Disaster Case Management
Program Guidance
August 2010
Department of Homeland Security
Program Overview
Introduction
Purpose
Definition of Disaster Case Management
AWARD INFORMATION
Authorizing Statutes
Available Funding
Requesting DCMP
GRANT ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION
Eligible Grant Applicants
Cost Share
National Incident Management System Implementation Compliance
STATE’S DCMP PROPOSAL OUTLINE
Program Goals and Objectives
Accepted Services
Statement of Unmet Needs
Needs Assessment
Expected Service Area
Expected Resources and Services
Target Population
Strategies
Outreach Strategy
Unmet Needs Strategy
Functional Needs Strategy
Media Strategy
Collaboration Strategy
Program Closeout Strategy
Disaster Case Management Technology Platform Description
State DCM Program Management Plan
Administrative Controls
Communication Plan
DCM Service Providers
Staffing the DCMP
Sub-Grantee Agreements
Contracts/Solicitations
Case Management Training Plan
Case Transfer
Case Closure
Definition of a Successful Case
Forms and Templates
Budget
Fiscal Management
Challenges to Fiscal Management
Budget Requirements
Budget Narrative
Pre-Award Costs
Budget Adjustments
SmartLink Payment System
Budget Reporting
Reporting periods and due dates:
Funding Process and Conditions of Award
Financial Guidelines
Prohibition on Using Federal Funds
Compliance with Program Guidance
Monitoring
Quality Control
Evaluation
Program Evaluation
Qualitative Evaluation
Quantitative Evaluation
Financial Audit
Program Closeout
Closure Plan
Grant Close-Out Process
Final Close-Out
Requests for Program Extension
Legal Considerations
Privacy Act Compliance
Confidentiality
Duplication of Benefits
Authorization
Conflict of Interest
PROPOSAL AND SUBMISSION INFORMATION
Address to Submit Proposal Package
Content and Form for Proposal – Completed proposal must include the following required items:
Submission Dates
Format
Intergovernmental Review
Funding Restrictions
PROPOSAL REVIEW INFORMATION
Review Criteria
AWARD ADMINISTRATION
Notice of Award
APPENDIX A
APPENDIX B
APPENDIX C
Program Overview
Introduction
The Disaster Case Management Program (DCMP) is a federally funded program administrated by the Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Section 426 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Act (Stafford Act) authorizes FEMA to “provide case management services, including financial assistance, to State or Local government agencies or qualified private organizations to provide such services to victims of major disasters to identify and address unmet needs.”In the event of a presidentially declared disaster that includes Individual Assistance, the Governor of the impacted State may request Disaster Case Management through direct federal services and/or a federal grant.
Purpose
The purpose of the Disaster Case Management Program is to provide a rapid deployment and implementation of disaster case management services to clients and assist the State in building capacity for a long term program following a major disaster declaration that includes Individual Assistance designation. The DCMP is designed to have a two-phased approach:
Phase I Direct Federal DCM Services– A rapid response element of DCM, led by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families (ACF). This phase includes the deployment of ACF’s National and Regional DCM Teams to begin immediate outreach and assessment with eligible clients impacted by the disaster 72 hours after deployment. Phase I may last 30 to 180 days, depending on the State’s capacity and their need to initiate Phase II.
Prior to the transition from Phase I to Phase II, FEMA and ACF may provide technical assistance to the State in the preparation of their grant proposal for the Phase II DCMP. The proposal, based on FEMA DCM Program Guidance, must be submitted within 60 days from the date of declaration.
Phase II DCM Grant – A federal grant for long term recovery DCMP of up to an additional 18 months from the date of disaster declaration, or if Phase I is implemented, an additional 18 months beyond the end of Phase I. The grant will make funds available to the State to have disaster case managers accessible for work directly with clients, Disaster case managers will assist in the development of a disaster recovery plan that may include referrals, monitoring of services and advocacy, when needed. FEMA regional program staff will review the State’s request and provide a recommendation to FEMA Headquarters for final approval. A determination will be made within 45 days of receipt of the proposal. In addition, FEMA Headquarters will provide the statutorily required notifications to the Senate Appropriations Committee. If approved, a grant award will be provided by FEMA to the State.
Definition of Disaster Case Management
FEMA defines Disaster Case Management (DCM) as a partnership between a case manager and a disaster survivor (also known as a “client”) to develop and carry out a Disaster Recovery Plan. This partnership involves an assessment of client’s needs based on verified disaster-related causes, the development of a goal-oriented plan that outlines the steps necessary to achieve recovery, the organization and coordination of information on available resources that match the disaster-caused needs, the monitoring of progress toward reaching the stated goals, and, when necessary, client advocacy.
AWARD INFORMATION
Authorizing Statutes
Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, Section 426, Public Law 93-288, as amended, added by the Post Katrina Emergency Reform Act of 2006, Title VI of the Department of Homeland Security Appropriations Act, 2007, 42 U.S.C. 5189d. Additional legal authority is based on sections 602 (a) (3) (A), 611 (e) (1) and 621 (c) and (e) of the Stafford Act, 42 U.S.C. 5195 (a) (3) (A), 5196 (e) (1) and 5197 (c) and (e) respectively.
