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1 [1] (March 22, 2024)

handle is hein.crs/goveosp0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Con gressionol Research Service Informing the IegisIative debate since 1914 Updated March 22, 2024 A Brief Overview of FEMA's Individual Assistance Program Following an incident, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) may implement the Individual Assistance (IA) program to assist disaster survivors when the President authorizes such assistance pursuant to a declaration of emergency or major disaster under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (Stafford Act; P.L. 93-288, as amended; 42 U.S.C. §§5121 et seq.). IA Programns FEMA may provide the following forms of IA: The Crisis Counseling Assistance and Training Program (CCP; 42 U.S.C. §5183; 42 U.S.C. §5192(a)(6)) assists individuals through community-based outreach and the provision of services (e.g., crisis counseling, psycho- education, coping skills development) following an emergency or major disaster. FEMA provides grant funding to enable state, local, territory, and tribal governments (SLTTs) to provide CCP services or contract with local mental health service providers to offer such services. Disaster Case Management (DCM; 42 U.S.C. §5189d) partners case managers with disaster survivors to develop and implement disaster recovery plans that address the survivor's unmet needs following a major disaster. FEMA provides direct assistance or grant funding to SLTTs or qualified private organizations to provide DCM. Through Disaster Legal Services (DLS; 42 U.S.C. §5182), attorneys provide free legal advice, counseling, and representation to low-income individuals to help them secure benefits or make claims arising from a major disaster. FEMA and the American Bar Association's Young Lawyers Division have an agreement to provide DLS. Disaster Unemployment Assistance (DUA; 42 U.S.C. §5177) provides temporary unemployment benefits and re- employment assistance to individuals who were employed or self-employed and were rendered jobless or whose employment was interrupted as a direct result of a major disaster, and are ineligible for regular unemployment compensation. DUA is funded by FEMA, administered by the affected state/territory's unemployment compensation agency, and overseen by the U.S. Department of Labor. Through the Individuals and Households Program (IHP; 42 U.S.C. §5174; 42 U.S.C. §5192(a)(6)), FEMA provides financial and/or direct assistance for housing, and FEMA (or the state/territory/tribe with a grant from FEMA) provides financial assistance for other needs-referred to as Other Needs Assistance (ONA), to eligible disaster survivors who have uninsured or under-insured necessary expenses and serious needs resulting from an emergency or major disaster, which cannot be met through other means or forms of assistance. The federal government provides 100% of the funding for CCP, DUA, DLS, DCM, and IHP-Housing Assistance. However, IHP-ONA is subject to a statutorily set 75% federal and 25% nonfederal cost share, borne by the state/territory/tribe. For more information on FEMA's IA program, see CRS Report R46014, FEMA Individual Assistance Programs: An Overview. Requesting and Authorizing IA There is no threshold or trigger that automatically authorizes IA. Federal assistance is intended to supplement-not supplant-the local, state, territory, or tribal government's response and recovery efforts. Thus, the governor of an affected state or territory or the chief executive of an affected tribal government must request that the President declare an emergency or major disaster authorizing IA. Using information submitted by the governor or chief executive in their major disaster declaration request, FEMA evaluates specific factors to determine whether there is a need for supplemental federal assistance to individuals (i.e., IA). FEMA then provides a recommendation to the President, who has sole discretion to authorize a declaration that provides IA (the declaration approval may limit the types of IA that are authorized). IA Factors There are two sets of IA factors FEMA may consider: one applies to governors' requests (see 44 C.F.R. §206.48(b)), and one applies to chief executives' requests (see FEMA's Tribal Declarations Pilot Guidance, January 2017). Factors for Evaluating Governors' Requests FEMA's factors for evaluating governors' requests are: State Fiscal Capacity and Resource Availability: FEMA considers the availability of government and private-sector resources, and the circumstances that contributed to the state/territory having insufficient resources, potentially necessitating supplemental federal assistance. FEMA evaluates: (1) Fiscal Capacity (a principal factor for considering the need for the IHP), which indicates the state/territory's ability manage disaster response and recovery. FEMA considers the state/territory's ability to raise revenue for disaster response and recovery based on either total taxable resources (TTR) or gross domestic product (GDP), as well as per capita personal

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