programs" (GAO-07-219). 

The Department has provided several technical comments directly to your 
staff. 

The Department appreciates the opportunity to comment on this draft 
report before its publication. 

Sincerely, 

Signed by: 

Vincent J. Ventimiglia: 
Assistant Secretary for Legislation: 

Comments Of The Department Of Health And Human Services On The 
Government Accountability Office Draft Report Entitled, "Hurricanes 
Katrina And Rita: Federal Actions Could Enhance Preparedness Of Certain 
State-Administered Federal Support Programs" (GAO-07-219): 

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) appreciates the 
opportunity to comment on the above-referenced Government 
Accountability Office (GAO) draft report. 

GAO Recommendations: 

In recognition of the importance of HHS' effort to improve the delivery 
of human services in future disasters, we recommend that the Secretary 
of HHS or his designee take the following steps to strengthen its 
efforts: 

* Work with DHS and its interagency work group to determine the most 
efficient and effective way to conduct HHS's work related to improving 
the provision of human services during disasters without duplicating 
efforts. 

* Establish mechanisms for routinely collecting and disseminating 
information on promising practices for delivering human services during 
disasters. These mechanisms should help ensure that information can be 
collected from and provided to state and local officials directly 
involved in service delivery, as well as draw on the experiences of 
other federal programs. Key areas of focus should include: 

- disaster planning, 

- service delivery, and: 

- eligibility determination and verification procedures that mitigate 
risks for making improper payments during an emergency situation. 

* Develop specific information on options for implementing case 
management services across federal assistance programs during 
disasters, drawing on its human services expertise and in concert with 
other federal agencies as appropriate. 

In addition, to better ensure the disaster preparedness of the TANF 
program, we recommend that the Secretary of HHS develop a systematic 
approach to work with all states to identify key elements of disaster 
planning needed for the TANF program, share this information among 
states, and take steps to understand the extent to which all states 
have these key planning elements in place, and to consider whether 
additional actions are warranted to better ensure disaster preparedness 
among state TANF programs. 

HHS Comments on the GAO Recommendations: 

HHS concurs with the recommendation that it work with DHS and its 
interagency work group to improve the provision of human services 
during disasters, and would note that HHS already fully participates in 
these efforts. 

HHS concurs with the recommendation that it establish mechanisms for 
routinely collecting and disseminating information on promising 
practices for delivering human services during disasters. This work has 
already begun through the work of the ACF regional offices, and will 
continue. 

HHS concurs with the recommendation that it develop options for 
implementing case management services across federal assistance 
programs during disasters, and will look to engage the DHS and its 
interagency work group in collaborating in this effort. 

Lastly, HHS strongly disagrees with the suggestion that the Secretary 
of HHS develop a "systematic approach to work with all states to 
identify key elements of disaster planning needed for the TANF program 
. Effective disaster planning pulls a range of different State- level 
programs and services into a comprehensive, integrated plan to address 
the needs of the affected population. The TANF program has been 
integrated into the ACF and HHS disaster planning initiative. To single 
out TANF as a special case requiring its own initiative fails to 
acknowledge HHS' comprehensive strategy and instead reverts to a 
regressive "silo mentality" whereby TANF and other programs are told to 
"do their own thing" when we know that comprehensive cross-program 
planning at both the Federal and State levels is essential. 

GAO Report Statements and HHS Comments - Supplementary Information to 
Be Considered for Inclusion in the Report: 

GAO made the following statements related to the Temporary Assistance 
for Needy Families (TANF) Program: 

Disaster Preparedness: 

* Page 4 - "HHS officials cited legislative restrictions that limit 
their ability to regulate states, emphasizing that TANF disaster 
planning is a state responsibility. However, HHS has not systematically 
worked with states to get information on states' TANF disaster 
preparedness or identify promising practices for dissemination." 

* Pages 37 and 38 -"On the other hand, initiatives to develop formal 
disaster preparedness plans for the TANF program were not being taken 
by any of the states we reviewed. As discussed earlier, no federal 
requirements exist for TANF disaster planning at the state level." 

