FEMA: $32M to provide case management to Louisiana hurricane victims

New Orleans CityBusiness, Oct 29, 2008

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has awarded up to $32 million to the Louisiana Recovery Authority to assist with disaster case management for thousands of Louisiana families affected by hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Hundreds of case managers from the Louisiana Family Recovery Corps and the Greater New Orleans Disaster Recovery Partnership will provide the assistance to families.

"FEMA and the state have partnered to develop this program to support the recovery of Louisiana's citizens. Through individual case management, we have the potential to help thousands of families still working to transition back to a normal life after hurricanes Katrina and Rita displaced them from their homes," said Jim Stark, director of FEMA's Louisiana Transitional Recovery Office.

It is the second part of a two-phase disaster case management plan FEMA proposed to meet the ongoing needs of the Gulf Coast. It will continue through March.

"Case management provides a critical link to help our families connect to the government services and other resources they need to rebuild their lives and find safe and sustainable housing," said Paul Rainwater, executive director of the LRA.

During the first phase, from April 1 to May 31, FEMA provided Cora Brown Fund awards to Louisiana specifically for the cases that remained open from the Katrina Aid Today program. The United Methodist Committee on Relief formed KAT, a national case management consortium, following Katrina to provide disaster case management services to individuals and families. KAT was funded through more than $66 million in donations from foreign countries.

The Cora Brown Fund is used as a last resort to assist families following a presidentially declared disaster. FEMA representatives identify the families through information provided from various sources, including federal, state, local and voluntary relief agencies.

In the second phase, the Louisiana disaster case management program staff will coordinate the budget needs of their individual case management providers. FEMA has provided program guidance for the state to assist in determining funding for the program's needs. Eligible recipients for disaster case management assistance will be families living in FEMA temporary housing, families with health- related concerns living in FEMA-funded hotels or motels and families whose case management services are not yet fully completed and were in the Cora Brown disaster case management Phase 1 program.