Law & order
http://publicradiotulsa.org/post/fema-awards-grants-oklahoma-fire-departments
GAO: FEMA Put Millions
In Sandy Assistance At Risk To Improper Use And Fraud
By: Anthony Kimery, Editor-in-Chief
12/12/2014 ( 4:10pm)
On the heels of a recent audit by the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Office of
Inspector General(OIG) which found the Federal Emergency
Management Agency’s (FEMA) failure to track $66 billion in obligated disaster
funds put long-term disaster recovery efforts at risk, a Government
Accountability Office (GAO) audit report released Friday detailed having
identified $39 million, or 2.7 percent, of Hurricane Sandy financial assistance
that may have been improper or outright fraudulent compared to 10–22 percent of
similar assistance provided for Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
DHS’s OIG report stated,
“FEMA risks mismanaging disaster relief funds because it does not track costs
or performance data and has not created and implemented standardized policies,
procedures and performance measures for long-term recovery offices.”
As of August 2014, FEMA
stated it had provided over $1.4 billion in Hurricane Sandy assistance through
its Individuals and Households Program (IHP)—which provides financial awards
for home repairs, rental assistance, and other needs—to almost 183,000
survivors.
However, GAO said it
“identified payments as at-risk if they had characteristics indicating, for
example, that ineligible recipients or duplication of assistance could be
involved. However, it is not possible to determine whether these payments were
definitively improper or fraudulent without inspecting each payment. FEMA
officials reviewed GAO’s findings and stated that at least $6.1 million of the
$39 million were not improper or fraudulent, but GAO could not independently
confirm their conclusions for each payment.”
GAO recommended FEMA
collaborate with the Social Security Administration (SSA) to obtain and collect
important data to detect duplicative assistance and to implement an approach to
verify whether recipients have private insurance.
DHS concurred with all
five of GAO's recommendations, described ongoing or planned actions, and
provided a timeline for addressing the recommendations.
The 70-page report, Hurricane Sandy: FEMA Has Improved Disaster
Aid Verification but Could Act to Further Limit Improper Assistance, was originally
requested by Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), chairman of the House Committee on
Homeland Security, and Rep. Susan W. Brooks (R-Ind.) chairman of the
Subcommittee on Emergency Preparedness, Response, and Communications.
“GAO found FEMA put $39
million of taxpayers’ dollars at risk of becoming improper or fraudulent,”
McCaul said in a statement, adding, “This is reckless and simply unacceptable.
FEMA needs to be more vigilant in order to reduce the misuse of disaster aid. I
am encouraged they have taken positive steps since Hurricane Katrina to reduce
their volume of improper payments following a disaster, but it isn't enough. I
look forward to working with the agency as they implement the recommendations
in this report."
“FEMA made $1.4 billion
in potentially improper federal assistance payments following Hurricane
Katrina,” Brooks said, noting that, “As a US Attorney in Indiana, my office was
among many across the country prosecuting cases related to these fraudulent
payments for Hurricane Katrina. I was pleased to learn in the Government Accountability
Office's report that FEMA has made progress to address waste, fraud and abuse
since Hurricane Katrina. However, as the GAO found, FEMA still provided $39
million in potentially improper financial assistance after Hurricane Sandy.
FEMA must continue working to improve its policies, procedures and systems to
ensure that every dollar of vital disaster response and recovery funding goes
to those truly in need of disaster assistance."
In February 2006, GAO
said FEMA began using a tool to validate the identity of applicants during
registration. FEMA also hired contractors to inspect damaged homes to verify
the identity and residency of applicants and that reported damage was a result
of Hurricane Sandy.
However, in its audit
review, GAO reported it “found 2,610 recipients with potentially invalid
identifying information who received $21 million of the $39 million GAO
calculated as potentially improper or fraudulent. GAO’s analysis included data
from the Social Security Administration (SSA) that FEMA does not use, such as
SSA’s most-complete death records. Collaborating with SSA prior to providing
assistance could give FEMA additional information to further reduce its risk of
assisting ineligible applicants.”
Continuing, GAO said,
“FEMA and state governments faced challenges in obtaining the data necessary to
help prevent duplicative payments from overlapping sources. For example, FEMA
was unable to identify potentially duplicative rental-assistance payments to
recipients of its Sheltering and Temporary Essential Power pilot program, in
part because it did not request the necessary data from states at the program’s
outset. FEMA recently took steps to make data sharing among programs easier,
including initiating a committee to explore ways to maintain and share relevant
data needed to evaluate and help prevent potentially duplicative assistance in
the future. In addition, FEMA relies on self-reported data from applicants
regarding private home insurance—a factor the agency uses in determining
benefits, as federal law prohibits FEMA from providing assistance for damage
covered by private insurance.”
By examining data from
entities that provide federally backed mortgages, GAO identified 534
individuals who’d received more than $2.3 million in home repair and personal
property assistance who said they did not have private insurance but had
mortgages that require such insurance.
“FEMA reviewed 55 cases
and stated that 32 were likely appropriate because the assistance was for
damage not covered by private insurance,” GAO said. “However, the risk remains
that some individuals may have received assistance from FEMA for ineligible
expenses. Assessing a variety of methods to verify self-reported data would
provide FEMA greater assurance that it has a cost-effective means of obtaining
sufficiently accurate and reliable information.”
GAO found FEMA and state
governments faced challenges in collecting the appropriate data to help prevent
duplicative payments from overlapping sources. FEMA recently took steps to
streamline data sharing among programs, including initiating a committee to
explore best practices on how to maintain and share relevant data needed to
prevent potentially duplicative assistance in the future.
Homeland Security Today reported in October that another DHS
OIG audit found significant flaws in FEMA's $247 million disaster relief system
that may hamper an effective response to a catastrophic disaster.
In July, Homeland Security Today reported that 58 management
and disaster relief fund audit reports by DHS's Inspector General identified
$88.6 million in questioned costs, and $8.9 million in funds that could be put
to better use.
For example, an OIG audit found FEMA officials
did not correctly apply their own disaster relief guidelines in response to the
catastrophic 2008 flooding in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, resulting in a loss to
taxpayers of more than $12 million.
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