From the U.S. Government Accountability Office, www.gao.gov

Transcript for: Actions Needed to Help Disaster Survivors Access FEMA
Assistance Program

Description: Heavy hurricanes seasons in 2017 and 2018, along with
devastating wildfires in California, affected more than 47 million
people in the United States--about 15 percent of the national
population. In response to disaster events like these, the Federal
Emergency Management Agency can provide financial assistance for home
repairs, child care and transportation, as well as services to help
survivors during recovery periods. However, survivors face challenges in
accessing this assistance, and--with larger-scale disasters--FEMA faces
challenges in giving assistance. Today we talk with GAO's Chris Currie,
an expert on disaster assistance and a director in our Homeland Security
and Justice Team. 

Related GAO Work: GAO-20-503, Disaster Assistance: Additional Actions
Needed to Strengthen FEMA's Individuals and Households Program

Released: September 2020

[Intro Music] 

[Chris Currie:] This program is just too important for it to be
incredibly difficult for survivors to navigate.

[Holly Hobbs:] Hi and welcome to GAO's Watchdog Report, your source for
news and information from the U.S. Government Accountability Office--
I'm Holly Hobbs. Heavy hurricanes seasons in 2017 and 2018, along with
devastating wildfires in California, affected more than 47 million
people in the United States--about 15 percent of the national
population. 
In response to disaster events like these, the Federal Emergency
Management Agency (or FEMA) can provide financial assistance for home
repairs, child care and transportation, as well as services to help
survivors during recovery periods. However, survivors face challenges in
accessing this assistance, and--with larger-scale disasters--FEMA faces
challenges in giving assistance. 
Today we talk with GAO's Chris Currie, an expert on disaster assistance
and a director in our Homeland Security and Justice Team. Thank you for
joining us Chris. 

[Chris Currie:] Thanks.

[Holly Hobbs:] So Chris, what challenges do survivors face when trying
to get assistance after a disaster?

[Chris Currie:] After a disaster, somebody is not in the best state of
mind, obviously. Their life has been displaced. They're oftentimes
they're not in their homes. Their Wi-Fi is down. They may not have
electricity right after a disaster. So, they're already facing the
stress of not being able to live a normal life. And then, on top of
that, it's very overwhelming to figure out what assistance you may be
eligible for. And FEMA is one source of assistance that survivors can go
to, in addition to other government agencies and nonprofits. But in
general, you know, there's a lot of confusion afterwards and it's very
difficult to navigate all the different programs. 

[Holly Hobbs:] And so, one of the findings from your new report says
that between 2016 and 2018, about 5.6 million people applied for
disaster assistance, and most were referred by FEMA to its Individuals
and Households Program for that assistance. Less than half of those
people were eligible to receive assistance. So, what happened? 

[Chris Currie:] When you see those numbers, it might seem like it's just
very clear cut. You apply, and either you're eligible or you're not. But
actually a number of the findings in our report relate to what happens
after somebody receives their initial determination. And actually this
is one of the major challenges survivors face in this process. FEMA has
a very automated process. Most people sign up for assistance either
through the web or over the phone. And FEMA makes an initial
determination based on all the information that a survivor may put into
the system. So, if they put in a certain amount of income or whether or
not they have insurance or something like that. However, there were a
number of things in this process that are very confusing to survivors;
and I'll give you a couple of examples. So, initially, if someone is
determined as eligible, they are referred to the Small Business
Administration to sign up for a disaster loan. And this creates a lot of
confusion with survivors because they are like 'well why am I being
referred to the SBA? I'm not a small business.' But what FEMA is doing
is they're basically referring them to that loan process to see if their
eligible to get a loan first before they get disaster assistance from
FEMA. What happens though, is a number of survivors, they just stop
right there. So, they don't continue the process when they might
otherwise be eligible for assistance. Another thing that we found is
that when FEMA provides an initial determination of whether a survivor
is going to receive assistance, the survivor receives a letter that says
they are denied. The problem is this doesn't necessarily mean a final
denial. For example, if somebody has homeowners insurance, or maybe they
just didn't provide all the necessary information to FEMA, they just
need to provide more information. Again, they think it's a final denial.
They don't continue the process. 

[Music break]

[Holly Hobbs:] So, it sounds like FEMA's disaster assistance
program--the Individuals and Households Program--is an important
resource, maybe even a lifesaving resource, after a disaster; but that
many survivors find the process for getting this critical aid daunting. 
Chris, did we make any recommendations to help FEMA improve this access?

[Chris Currie:] Actually we made 14 recommendations in this report,
which is quite a few. But, I want to make it clear that FEMA is not
sitting around trying to make it difficult for survivors to access these
programs. First of all, they've provided more assistance in this program
over the last few years than they have in the 10-20 years prior, just
because there's been so many disasters. But one of FEMA's strategic
goals is to try to reduce the complexity of the organization for
survivors. And this is just a great example of where they can do that. A
lot of these processes that have been put in place over the years were
done ensure integrity in the payments. To ensure the right people get
the money. That they are really eligible. A number of parts of this
process that could be improved and streamlined and clarified to remove
roadblocks in the place of survivors to receive this assistance. And so
a lot of the recommendations have to do with just, you know,
streamlining or making parts of this process easier to understand for
survivors. For example, when FEMA provides a letter to the survivor
saying whether they were approved or denied, you know, providing more
information about the denial. You know, was it that they didn't the
insurance information. That they didn't contact the inspector to get a
final inspection report. That kind of information is not provided right
now and we think it should be.  

[Holly Hobbs:] Chris, last question. What is the bottom line of your
report?

[Chris Currie:] This program is just too important for it to be
incredibly difficult for survivors to navigate. A record number of
people have applied for FEMA assistance over the last few years. That
trend is going to continue. Millions and millions of people are going to
be applying for this assistance and it's critical that the process for
them doing so is as easy as possible so that they get the assistance
they need.

[Holly Hobbs:] That was Chris Currie talking about GAO's recent report
on a FEMA's disaster assistance program. Thank you for your time Chris.

[Chris Currie:] Thank you.

[Holly Hobbs:] And thank YOU for listening to the Watchdog Report. To
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