The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has announced that it's reforming its federal assistance policies and expanding benefits for disaster survivors to cut red tape, provide funds faster, and give people more flexibility.
With the increased frequency of extreme weather events fueled by climate change, these updates will provide survivors with faster and easier access to resources they need after disasters. FEMA developed these new forms of assistance based on direct feedback from survivors and in response to the threats the nation faces due to our changing climate; they will create more equitable outcomes for all communities by increasing accessibility and eligibility for post-disaster support.
Find more information about the changes on the Federal Register website.
Email FEMA-IHP-Policy@fema.dhs.gov with questions.
FEMA Hosting Webinars on Equitable Recovery
FEMA is hosting a webinar series for the newly released Achieving Equitable Recovery: A Post-Disaster Guide for Local Officials and Leaders (Equity Guide).
Webinars will be held:
- Wednesday, January 31, 2024 | 7:00-8:00 PM ET
- Tuesday, February 13, 2024 | 12:00-1:00 PM ET
The goal of the Equity Guide is to help local officials and leaders incorporate diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) in their post-disaster recovery management work. The Equity Guide provides actionable steps and includes checklists, toolkits, case studies, and community examples on how to incorporate equity throughout the recovery management process and how to work toward achieving equitable outcomes.
Auto captioning and ASL interpretation will be provided for the webinars. Contact Partnerships@fema.dhs.gov with questions about the webinars.