Washblog

NCLEJ and a coalition of public interest and pro bono counsel have filed Ridgely v. FEMA, a class action lawsuit challenging FEMA's policies and practices of (a) terminating housing assistance payments to pay for housing for persons displaced by hurricane's Katrina and Rita, the vast majority of whom are low-income and many of whom are persons of color, without providing adequate written notice and an opportunity for a pre-termination fair hearing; (b) seeking to recover alleged overpayments of prior FEMA assistance without providing adequate written notice and an adequate fair hearing process; and (c) refusing to pay housing assistance to otherwise eligible displacees who FEMA believes were previously overpaid any FEMA assistance.

The case was filed in the federal District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana. For press release click here.

As this case shows, adequate notice and an opportunity to be heard before termination, the basic due process protections that the Center won in Goldberg v. Kelly, are crucial because of what has been reported to us as an alarmingly high rate of erroneous determinations of ineligibility resulting in terminations of eligible displacees or attempted recoveries from persons who were in fact not overpaid.

Loss of housing assistance can readily lead to eviction and homelessness. A fairer system will give persons faced with termination a fair chance to challenge the termination before they lose assistance.

The National Center for Law and Economic Justice (formerly the Welfare Law Center) was founded in 1965.

Our Unique Role

The National Center for Law and Economic Justice's vision is a society in which low-income individuals and families have the support they need to maintain a decent standard of living and take full advantage of opportunities to better their lives.

We pursue this vision by assuring that all low-income people can gain access to all of the vital public benefits and services for which they are eligible. When current
laws and program practices are not sufficient, we work diligently for effective reforms.

We work throughout the country to achieve our goals with a combination of on-the-ground litigation, policy advocacy, and support for grassroots organizing.

Once a month I attend a Partners Meeting involving business, institution, government agency and elected representatives who report and discuss the current state of affairs in Pacific County.

The Northwest Justice Project  recently opened an office in Aberdeen and the Senior Attorney at that new office has joined us. She reported that Attorneys in New Orleans who are still dealing with the aftermath of Katrina recently put on a teleconference training on FEMA disaster relief.

Based on that teleconference she then put together a tip sheet  that citizens may find useful about FEMA assistance.

I'll list and discuss those tips later, but first I want to write about the Northwest Justice Project and other organizations in the same line of work.

The Northwest Justice Project (NJP) is a ot-for-profit statewide organization that provides free civil legal services to low-income people from thirteen offices and two satellite locations throughout the state of Washington.

As the Legal Services Corporation funded program in the Washington State  
Alliance for Equal Justice, NJP's mission is to provide high quality free legal services on priority problems to eligible low-income clients, either directly or through efficient and effective referrals.

NJP is principally funded by Congress through the national Legal Services Corporation (LSC). NJP works in partnership with the Washington State Alliance for Equal Justice to serve its diverse client community.

Clients in need of interpreter services in order to access legal services through NJP are entitled to those services.

Individuals in need of legal assistance should contact Northwest Justice Project via its intake line in Seattle.

1-888-201-1014
1-888-387-7111 (60 and over)
1-888-201-9737 (TTY)

These are toll-free phone numbers covered by 30+ attorneys who provide legal advice and brief services.  Any cases that are more labor intensive and that fall
within our field office's case acceptance criteria will be referred to our office directly by CLEAR,
(NJP`s Coordinated Legal Education Advice and Referral Services.)

So is FEMA friend of foe?

FEMA denial decisions that have been publicized far outnumber the assistance approvals that have been authorized.

There's an increasing sense that FEMA is both arbitrary, inconsistent and makes decisions based on party ideology or philosophical ideology (the ideology currently is the most recent conservatism so locked into corporate welfare and big business domination of the economy and society.)

There is much of that sort of thing apparent in the echelons above the local FEMA decision-makers. What gets suggested is  arbitrariness and a willingness to exploit tragedy  
by outsourcing assistance activities, issuing no-bid contracts to party and presidential financial supporters (individual and corporate). Then there was George Bush's pathetic and failed attempt to suspend the minimum wage and allow the chosen contractors to pay only the prevailing wage in Louisiana and Mississippi.

As we discussed FEMA with the NJP attorney in our partners' meeting, she would only state that from time to time attorney advocate groups across all national venues have found "disturbing" the behavior, decisions and policy changes of many Bush appointee's at the highest levels.

"Heck-of-a-job Brownie" was only one example. Also to mind comee the embarrassing lack of experience, wisdom and skill of the VA administrator and the astounding suppression and denial tactics regarding Global Warning of those responsible for federal environmental policies.

However, it seems needful to point out that as tragic and sad as are many family circumstances in Washington post-storm and post-flooding, we are reminded that there may be a false notion regarding FEMA's mandate.

Although appealing to the government for redress is a citizens Constitutional right, defining redress as replacing and restoring every property back to its form and status prior to disaster is not "redress," regardless of how much some of us might desire that it were so.

