Volunteer Florida DCMP: Disaster Case Management Programs for Hurricanes Irma and Michael

Volunteer Florida DCMP:
Disaster Case Management
Programs for Hurricanes Irma
and Michael

What is the DCMP?
• The Disaster Case Management Program
  (DCMP) is a federally funded grant program
  authorized by Section 426 of the Stafford Act
• DCMP provides funding and technical assistance
  to ensure the delivery of holistic services to
  disaster survivors and promotes:
   – Effective delivery of post-disaster case
     management services
   – Partner integration
   – Provider capacity building
   – State level program development

What is the DCMP?
• DCMP is a time-limited process that involves a
  partnership between a case manager and a
  disaster survivor to develop and carry out a
  Disaster Recovery Plan
• This partnership provides the survivor with a
  single point of contact to facilitate access to a
  broad range of resources
• DCMP, in partnership with the affected State or
  Tribe, enables a whole community approach
  through funding support to voluntary, faith-
  based and nonprofit organizations

What is the DCMP?
• The DCMP process involves:
   – An assessment of the survivor’s verified disaster-
     caused unmet needs
   – Development of a goal-oriented plan that
     outlines the steps necessary to achieve recovery
   – Organization and coordination of information on
     available resources that match the disaster-
     caused need
   – Monitoring of progress toward reaching the
     recovery plan goals
   – Client advocacy

Hurricane Irma DCMP

Program Overview
• Volunteer Florida has secured $27,154,577 in
  funding, provided by FEMA, to support a
  Disaster Case Management Program to
  advocate for families and individuals and help
  them access recovery resources
• This 24-month program coordinates efforts of
  local, state, national, and international disaster
  relief organizations
• Providers are engaging in ongoing community
  outreach to make contact with as many
  survivors as possible

Program Overview
• 49 counties, broken up into 5 service area
  county groups
• Areas have been determined based on
  population of FEMA registrations per county
• Four Providers have been selected to facilitate
  the DCMP
   – Group 1: Compass 82
   – Group 2: St. Vincent de Paul
   – Group 3: United Way of Broward County
   – Groups 4 & 5: Endeavors

Ongoing Unmet Needs
• Home repair/rebuild
   – Working alongside the Department of Economic
     Opportunity (DEO) to refer homeowners to their
     Community Development Block Grant - Disaster
     Recovery (CDBG-DR) program
   – Over $773 million allocated from HUD
   – $273 million designated for priority cases (Families
     with children, individuals with disabilities, seniors,
     and low-income families)
   – Partnering with the Florida Housing Finance
     Corporation (FHFC) to reconstruct or build new
     affordable rental properties

Ongoing Unmet Needs
• Financial Assistance
   – American Red Cross Hurricane Irma Financial
     Assistance (HIFA) Basic and Complex Needs
     Assistance, Salvation Army, Catholic Charities

• Furniture
   – Habitat for Humanity, Salvation Army, IKEA, Rooms to
     Go
• Mental Health
   – Catholic Charities has received over $500k from the
     American Red Cross to provide Mental Health
     services to Hurricane Irma survivors

Ongoing Unmet Needs
• Mold Remediation
   – Hearts and Hands Disaster Recovery
• Insurance
   – Many Legal Aid firms providing grant-funded pro-
     bono or sliding scale services for Irma survivors
• Lack of Long Term Recovery services
   – Encouraging counties without active Long Term
     Recovery Organizations (LTROs) to form them,
     supporting existing LTROs, Be Ready Alliance
     Coordinating for Emergencies (BRACE)
     workshops

Disaster Case Management
• Reporting is done through the Coordinated
  Assistance Network (CAN), administered by the
  American Red Cross
• Allows for collaboration with community
  partners and prevents the duplication of
  resources
• Across all Provider Groups
   – 153 Disaster Case Managers
   – Over 83,000 survivors contacted
   – Over 18,000 closed cases
   – Over 14,000 open cases

FEMA Housing Mission
• 318 households approved
   – 242 in Monroe County
   – 44 in Collier County
   – 27 in Lee County
   – 5 in Hendry County

Success Stories - Endeavors
• Low income elderly couple in Ocala had been
  residing in motel since the storm destroyed their
  home
• They were initially skeptical of the program –
  what’s the catch?
• Their Disaster Case Manager helped them obtain
  permanent housing, necessary medical
  equipment, and $6,500 in Red Cross HIFA funds to
  aid their recovery

