Artifact 3 Response and Recovery, Discussion Board Question, Week 4, Homeland Security Fundamentals, SMGT 420

PART II Choose and fully answer and discuss one of the end of chapter Self-Check Questions listed at the end of each Introduction to Emergency Management chapter. Chapter 7, Question 5 What are the four types of assistance provided by the Disaster Housing Program? The Disaster Housing Program or Disaster Housing Assistance Program (DHAP) is a joint pilot initiative undertaken by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) (Department of Homeland Security, Office of Inspector General, 2011, p. 2). DHAP is designed to provide funds for expenses that are not covered by insurance and are available to homeowners and renters who are legal residents of the United States and who were displaced by disaster (Haddow et al., 2011, pg. 227). According to Haddow, Bullock and Coppola (2011) The DHAP provides four types of assistance to people whose homes are damaged by disaster (p. 227). Lodging expenses reimbursement provides a check for reimbursement for the costs of short-term lodging such as hotel rooms that were incurred because of damage to a home or an officially imposed prohibition against returning to a home. Emergency minimal repair assistance provides a check to help repair a home to a habitable condition. Temporary rental assistance provides a check to rent a place for the pre-disaster household to live. Mortgage and rental assistance provides a check to pay the rent or mortgage to prevent evictions or foreclosure. Many of my family members living in Louisiana were recipients of lodging expense reimbursement and temporary rental assistance after Hurricane Katrina. I would not have known the difference because I knew they had all received assistance from FEMA but was unclear that there were separate programs under FEMA for which disaster victims could apply for eligibility. I conducted a quick survey through Facebook with my relatives and 13 of 17 families had received assistance under DHAP. The four families that did not receive assistance through DHAP were provided FEMA trailers. According to DHSs report, Effectiveness and Costs of FEMAs Disaster Housing Assistance Program (2011) DHAP for Katrina victims cost more than $550 million dollars by its expiration in August 2009. References: Department of Homeland Security, Office of Inspector General. (2011, August 12). Retrieved from Effictivenss and Costs of FEMA's Disaster Housing Assistance Program: http://www.oig.dhs.gov/assets/mgmt/OIG_11-102_Aug11.pdf Haddow, G. B. (2011). Introduction to Emergency Management (4th ed.). Burlington, MA: Butterworth-Heinemann.

Author: Jon Bailey Posted Date: Friday, December 2, 2011 9:34:32 PM CST Edited Date: Friday, December 2, 2011 9:34:32 PM CST Total views: 31 (Your views: 5) Do you think that FEMAs individual grant programs provide enough assistance to individuals and families that are affected by disasters? The Individuals and Households Program (IHP) is designed as a supplemental program that provides funds that cannot be met by insurance or other forms of disaster assistance. The IHP provides temporary housing, money for repairs for damage not covered by an insurance policy, money to replace a home destroyed in a disaster that is not covered by insurance, permanent housing construction in insular or remote locations specified by FEMA. Haddow, Bullock and Coppola (2011) state the IHP covers only repair or replacement of items that are damaged as a direct result of the disaster that are not covered by insurance (p. 229). Funds from the IHP may not be used to improve a victims home beyond its pre-disaster condition unless the improvements are required by current building codes. I do think that the IHP does currently provide enough assistance to individuals and families as long as the individual or family has insurance coverage. Author: Christopher Breckenridge Posted Date: Sunday, December 4, 2011 11:11:37 AM CST Reply to Jon Bailey Edited Date: Sunday, December 4, 2011 11:11:37 AM CST Total views: 13 (Your views: 2) Jon, I have to agree with you and your assessment that FEMAs individual grant programs provide enough assistance to families affected by disasters. As I stated in my post this week, I had family members receive funds after Katrina under the Disaster Housing Program and Individual and Households Program. I was unaware of the other services provided to individuals such as Disaster Unemployment Assistance (DUA), Crisis Counseling, Legal Services and the Cora Brown Fund. Speaking with families after Katrina, I only heard about the money received from FEMA for damages of their residences. Haddow, Bullock and Coppola (2011) have helped me understand that FEMAs individual grant programs are not just about providing money to disaster victims but also services to help them rebuild their lives. I will say from my own point of view that funds provided by FEMA for victims is often misused. I went home in 2007 and Katrina victims were still living in FEMA trailers or the roofs and windows still had blue tarps on them but in the driveways of many of these homes were new vehicles. FEMA should provide assistance but not provide the funds until the work has been completed on the home or property. I dont think individuals should have a choice of what they do with the money provided if they are not using the money for which it is being provided. Thanks for a great post this week. Chris

Author: Ronald Richert Posted Date: Sunday, December 4, 2011 9:25:22 PM CST Reply to Edited Date: Sunday, December 4, 2011 9:25:22 PM CST Chris Breckenridge Total views: 10 (Your views: 1) Chris, I tried to make the same point this week that there is very little oversight involved in the billions of dollars thrown at disaster victims. Don't get me wrong, I think there should be money provided for legitimate recovery. With the amount of programs and redundant programs out there, there is a total loss of where the money is actually being spent. Kind of like all these bail outs that congress has decided to throw money at. We the people ask later where all the money actually went and "chirp chirp" no answer comes. Our government needs to know and be able to account for the money they throw around. The money isn't theirs, it's we the people's. Ron R