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Insist that FEMA do its job

Prevent it from dropping housing assistance to eligible Katrina survivors

Last month FEMA started denying long-term housing assistance to evacuees who by its own standards should have been found eligible. After being presented with evidence, FEMA acknowledged the problem but made no guarantee that it would fix it, or that those unfairly denied would have a chance to qualify for long-term assistance.

Please take a moment email David Paulison, Director of FEMA, letting him know that this is unacceptable.

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Your personal message to David Paulison, director of FEMA

Do not send me any updates on our progress.

Read the e-mail message that we sent to our members about this petition.

Here is the letter that we'll send to Mr. Paulison, unless your create your own. The letter will have your name on it.

Dear Mr. Paulison,

I am writing to ask that you act immediately to prevent countless Katrina survivors across the country from becoming homeless due to errors on the part of your agency. As revealed by Houston's mayor, FEMA's procedures for determining eligibility for long-term (408) housing assistance have denied assistance to many evacuees who by your own standards should have been found eligible. Short-term (403) housing assistance recently expired for these evacuees, leaving little time to ensure that the assistance they need is not interrupted.

In Houston, 1 in 4 households were determined ineligible for long-term assistance. Mayor Bill White's investigation found that many evacuees were determined ineligible because of missing information in their files, a misunderstanding of the facts about their case, or absurd technicalities in FEMA's eligibility rules. Upon request from the mayor, FEMA agreed to conduct a review of its procedures for determining eligibility and to extend short-term (403) assistance for Houston's evacuees--but only until the end of June, not until the problems are fixed. Further, FEMA's system for determining eligibility affects evacuees in cities all over the country--you should recognize this problem across the board and provide a remedy that addresses it.

It is FEMA's duty to assist survivors of Hurricane Katrina to the best of its ability. Knowingly denying assistance to evacuees who are eligible would betray that responsibility. It would be heartless and wrong to allow FEMA's mistakes -- which can be readily corrected -- to further burden those having the hardest time putting their lives back together, creating a new class of homeless citizens in the process.

I urge you to conduct a comprehensive review of all cases in which 408 assistance has been denied and ensure that determinations of ineligibility have been made on substantive grounds. Until then, FEMA should continue providing short-term housing assistance to all evacuees who have applied for and been denied 408 assistance.

Sincerely,

[your name here]