* Page 41 - "At the regional level, ACF human services coordinators 
will work with state and federal agencies and non-government 
organizations to coordinate planning efforts to address human services 
needs during disasters. At the local level, ACF regional administrators 
will coordinate support for state agencies administering HHS programs, 
and to the extent possible, for other federal human service programs." 

* Page 43 -"While we acknowledge certain restrictions on HHS' ability 
to regulate states, HHS needs to know more about state TANF programs' 
preparedness to carry out its federal oversight responsibilities." 

HHS Comments on the Above Statements: 

First, HHS believes that TANF disaster preparedness is an appropriate 
State responsibility and there are no Federal requirements for such 
planning. However, this fact does not mean that ACF has been idle with 
respect to these recent disasters. During the Katrina and Rita 
disasters, ACF's Region IV, Atlanta Office, secured copies of all of 
its States' disaster preparedness plans. ACF learned that these plans 
are not distinctive to the TANF program and vary widely in the degree 
of detailed information included in the plans. Second, ACF's Region IV 
staff held meetings in 2006 with the State Commissioners in Alabama, 
Florida, and Mississippi and program representatives (e.g., TANF, Child 
Support, Developmental Disabilities) to discuss disaster preparedness. 
Further, there are plans to visit three additional States in 2007, if 
travel funds permit. Third, ACF Region IV staff has developed a 
procedural manual for personnel deployed to affected areas; the manual 
contains State contacts and other pertinent information together with a 
kit with supplies that will be provided to each person deployed. 
Fourth, the report should note that ACF Region IV staff shared State 
policies related to TANF cash assistance and nonrecurrent short-term 
benefits with all its States during hurricane season 2005. Also, 
policies and practices were shared between Regions IV and VI. 

Reporting: 

Page 17 - "The post-hurricane legislation eliminated this funding 
requirement and gave all states who were assisting hurricane victims 
immediate access to TANF contingency funds to provide short-term, 
nonrecurrent payments to evacuees from Alabama, Louisiana, and 
Mississippi." 

HHS Comment on the Above Statement: 

This should be rewritten as, "The post-hurricane legislation eliminated 
this funding requirement and gave all states that were assisting 
hurricane victims immediate access to TANF contingency funds to provide 
short-term nonrecurrent cash payments to evacuees from Alabama, 
Florida, Louisiana, and Mississippi." 

Also on page 17 - "Because HHS did not require states to report on 
hurricane victims or evacuee caseloads, these numbers are not readily 
available. states are not required to provide HHS data on the numbers 
receiving short-term nonrecurrent payments funded by TANF funds." 

HHS Comment on the Above Statement: 

In early September 2005, ACF asked each State to explain how it would 
serve hurricane evacuees. Specifically, States were asked if they would 
provide expedited benefits to evacuees and if States would offer 
employment services to these individuals. States did report the total 
number of newly approved evacuee families receiving TANF cash 
assistance or nonrecurrent short-term benefits provided in cash. 
Information on hurricane victims who were not evacuees was not 
collected. Initially, aggregate caseload numbers were reported via a 
conference call with all States on September 9, 2005. Thereafter, the 
data were collected three times a week through the end of October 2005. 

[End of section] 

Appendix IV: Comments from the U.S Department of Labor: 

U.S. Department of Labor: 
Assistant Secretary for Employment and Training: 
Washington, D.C. 20210: 

Jan 17 2007: 

Ms. Barbara D. Bovbjerg: 
Director: 
Education, Workforce and Income Security Issues: 
U.S. Government Accountability Office: 
441 G Street, NW: 
Washington, DC 20548: 

Dear Ms. Bovbjerg: 

Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the draft report, 
"Hurricanes Katrina and Rita: Federal Actions Could Enhance 
Preparedness of Certain State-Administered Federal Support Programs" 
GAO-07-219. We applaud the Government Accountability Office's (GAO) 
efforts to document the challenges the hurricanes created for the 
Federal-State Unemployment Insurance (UI) system, including the 
handling of the administrative cost associated with UI and Disaster 
Unemployment Assistance (DUA) claims, the factors that helped or 
hindered the programs' efforts, and suggested actions to improve future 
disaster response. 