Available Funding
The DHS FEMA Disaster Relief Fund (DRF) is the major source of federal disaster recovery assistance to State governments and individuals when a disaster declaration occurs. All funding for the DCM Program will come from the DRF with no cost share for the State. The total amount of grant funding to be awarded will be disaster specific.
Requesting DCMP
If the State has the need to request DCMP, the State must ask for DCMP as part of the Individual Assistance Request for Declaration from the Governor. In the request, the State must indicate which option of DCM the State will need. FEMA will review the State’s request to determine whether the impacted area has a valid need for DCMP. If the State requests only Phase I, FEMA will notify ACF to deploy to the impacted area and begin providing services within 72 hours. If the State requests for Phase II (either alone or in addition to Phase I), the State has 60 days to submit a formal proposal to FEMA. Either the Governor or the Governor’s representative may sign the DCM request.
State Options for DCMP-The State may exercise the following options:
- Option 1 – State may choose not to request DCM if internal resources are sufficient to meet the needs of impacted applicants.
- Option 2 – State may choose to initiate only the rapid deployment Phase I for up to 180 days
- Option 3 - State may choose to initiate only Phase II, long term DCMP for up to 24 months
- Option 4 – State may choose to initiate both Phase I and II for up to 24 months
GRANT ELIGIBILITY INFORMATION
Eligible Grant Applicants
States or local government agencies and qualified private organizations are eligible to apply for assistance. In addition, a presidentially declared disaster for Individual Assistance must be received by the State.
Cost Share
There will be no cost share requirement for this program.
National Incident Management System Implementation Compliance
In accordance with Homeland Security Presidential Directive (HSPD)-5, Management of Domestic Incidents, the adoption of the National Incident Management System (NIMS) is a requirement to receive Federal assistance, through grants, contracts, and other activities. The NIMS provides a consistent nationwide template to enable all levels of government, tribal nations, nongovernmental organizations, and private sector partners to work together to prevent, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate the effects of incidents, regardless of cause, size, location, or complexity.
Federal FY 2009 NIMS implementation must be considered prior to allocation of any Federal awards in FY 2010.The primary grantee/administrator of FY 2010 XXXX award funds is responsible for determining if sub-awardees have demonstrated sufficient progress in NIMS implementation to disburse awards.
STATE’S DCMP PROPOSAL OUTLINE
Program Goals and Objectives
The State must provide measurable goals and objectives for the program. The goals and objectives must be achievable, realistic and time bound; they must be relevant to the program and consistent with FEMA’s DCMP requirements.
Accepted Services
Disaster Case Management (DCM) services must be consistent in meeting verified disaster-caused unmet needs. Services may include organizing, tracking, and providing referrals. Disaster case managers may advocate for clients to obtain: sustainable housing; basic furniture and/or appliances; financial counseling; utility deposits or installation fees; social service benefit restoration; job training to restore the client’s ability to gain employment; assistance with mental and physical health resources; interpretation services; transportation when it is necessary for employment and other disaster-caused unmet needs. In some client situations, deferred building maintenance may be apparent. Issue such as this may be addressed by DCM if doing so brings the issue into compliance or local building code requirements.
Statement of Unmet Needs
In developing the proposal for the DCMP, the State must provide an assessment of disaster caused unmet needs, describing circumstances that are unique to this disaster and the counties affected. The State’s assessment must discuss what barriers exist that may prevent clients from recovering. The State should assess for potential clients whose primary residence was in disaster designated counties at the time of the incident. Populations that are the most vulnerable, such as the elderly, individuals with disabilities, children, those with literacy challenges or those with limited English proficiency should be identified.
Needs Assessment
The State must provide information on disaster caused needs as part of the DCMP proposal. A community needs assessment should include, at minimum, Preliminary Damage Assessment (PDA) information from State, Voluntary Agencies and FEMA. Factors to consider may include:
- The type of disaster (tornado, flood, hurricane, etc.)
- Definition of the geographic area covered by disaster (i.e. large area of basement flooding vs. small residential area destroyed by a tornado)
- Total number of primary residences destroyed
- Total number of primary residences with major damage
- Media coverage (is this a “CNN Disaster”?)
- Other extenuating circumstances (high level of illiteracy, poverty, or elderly, tribal association, etc.)
- Voluntary Agency activities and capacity
Additional demographic information such as the number of persons receiving disability payments within the affected area, the average annual income of the area, the number of insured properties versus uninsured, the general average age of the affected population (i.e. older often equates to higher vulnerability.) and/or the estimated number of children impacted are items to consider.
The current capacity and expected resources of non-governmental agencies such as faith-based and community-based organizations should be considered. The number of agencies currently involved in relief activities in the affected area, the number of volunteers – both short term and planned for longer term, current status of donations to the area including an operational warehouse, the need for a major repair or rebuilding program are all considerations. If the community has a Long Term Recovery Group from a previous disaster, their current involvement in this disaster should be noted.
