NLIHC released a new guidance document, “Getting to Yes: Working with FEMA to Fund Non-congregate Sheltering During COVID-19,” which provides information to help advocates and state governments ensure that FEMA resources serve as many people experiencing homelessness as possible. The document emphasizes the need for public health orders to cite decongesting shelters as a public health necessity, clear language surrounding eligibility, and regular contact with state public health and emergency management agencies.
FEMA’s Public Assistance Program has been authorized to reimburse specific expenditures related to the COVID-19 crisis. Eligible costs include moving individuals experiencing homelessness, those living with disabilities, and others living in congregate settings into hotels and other non-congregate shelter situations. The scope of eligibility varies from state-to-state, with some states reimbursed non-congregate shelter costs for their entire shelter population. As shelters and congregate living facilities across the country experience financial hardship as a result of the pandemic, this program can provide much-needed financial relief.
This new guidance joins a suite of additional materials NLIHC has released on FEMA’s Public Assistance Program and the Coronavirus Pandemic, including a fact sheet on Public Assistance Category B: Emergency Protective Measures, a Working with FEMA Toolkit, and a FEMA FAQ documents. All these materials can be found on NLIHC’s dedicated COVID-19 resource page.
Read NLIHC’s “Getting to Yes: Working with FEMA to Fund Non-Congregate Sheltering During COVID-19” at: https://bit.ly/2YKcnpW
Read NLIHC’s FEMA Public Assistance Fact Sheet at: https://bit.ly/2SOmyG9
Read NLIHC’s Working with FEMA Toolkit at: https://bit.ly/2LenoYJ
Read NLIHC’s FEMA FAQ documents at: https://bit.ly/2WDtDdJ