As the report notes, the Department has documented the lessons learned 
from the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and assessed state UI 
disaster preparedness. While not required by Federal law, the 
Department will be providing states with guidance on developing 
effective disaster preparedness plans. However, since the UI and DUA 
programs are state-administered, it is ultimately each state's 
responsibility to develop adequate plans consistent with state and 
Federal law to respond to massive unemployment events. 

We note that on page 31, the report states, "FEMA funds both benefits 
and administrative costs for DUA." While this is accurate, we note that 
no DUA funds have been provided for automation of DUA claims processing 
or DUA-related disaster preparedness, and states are prohibited by law 
from using their UI administrative grants for these costs. We are 
hoping to work with FEMA to address this problem as well as to reduce 
the time required for approval of DUA benefit funds. 

In addition, we note that on page 33, the report states that "To 
facilitate UI and DUA payments, Louisiana automatically gave claimants 
12 weeks of benefits and suspended requirements for them to make weekly 
reports to confirm their eligibility." While the Department understood 
why Louisiana took such an unprecedented action, we also advised that 
doing so created a conflict with Federal Unemployment Compensation (UC) 
law and DUA regulations because issuing payment before a claimant's 
certification has been received is not a "method of administration" for 
determining if payment of UC is "due" as provided under Section 303(a) 
(1) of the Social Security Act and 20 CFR 625.8(f). 

Thank you for the opportunity to comment on this report. If you have 
any questions, please do not hesitate to call me at 202-693-2700. 

Sincerely, 

Signed by: 

Emily Stover DeRocco: 

[End of section] 

Appendix V: GAO Contact and Staff Acknowledgments: 

GAO Contact: 

Barbara D. Bovbjerg (202) 512-7215: 

Acknowledgments: 

In addition to the contact named above, Gale Harris, Assistant 
Director; Laura Heald, Analyst-in-Charge; Jacquelyn Stewart; Maura 
Hardy; and Amanda Mackison made significant contributions to this 
report. In addition, Cheri Harrington, Olivia Herman, and Bill Keller 
provided assistance in data collection; Tovah Rom provided writing 
assistance, Jessica Botsford provided legal assistance, Mimi Nguyen 
assisted with the graphics, and Monika Gomez and Lise Levie provided 
technical assistance. 

[End of section] 

Related GAO Products: 

Hurricanes Katrina and Rita: Unprecedented Challenges Exposed the 
Individuals and Households Program to Fraud and Abuse; Actions Needed 
to Reduce Such Problems in Future. GAO-06-1013. Washington, D.C.: 
September 27, 2006. 

Catastrophic Disasters: Enhanced Leadership, Capabilities, and 
Accountability Controls Will Improve the Effectiveness of the Nation's 
Preparedness, Response, and Recovery System. GAO-06-618. Washington, 
D.C.: September 6, 2006. 

Child Welfare: Federal Action Needed to Ensure States Have Plans to 
Safeguard Children in the Child Welfare System Displaced by Disasters. 
GAO-06-944. Washington, D.C.: July 28, 2006. 

Expedited Assistance for Victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita: FEMA's 
Control Weaknesses Exposed the Government to Significant Fraud and 
Abuse. GAO-06-655. Washington, D.C.: June 16, 2006. 

Hurricanes Katrina and Rita: Coordination between FEMA and the Red 
Cross Should Be Improved for the 2006 Hurricane Season. GAO-06-712. 
Washington, D.C.: June 8, 2006. 

Improper Payments: Federal and State Coordination Needed to Report 
National Improper Payment Estimates on Federal Programs. GAO-06-347. 
Washington, D.C.: April 14, 2006. 

Welfare Reform: Better Information Needed to Understand Trends in 
States' Uses of the TANF Block Grant. GAO-06-414. Washington, D.C.: 
March 3, 2006. 

TANF and Child Care Programs: HHS Lacks Adequate Information to Assess 
Risk and Assist States in Managing Improper Payments. GAO-04-723. 
Washington, D.C.: June 18, 2004. 

Means-Tested Programs: Determining Financial Eligibility Is Cumbersome 
and Can Be Simplified. GAO-02-58. Washington, D.C.: November 2, 2001. 

September 11: More Effective Collaboration Could Enhance Charitable 
Organizations' Contributions in Disaster. GAO-03-259. Washington, D.C.: 
December 19, 2002. 