To determine if the State should consider DCMP Implementation the following items should be taken into account:
- Estimated number of FEMA registrants may be used as part of a formula to determine the potential number of disaster case managers to be hired.
- Formula: Estimated total number of expected registrants times .05 (or 5%) divided by total number of cases each CM would be assigned (currently 35) equals the estimated total number of disaster case managers needed for implementation. All other aspects of the program, including the budget, are based on a ratio of disaster case managers to the line item. (See Appendix ___for ratios to determine other parts of the program)
- Example: Estimated number of FEMA registrants is 10,000. 5% of 10,000 is 500. 500 divided by 35 is 14. For this example, approximately 14 disaster case managers would be needed to implement the DCMP. Hiring of DCM Supervisors, Directors, Data Entry clerks, etc. and equipment, supply needs are based on a ratio of the line item to 14 disaster case managers.
Expected Service Area
The State should describe the location and boundaries of the area to be served by the program. Describe current and potential physical location(s) where sub-grantee case managers will meet with clients including municipalities or counties. Identify current offices of DCM providers and state any intent to expand locations.
Expected Resources and Services
The State must describe the resources that will be available to meet the identified disaster-related unmet needs of their clients. It is understood that these resources will change over the course of the recovery period, but every effort should be made to identify community-based, faith-based and national agency resources being brought to the affected area. A Resource List must be developed to include potential volunteer efforts, available donated materials and potential funding. Collaboration with the FEMA Voluntary Agency Liaison (VAL) and local Information and Referral system, such as 211, are essential to compiling the resource list.
Target Population
The target population for DCM services is individuals and families whose primary residence was in the impacted area at the time of the disaster and have a verifiable disaster caused need that cannot be met through Federal, State or local disaster assistance. Households that have relocated due to the disaster may be eligible for services. Populations that are the most vulnerable, such as the elderly, individuals with disabilities, children, those with literacy challenges or those with limited English proficiency should be prioritized.
Strategies
The FEMA DCMP is intended to provide the State with flexibility in providing services to the impacted population. The State must describe the following strategies keeping in mind that they should be tailored for specific demographics, the culture of the area and the extent of impact on the population.
Outreach Strategy-The State is required to develop an outreach plan as part of its proposal to FEMA. The plan must incorporate details on how outreach will be implemented, what methods the State will use, how outcomes will be shared, what information will be distributed to clients and a description of the geographic boundaries. Outreach to clients should occur at the State and provider levels throughout the DCM grant period of performance to ensure visibility, accessibility and service readiness to clients
Unmet Needs Strategy- Include a strategy that describes how disaster-caused unmet needs will be coordinated with available resources. Describe how cases will be prioritized and what criteria will be used to close cases. Follow-up with the client should be based on the level of need for each household. The cases may be triaged using these suggested Tiers:
- Tier 1 – Stable; housed; emergency needs met; quarterly monitoring to update status.
- Tier 2 – Needs motivation for housing and/or employment; still in need of some resources; monthly contact.
- Tier 3 – Needs job training or has little or no work experience; low literacy and/or a history of dependence on public assistance; bi-weekly contact.
- Tier 4 – Lacks capacity and is highly dependent on public assistance and social services, and/or is not employable due to age, disability or other limiting factors; weekly contact.
Functional Needs Strategy- Case management services must be made accessible to all survivors of the disaster regardless of race, sex, religion, disabilities or language. The State’s proposal must describe how the providers will work with other agencies to ensure sufficient staff to address these needs.
Media Strategy-Provide a brief description of the plan to promote DCM services to the targeted population. Public Service Announcements (PSA) scripts, flyers and other forms of messaging to inform potential clients of provider contact information and hours of operation may be described here. Contact with the news media, such as a press release or an interview for a news story, must be pre-approved and prepared in collaboration with FEMA. FEMA does not provide funding for a media campaign.
Collaboration Strategy-The State must provide a list of organizations, cooperating entities, outside consultants or others that they will be in collaboration with for DCM services. Describe the system of communication that will be used, such as meetings or conference calls, and the frequency that these will occur. The FEMA DCM Coordinator must be included in the system of communication. Information about current Long Term Recovery Group structures should be included.
Program Closeout Strategy-Describe the strategy the State and DCM Providers will use to close the program as it approaches the end of the designated period of performance. This strategy should include projected staffing patterns, case closure definitions and detail on the transition of open cases with unmet needs to other providers.
Disaster Case Management Technology Platform Description
The State and DCM providers are required to use a single disaster case management data tracking system to ensure non-duplication of services, consistent reporting and to promote effective delivery of disaster case management services. The data tracking system must electronically record client information, track progress, and support the coordination of services and shared resources for applicants with other agencies. The proposal must provide a description of how the State and their DCM providers will use this technology and the training that will be provided to use it.