Healthy, Resilient, and Sustainable Communities After Disasters Strategies, Opportunities, and Planning for Recovery (2015) / Chapter Skim
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4 Leveraging Recovery Resources in a Coordinated Manner to Achieve Healthier Post-Disaster Communities
4 Leveraging Recovery Resources in a Coordinated Manner to Achieve Healthier Post-Disaster Communities
Pages 117-146
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From page 117... ...
Included are summaries and analyses of key funding sources that can be applied to minimizing the impacts of a disaster on health and social services and ultimately creating healthier communities. RESOURCE IMPLICATIONS OF DISASTER DECLARATIONS The resources that become available after a disaster will depend on the pattern and extent of damage and whether the crisis results in a presidential declaration of a major disaster, which triggers significant federal assistance.
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From page 118... ...
For example, the Sandy Recovery Improvement Act2 removed the penalty associated with structural or functional changes made to infrastructure when rebuilding using FEMA Public Assistance funds (described further below)
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From page 119... ...
In coordination with state agencies and the state coordinating officer, federal resources -- a combination of grants, loans, and technical assistance -- can be used for: • post-disaster recovery planning, • debris removal, • infrastructure repairs, • financial support to individuals and families, • services such as crisis counseling and case management, • economic development, and • hazard mitigation. FEMA Funding Programs Authorized Under the Stafford Act FEMA programs authorized under the Stafford Act include Individual Assistance, the Crisis Counseling Assistance and Training Program, Public Assistance, and the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program, as described briefly below.
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graphics, based specifically on the post-Sandy recovery initiatives in the state of New York but generalized for all disasters where an element of Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funding is included.
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, which is discussed in more detail below. Although Public Assistance funds generally have been used to restore facilities to their pre-disaster state and function, hazard mitigation add-on funding (designated as Public Assistance 406 program funds)
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From page 122... ...
In contrast with the Public Assistance 406 program for hazard mitigation discussed above, FEMA does not approve the use of Hazard Mitigation Grant Program funds for individual projects; instead, distribution of these funds to states is formula based (generally 15 percent of estimated aggregate amounts of Stafford Act disaster assistance5) , and states have wide latitude to determine how the funds will be allocated.
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From page 123... ...
expenditures for disaster recovery for recent disasters. NOTES: FEMA-DRF = FEMA Disaster Relief Funds, including Individual Assistance, Public Assistance, and Hazard Mitigation Grant Program funds; HHS-SSBGDR = HHS Social Services Block Grant Disaster Recovery Funds; HUD CDBGDR = HUD Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery funds; KRW = Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma.
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"use green rebuilding standards for replacement and new construction of residential housing." Social Services Block Grant SSBGs are administered by the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) within HHS (ACF, 2014b)
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From page 125... ...
. Leveraging Block Grant Programs Regardless of whether a supplemental appropriation is made to provide additional funds beyond those authorized under the Stafford Act, the funds available through annual block grant programs such as CDBG and SSBG generally can be reprogrammed for disaster recovery purposes and used for many of the same functions described above for disaster recovery funds.7 Because every state and most large cities and counties receive annual funding through the CDBG program for day-to-day purposes, there is broad familiarity with the requirements attached to these federal funds (CRS, 2011)
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From page 126... ...
.11 Generally, however, if there is no presidential disaster declaration, communities must look to nonfederal funding opportunities, including private-sector investments; charity from nonprofit and philanthropic organizations; and state and local insurance, cash reserves, and disaster budgets when available.12 These funding sources, described below, are important contributors to the pool of recovery resources even when a major disaster is declared by the President. Private-Sector Resources Funds and other forms of assistance (e.g., goods, facilities)
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(see 13 Thissection draws on a paper commissioned by the Committee on Post-Disaster Recovery of a Community's Public Health, Medical, and Social Services on "Disaster Recovery Funding: Achieving a Resilient Future? " by Gavin Smith (see Appendix B)
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From page 128... ...
They are involved in fundraising, organizing volunteers, and providing assistance to those who have unmet needs even after receiving help from government disaster aid programs. FEMA's voluntary agency liaisons and National VOAD can assist communities in setting up LTRCs.14 Foundations/philanthropies often become involved in financial assistance during major disasters.
