FEMA Reaches Out To Evacuees Ineligible For Assistance
Release Date: August 15, 2006
Release Number: 1606-003FactSheet
- The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is nearing the end of its emergency sheltering under Section 403 of the Robert P. Stafford Act. Public sheltering programs will end for most evacuees on Aug. 31, with others ending on Sept. 30.
- Many Hurricane Rita and Hurricane Katrina evacuees who received sheltering via public agencies have been transitioned into FEMA’s longer-term Individual Assistance Housing Program (Section 408 in the Stafford Act).
- FEMA wants to ensure that before the sheltering program ends, FEMA will have given every evacuee ample opportunity to show they are eligible for 408 assistance.
- FEMA has conducted numerous reviews of all evacuees declared ineligible for FEMA’s 408 program and will continue to do so over the next weeks as the sheltering program sunsets after a year of assistance and payments to public agencies totaling more than a half-billion dollars. Despite FEMA’s best efforts, FEMA expects there will be a few thousand evacuees who will not be able ultimately to qualify for further FEMA assistance under the law.
- In many of these reviews, FEMA lacks only one item of documentation (proof of occupancy in the disaster area, a signature on a form, a declaration of need, etc.) needed to change an applicant’s status from ineligible to eligible.
- Only about 10 percent of evacuees have responded to FEMA letters and requests for information. FEMA needs the assistance of the news media to encourage evacuees to take responsibility for their recovery and provide information that might help them obtain rental assistance that will help them to re-establish their lives.
- FEMA is working closely with community and faith-based organizations and long-term recovery committees to ensure that these disaster survivors do not fall through the cracks and receive ongoing help.
- Many evacuees have been on FEMA’s 408 Individual Assistance program for some time. These evacuees have been given until Oct. 31 to recertify for FEMA assistance, which means providing rental receipts, a housing plan and proof of other recovery efforts, such as a job search record.
- Evacuees who will need to recertify by Oct. 31 need to start now to collect the information that FEMA needs to be able to extend their benefits into next year. FEMA has deployed rental assistance program teams to visit apartment complexes and explain to apartment owners and managers the urgency of the situation.
Last Modified: Wednesday, 16-Aug-2006 16:30:31