Furthermore, as the attorney pointed out, we taxpayers must expect our government agencies to be held accountable and to hold themselves accountable for how our taxes are spent.

Just as much as we absolutely would oppose any agency spending our taxes to further a party's or social group's specific agenda, we would also oppose un-audited transactions that might get approved and completed within the purview of public trust.

Otherwise, why are we outraged at no-bid contracts, unfair competition for contracts and outrageous amounts of funds lost in Iraq?

The attorney also informed us that FEMA does audit every one of its approval decisions after the fact - and will aggressively pursue repayment for funds issued in the heat of disaster management with urgency of response and victim needs a higher immediate priority than accuracy.

Auditing every action taken is not an easy task. Our own state agencies would move at a severely slower pace if every transaction had to be audited rather than reviewed.

Although not inclined to defend FEMA, I have found myself agreeing with the common sense advice and declarations of the Northwest Justice Project with the following tips:

GENERAL INFO
The purpose of FEMA assistance is to meet needs brought on by the disaster

NOT to make applicants whole or to improve conditions that existed before the disaster.

Do not expect FEMA to treat each applicant the same even if the applicants are neighbors.

FEMA benefits are distributed by household, not individual. If more than one individual living at your address applies for benefits, FEMA may later attempt to recover the money from the person who applied later.

Disaster assistance benefits will not affect eligibility for SSI, TANF, Medicaid or Food Stamps.

Disaster assistance benefits are exempt under federal law from garnishment, seizure, encumbrance, levy, execution, pledge, attachment, release, or waiver.

Disaster assistance benefits cannot be assigned or transferred away from the
recipient to someone else.

IMPORTANT TIPS

Write down ALL disaster-related losses - home, personal property, car, job and your needs such as medical care, money for rent, a place to live, help repairing or replacing your home.

Keep a notebook. List the FEMA application control number. List all calls, dates of calls, number you called, name of person you spoke to and what they told you.

Keep receipts of how you spend FEMA money.

Take time to tell the disaster worker about all of your disaster-related losses and needs. Ask them to write everything down, since a good inspection is very important to support your need for help.

Save all papers and receipts such as rent receipts, leases, and all copies of letters to and from FEMA, SBA and any other agency. Then request a copy of his notes. If denied and you think the inspection was not done well, ask for a new inspection. (Well, they work for you don't they?)

Take pictures of the damage (get double prints.)

DEADLINE TO FILE - TIME IS RUNNING OUT

60 days from Presidential disaster declaration for your county. For Pacific and Grays Harbor counties that date was 12/08/2007.

180 days if good cause shown for delay in application.

You should receiving written confirmation of your application soon after your call to FEMA.

If you don't get confirmation, contact FEMA!

TYPES OF ASSISTANCE

Disaster Unemployment Assistance (DUA)
Usually must apply within 30 days so it may be too late.
Contact your local Employment Services Office.
DUA includes self-employed, migrant farm or seasonal worker who are about to
begin work but now cannot.
Also for those who have not worked long enough to establish a state
unemployment claim.
If you could not get to your job. If you became head of a household because of a disaster-related death.

INDIVIDUAL AND HOUSEHOLD PROGRAM (IHP)/INDIVIDUAL & FAMILY GRANT (IFG)/TEMPORARY HOUSING ASSISTANCE (THA)

Assistance with expenses for losses from the disaster:

Rent/mortgage
Repairs/replacement materials

Clothes
Transportation - car repair/replacement, public transit
School supplies including computers
Household items
Furniture, appliances, etc.
Tools for employment
Replace/repair medical equipment including wheelchairs
Expenses for moving, storage,
medical and dental costs
Funeral expenses

ELIGIBLE APPLICANTS

Homeowners and renters
Heads of household
Leaseholders
Persons whose primary residence is destroyed, uninhabitable, or inaccessible
Renters whose primary residence is no longer available as a result of the disaster.
Note: FEMA may contact pre-disaster landlord to verify if property is available or not.
Insured persons who are waiting on payment on claims filed with insurance companies.
BE AWARE - FEMA may require reimbursement once insurance pays claim to applicant
Uninsured renters and homeowners
Underinsured renters and homeowners
Where insurance proceeds are insufficient to cover loss.

NOT a US citizen?

Most legal residents, refugees, asylees, parolees for at least 1 year, and Cuban/Haitian entrants are eligible to receive certain benefits.

POSSIBLE INELIGIBLE APPLICANTS

Persons displaced from pre-disaster home for reasons other than disaster.
Persons displaced from other than their pre-disaster primary residence.
Persons with adequate rent-free housing alternatives.
Persons with secondary or vacation home within reasonable commuting distance  
to disaster areas.
Persons who own rental property that meets their temporary housing needs.
Persons in shared household situations and pre-disaster roommates (some might be eligible, but distribution of funds may be complicated.)
Persons failing to maintain flood insurance as a requirement of receiving previous
Federal Disaster assistance (Flood Bar rule)
Renters without "proof" of Landlord/Tenant relationship