Success Stories - SVDP
• Low income elderly couple whose home was
  destroyed when a tree fell on their roof
• Had been staying with relatives since the storm
• DCM utilized community partnerships to help
• Team Rubicon mucked and gutted the property
• Highland County Habitat replaced the roof and
  assisted in paying almost $2,000 for tree removal
• DCM worked with insurance company to get the
  clients the full amount they were owed to repair
  the rest of the damages

Success Stories - UWBC
• Single-income couple with full custody of their
  grandchild, wife was unemployed
• Suffered major roof damage, which led to a leak
  that caused the ceiling to collapse, water damage,
  cracking walls, and mold infestation
• Denied twice by FEMA
• DCM from sub-provider Hispanic Unity FL worked
  with partners Rebuilding Together Broward,
  Hearts and Hands, and the Center for Working
  Families to obtain necessary home repairs, mold
  remediation, and employment assistance

Success Stories - Compass 82
• Client was incarcerated at the time of the storm,
  and when he came home care for his teenaged
  son he found his mobile home was severely
  damaged with a destroyed roof
• Due to his unique circumstances, he was ineligible
  for typical funding sources
• DCMs got creative and sought out alternative
  funding sources
• Partnered with Key’s Strong, who came through
  to provide the money necessary to fix the client’s
  roof and get him and his son back home safe

Lessons Learned
• Never have your Disaster bookended by two other
  major disasters, Maria and Michael
• Never have your Disaster bookended by two other
  major disasters during an election year
• Be aggressive… with program start up and training
• Housing Mission and TSA need immediate attention
• Figure out and work in tandem with CDBG-DR
• Everything takes longer than you think
• Your DCMP is only as good as your Disaster’s Long
  Term Recovery and volunteer infrastructure

Lessons Learned
• Don’t miss opportunities to extend programs
  (Housing, Displaced Workers, etc.) if needed
• Large spread disasters like Irma divide already limited
  resources
• If the DCMP can be on the ground in 90 days, the
  impact would be significant to recovery
• Inclusion is good – to a point
• Engage local partners and understand that each
  community has a flavor and feel – one size does not fit
  all
• Local providers may already be overwhelmed
• Pre-Loaded Capacity is key to success

Hurricane Michael DCMP

Program Overview
• Volunteer Florida has secured $998,794 in
  funding, provided by FEMA, to support an
  Immediate Disaster Case Management Program
• Requested an additional $6,010,795.52
• Focused on populations utilizing TSA and Direct
  Housing in Bay, Gulf, and Jackson counties
• Run time of 3 months, then once approved, will
  transition into a Full 18 month DCMP
• 12 counties, broken up into 3 service areas
  based on number of FEMA registrants

Disaster Case Management
• Reporting is done through the Coordinated
  Assistance Network (CAN), administered by the
  American Red Cross
• Encouraging Providers to hire DCMs local to the
  area
• DCMs will work directly with staff at Disaster
  Recovery Centers (DRCs) and FEMA Direct
  Housing Recertification Teams
• Housing Specialist position focusing specifically
  on FEMA Housing Mission

Anticipated Unmet Needs
• Home Repair/Rebuild
• Affordable Housing
• Financial Assistance
• Employment Assistance
• Health Services (Physical and Mental Health)
• Insurance
• Furniture
• Long Term Recovery services newly developing

Questions?

Contact Us
Jim O’Brien                  Bill Martini                    Alexandra Vecchiolla
Program Director             Finance Manager                   Emergency Management Specialist
jim@volunteerflorida.org     bill@volunteerflorida.org        alexandra@volunteerflorida.org
(850) 666-9677               (850) 666-2755                   (850) 666-1910

Terri Hoover                 Shannon Hagan                    Jennifer Lee
Resource Coordinator         Disability Specialist           Emergency Management Specialist
terri@volunteerflorida.org   shannon@volunteerflorida.org    jennifer@volunteerflorida.org
(850) 666-2755               (850) 408-2823                  (850) 666-9678

        Terrance ‘Terry’ McCaffrey                  Christy Rojas-Kasten
        Emergency Management Director               Emergency Management Deputy Director
        terry@volunteerflorida.org                  christy@volunteerflorida.org
        (850) 901-4363                              (850) 363-5349