In a memo released by the White House on March 1, President Biden announced that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) would continue to fully cover eligible costs related to COVID-19-mitigation activities through July 1, 2022, including costs associated with non-congregate sheltering for individuals experiencing homelessness.
As a result of the national emergency declaration regarding COVID-19 issued by President Trump in March 2020, FEMA activated its Public Assistance (PA) grant program to provide assistance to state, territorial, tribal, and local government entities and certain private non-profit organizations as they responded to the pandemic. Over the past two years, state and local governments have used PA funds, along with other federal and state funding streams, to move people experiencing homelessness in shelters and encampments, as well as others living in congregate settings, into hotel rooms and other non-congregate shelters to safely isolate and quarantine.
NLIHC and our national, state, and local partners in the Disaster Housing Recovery Coalition (DHRC) had urged FEMA to cover the full costs of moving individuals experiencing homelessness and living in congregate settings or encampments to safer living spaces in hotels and motels. In a major victory for individuals experiencing homelessness, advocates, and state and local officials, President Biden directed FEMA to cover 100% of approved costs in an executive order issued in January 2021. President Biden has extended his directive three times – first through December 31, 2021, then through April 1, 2022, and now through July 1, 2022.
Learn more about FEMA’s Public Assistance program and non-congregate sheltering during the COVID-19 pandemic at: https://bit.ly/3HEjKlD
Read the executive order extending the 100% reimbursements at: https://bit.ly/3HEjFOR