Public Assistance: PARIS Project Can Help States Reduce Improper 
Benefit Payments. GAO-01-935. Washington, D.C.: September 6, 2001. 

Benefit and Loan Programs: Improved Data Sharing Could Enhance Program 
Integrity. HEHS-00-119. Washington, D.C.: September 13, 2000. 

Welfare Reform: Better Information Needed to Understand Trends in 
States' Uses of the TANF Block Grant. GAO-06-114. Washington, D.C.: 
March 3, 2006. 

FOOTNOTES 

[1] These reports include U.S. House of Representatives, A Failure of 
Initiative: Final Report of the Select Bipartisan Committee to 
Investigate the Preparation for and Response to Hurricane Katrina 
(Washington, D.C: Feb. 15, 2006); The White House, The Federal Response 
to Hurricane Katrina: Lessons Learned (Washington, D.C.: Feb. 23, 
2006); and U.S. Senate, Report of the Committee on Homeland Security 
and Government Affairs. Hurricane Katrina: A Nation Still Unprepared 
(Washington, D.C.: May 2006). 

[2] The states have responsibility for making disability determinations 
under the standards and criteria set forth by SSA and with funding from 
the federal government. 

[3] SSA may issue immediate payments when (1) a recipient's benefits 
are delayed, (2) a recipient's eligibility for Social Security or SSI 
has already been determined, and (3) the recipient has a financial 
emergency. 

[4] The Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 makes available 
to states various options that are intended to simplify food stamp 
program rules, streamline food stamp eligibility and benefit rules, and 
help ensure that food stamp participants experience as smooth a 
transition from welfare to work as possible. 

[5] Most states pay a maximum of 26 weeks of UI benefits, which may be 
extended in times of high unemployment. 

[6] To receive its TANF block grant funds, each state must contribute 
its own funds up to a specified level. 

[7] The Food Stamp Act and the Stafford Act authorize USDA to establish 
temporary emergency standards of eligibility and to provide emergency 
benefits to replace food lost in a disaster. 

[8] The NRP designates 15 emergency support functions (ESF) that 
address specific disaster response needs. ESF-6, identified as "Mass 
Care, Housing, and Human Services," cites expediting the processing of 
federal benefits. 

[9] The Urban Institute, Katrina: Demographics of a Disaster 
(Washington, D.C.: Sept. 9, 2005). 

[10] USDA revised the evacuee policy after it was issued to include 
hurricane evacuees who relocated to another area within their home 
state. 

[11] The Katrina Emergency Assistance Act of 2006, Pub. L. No. 109-176. 

[12] TANF Emergency Response and Recovery Act of 2005, Pub. L. No. 109- 
68. 

[13] Our previous report noted that the usefulness of the contingency 
fund could be improved for hard-pressed states if Congress eliminated 
restrictive requirements for states to provide a share of contingency 
funding, and limits on the amount of contingency funds to which each 
state has access. (See GAO, Welfare Reform: Challenges in Maintaining a 
Federal-State Fiscal Partnership, GAO-01-828 (Washington, D.C.: Aug. 
10, 2001) and GAO, Welfare Reform: Challenges in Saving for a "Rainy 
Day," GAO-01-674T (Washington, D.C.: Apr. 26, 2001). 

[14] Regional HHS officials we interviewed said that some states may 
not have accessed contingency funds because they did not get many 
evacuees, and some states thought they had sufficient resources to 
enroll evacuees in their own TANF program. 

[15] SSI is based on financial need and Social Security Disability 
Insurance is based on having a Social Security earnings record. 

[16] Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), USDA, Electronic Benefit 
Transfer (EBT) Disaster Plan Guide, (Alexandria, Virginia: October 
2000) and FNS Handbook 320 Disaster Food Stamp Program, (Alexandria, 
Virginia: 2005). USDA plans to issue an update of the handbook in 2007. 

[17] For this report, EBT cards will be referred to as debit cards. 

[18] By providing cash assistance through short-term, one-time 
payments, recipients do not need to meet federal work requirements or 
time limits on assistance that are in place for ongoing cash aid funded 
with other federal TANF funds. 