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From page 129... ...
Adding to the complexity of the recovery process is the fact that different federal recovery assistance funds may be dispersed to states, local governments, or both.16 In the case of Hazard Mitigation Grant Program and Public Assistance funds from FEMA, the state (usually the emergency management agency) will be the grantee.
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From page 130... ...
Other grant programs that similarly include recovery as a supported planning capability are FEMA's Emergency Management Preparedness and Homeland Security grants and Pre-Disaster Mitigation grants; the latter provide states and territories with funds for mitigation planning and activities. By law, hazard mitigation plans must be in place prior to a disaster in order for a community to be eligible for post-disaster mitigation funds, thus providing an incentive for pre-event planning.
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This scenario assumes that there has been a presidential declaration of a major disaster and that Congress provided Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery funds through a supplemental appropriation.
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. Individual grant recipients, such as homeowners slated to have their homes acquired, frequently must wait more than a year to receive these funds.21 The agencies responsible for the adminis 20 In North Carolina following Hurricane Fran, the state required communities receiving Hazard Mitigation Grant Program funds to develop hazard mitigation plans.
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From page 133... ...
Variations in staffing capacity and post-disaster experience also characterize state and local agencies that administer federal grants, including the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program, Public Assistance, and the CDBGs. These variations, too, influence the speed with which federal funds reach the local governments and individuals carrying out the post-disaster recovery process (Smith, 2011; Smith et al., 2013)
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From page 134... ...
Financial Incentives for Pre-Disaster Planning and Action Several existing programs can serve as models for how pre-disaster planning can be supported through financial incentives: • According to the Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000,23 only communities with hazard mitigation plans in place prior to a disaster are eligible to receive Hazard Mitigation Grant Program funds for mitigation activities after a disaster. • The Community Rating System provides a mechanism for incentivizing pre-disaster efforts to minimize flood damage for communities with flood insurance through the National Flood Insurance Program.
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: "The goal of the competition is two-fold: to promote innovation by developing regionally-scalable but locally-contextual solutions that increase resilience in the region, and to implement selected proposals with both public and private funding dedicated to this effort. The competition also represents a policy innovation by committing to set aside HUD Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery funding specifically to incentivize implementation of winning projects and proposals." Rebuild by Design is considered so successful -- it garnered recognition as one of CNN's Best Ideas for 2013 -- that it serves as a model for another new competition, the National Disaster Resilience Competition, announced by President Obama in summer 2014.
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Recommendation 6: Leverage Recovery Resources in a Coordinated Manner to Achieve Healthier Post-Disaster Communities. Federal agencies (the Federal Emergency Management Agency [FEMA]
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program Mitigation Management Agency government furnishes funds for hazard mitigation planning (FEMA) and projects on an annual basis.
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The act authorizes FEMA to make grants for the purpose of "providing a system of emergency preparedness for the protection of life and property in the United States from hazards and to vest responsibility for emergency preparedness jointly in the federal government and the states and their political subdivisions" (FEMA, 2015b) . Homeland FEMA Federal→state The Homeland Security Grant Program Security (HSGP)
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Department of Federal→state or local HUD's Community Development Block Grantprivate Housing and Urban government Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) can be used to housing Development (HUD)
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Grantees are required to supply a 25 percent nonfederal cost share. States are required to develop pre-disaster hazard mitigation plans to be eligible for funding (FEMA, 2007)
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Administration for Federal→state In the case of a special congressional Children and Families appropriation, Social Services Block Grant (ACF)
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Social ACF Federal→state Through reprogramming of existing grant Services funds or in the case of a special congressional appropriation, Social Services Block Grant (SSBG) funds can cover unreimbursed expenses resulting from a disaster, including social, health, and mental health services for individuals, as well as repair, renovation, and rebuilding of health care facilities, mental hygiene facilities, child care facilities, and other social services facilities.
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2014b. Social Services Block Grant Program (SSBG)
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2015c. Public Assistance: Local, state, tribal, and non-profit.
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2013. The role of the state in building local capacity and commitment for hazard mitigation planning.
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