[19] Individuals affected by Hurricane Katrina were not asked non- 
financial questions that would affect their eligibility and states' 
verification of individuals' eligibility, unless questionable, was 
postponed until December 2005. States accepting applications from 
evacuees were still expected to verify identity and other eligibility 
factors such as residency and resources when possible or when deemed 
questionable. 

[20] Under state law, Louisiana has the flexibility to suspend certain 
rules or regulations that may prevent or hinder providing necessary 
services to help cope with an emergency. Labor officials said that even 
though they understood why Louisiana provided 12 weeks of benefits and 
suspended weekly reporting requirements, it advised the state that 
taking this action created a conflict with federal Unemployment 
Compensation law and DUA regulations. 

[21] As required by the Food Stamp Act, USDA and the states have a 
quality control system in place for regular food stamp payments. The 
act additionally requires the states to have a fraud prevention plan 
when operating the disaster food stamp program. 

[22] The National Directory of New Hires is a federal-level database of 
information on newly hired employees nationwide. 

[23] GAO, Expedited Assistance for Victims of Hurricanes Katrina and 
Rita: FEMA's Control Weaknesses Exposed the Government to Significant 
Fraud and Abuse, GAO-06-655 (Washington, D.C.: June 16, 2006). 

[24] GAO, TANF and Child Care Programs; HHS Lacks Adequate Information 
to Assess Risk and Assist States in Managing Improper Payments, GAO-04-
723 (Washington, D.C.: June 18, 2004). 

[25] GAO, Means-Tested Programs: Determining Financial Eligibility is 
Cumbersome and Can Be Simplified, GAO-02-58 (Washington, D.C.: Nov. 2, 
2001). 

[26] GAO, September 11: More Effective Collaboration could Enhance 
Charitable Organizations' Contributions in Disasters, GAO-03-259 
(Washington, D.C.: Dec. 19, 2002). 

[27] In some human service programs, program funds may be used for case 
management services. Also, recent amendments to the Stafford Act allow 
the use of federal funds for case management under certain conditions. 
Pub. L No. 109-295. 

[28] GAO, Human Service Programs: Demonstration Projects Could Identify 
Ways to Simplify Policies and Facilitate Technology Enhancements to 
Reduce Administrative Costs, GAO-06-942 (Washington, D.C.: Sept. 19, 
2006). 

[29] For more information on data sharing challenges, see GAO, The 
Challenge of Data Sharing: Results of a GAO-Sponsored Symposium on 
Benefit and Loan Programs, GAO-01-67 (Washington, D.C.: Oct. 20, 2000). 

[30] HHS' strategy is designed to better integrate the delivery of 
human services into the National Response Plan's Emergency Support 
Function 6--the delivery of mass care, housing, and human services; the 
coordinator for this support function is DHS. 

[31] The executive order states that it is the policy of the federal 
government that disaster victims eligible for financial or other 
assistance delivered by any department or agency of the executive 
branch (federal disaster assistance) are to have prompt and efficient 
access to federal disaster assistance, as well as information regarding 
assistance available from state and local government and private-sector 
sources. 

[32] U. S. House of Representatives, Select Bipartisan Committee to 
Investigate the Preparation for and Response to Hurricane Katrina, A 
Failure of Initiative. (Washington, D.C: Feb. 15, 2006); The White 
House, The Federal Response to Hurricane Katrina: Lessons Learned. 
(Washington, D.C.: Feb. 23, 2006); and Department of Homeland Security, 
Office of Inspector General, A Performance Review of FEMA's Disaster 
Management Activities in Response to Hurricane Katrina.,OIG-06-32 
(Washington, D.C.: March 2006). 

[33] Pub. L. No. 109-91 and Pub. L. No. 109-68, respectively. 

[34] The states we reviewed generally provided food stamps and TANF 
services out of a common office. 

[35] SSA contracts to have State Disability Determination Services 
(DDS) evaluate Social Security and SSI claimants' medical disability. 
DDS staff are state employees, but the federal government fully funds 
DDS operations. SSA is State DDS' only client, and in all areas except 
personnel-related issues (e.g., compensation, employee benefit, etc.) 
DDS staff take direction from SSA. 

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