drj logo

"*" indicates required fields

Name*
Zip Code*
Please enter a number from 0 to 100.
Strength indicator
I agree to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy*
Yes, of course I want to receive emails from DRJ!
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Already have an account? Log in

drj logo

Welcome to DRJ

Already registered user? Please login here

Login Form

Register
Forgot password? Click here to reset

Create new account
(it's completely free). Subscribe

x
DRJ Fall 2025 Dallas Show
Skip to content
Disaster Recovery Journal
  • EN ESPAÑOL
  • SIGN IN
  • SUBSCRIBE
  • THE JOURNAL
    • Why Subscribe to DRJ
    • Digital Edition
    • Article Submission
    • DRJ Annual Resource Directories
    • Article Archives
    • Career Spotlight
  • EVENTS
    • DRJ Fall 2025
    • DRJ Spring 2026 Call for Papers
    • DRJ Scholarship
    • Other Industry Events
    • Schedule & Archive
    • Send Your Feedback
  • WEBINARS
    • Upcoming Webinars
    • On Demand
  • MENTOR PROGRAM
  • DRJ ACADEMY
    • DRJ Academy
    • Beginner’s Guide to BC
  • RESOURCES
    • New to Business Continuity?
    • White Papers
    • DR Rules and Regs
    • Planning Groups
    • Business Resilience Decoded
    • DRJ Glossary of Business Continuity Terms
    • Careers
  • ABOUT
    • Advertise with DRJ
    • DEI
    • Board and Committees
      • Executive Council Members
      • Editorial Advisory Board
      • Career Development Committee
      • Glossary Committee
      • Rules and Regulations Committee
  • Podcast

FEMA Revamps Individual Assistance Policies to Advance Equity for Disaster Survivors

by Jon Seals | September 2, 2021 | | 0 comments

Today, FEMA announced three immediate steps the agency is taking to reduce access barriers experienced by underserved populations to its programs that provide individual assistance to disaster survivors. The agency will now accept additional documentation to verify occupancy and ownership, and enhance access to disaster assistance for underserved communities. 

“Heading into the peak of hurricane season with 12 named Atlantic storms to date, and as wildfires strengthen out west, FEMA continues to put equity at the forefront of how we support survivors before, during and after disasters,” said FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell.

“DHS is making changes to policies that are critical to ensuring that access is equitably provided to all survivors who are in need of disaster relief and assistance,” said Secretary Alejandro N. Mayorkas. “Equity is a cornerstone of our mission and we will continue to identify opportunities to support disadvantaged communities.”

FEMA will now accept a broader range of homeownership and occupancy documentation to assist historically underserved populations. These changes to FEMA’s Individual Assistance program will help reduce barriers and increase access to support historically underserved communities before disasters strike.

To better support survivors, FEMA is:

1.         Expanding forms of documentation to prove ownership/occupancy for homeowners and renters

To confirm occupancy, FEMA will now accept motor vehicle registrations, documentation including letters from local schools (public or private), federal or state benefit providers, social service organizations (such as community assistance programs and non-profits), or court documents. Survivors can also use a signed statement from a commercial or mobile home park owner, self-certification for mobile homes and travel trailers as a last resort.

For homeowners, FEMA will now accept a public official’s letter or receipts for major repairs or improvements to verify ownership. Survivors with heirship properties, mobile homes or travel trailers, who do not have the traditional documentation of ownership verification, may self-certify ownership as a last resort.

This expansion includes reducing administrative burdens for survivors. If survivors have successfully verified occupancy to FEMA from a previous disaster within a two-year period, they do not need to do it again. Homeowners with the same address from a previous disaster only need to verify ownership one time. FEMA has also expanded the date of eligible documents from three months to one year before the disaster.

Finally, to encourage real-time feedback to applicants, FEMA has trained staff to verify documentation on site while conducting home inspections. This decreases the burden on survivors to appeal a FEMA decision in writing by verifying documents at the time of inspection.

2.          Expanding financial assistance for disaster-caused disability

FEMA is amending its current policy to provide assistance to survivors who incurred a disaster-related disability and now require special components, such as ramps or grab bars, to make their damaged home safe and functional for them, regardless of whether those components were in the survivor’s home before the disaster.

3.         Providing expanded housing assistance and other needs assistance funding 

FEMA will now provide a limited amount of financial assistance for renters and homeowners with disaster-caused real property damage that did not render the home uninhabitable through Other Needs Assistance grants. This will help people who typically are not eligible to receive assistance from FEMA to prevent additional losses and address potential health and safety concerns.

FEMA will now provide financial assistance to repair homes impacted by disaster-caused mold growth.

“This is a culture shift for the agency and we’re only just beginning,” said Administrator Criswell. “These changes reduce the barriers to entry for our Individual Assistance program and will help us to provide disaster assistance equitably to all people, especially and specifically for underserved populations.”

These policy changes will apply to disasters declared on or after Aug. 23, 2021. FEMA is required by law to verify an applicant’s occupancy for housing assistance and some types of other need assistance. FEMA is also required by law to verify an applicant’s ownership of their home to provide financial assistance for home repairs or replacement.

Additional information may be found here.

Contact Us

If you have any questions, please contact FEMA Office of External Affairs:

  •  Congressional Affairs at (202) 646-4500 or at FEMA-Congressional-Affairs@fema.dhs.gov
  •  Intergovernmental Affairs at (202) 646-3444 or at FEMA-IGA@fema.dhs.gov
  •  Tribal Affairs at (202) 646-3444 or at FEMA-Tribal@fema.dhs.gov
  •  Private Sector Engagement at (202) 646-3444 or at nbeoc@max.gov

Follow Us

Follow Ready on social media: Facebook and Twitter. 

Follow FEMA on social media at: FEMA Blog on fema.gov, @FEMA or @FEMAEspanol on Twitter, FEMA or FEMA Espanol on Facebook, @FEMA on Instagram, and via FEMA YouTube channel. 

Also, follow Administrator Deanne Criswell on Twitter @FEMA_Deanne.

Mission

Helping people before, during, and after disasters.

  • FEMA_Advisory_FEMA_Revamps_Individual_Assistance_Policies_to_Advance_Equity_for_Disaster_Survivors_20210902.pdf

Related Content

  1. FEMA
    Biden-Harris Administration Provides More Than $2.7 Billion in FEMA Assistance to Help Helene and Milton-Affected Communities
  2. FEMA
    FEMA Continues Recovery Efforts Following Hurricanes Helene and Milton, over $1.2 Billion in Direct Assistance to Survivors
  3. FEMA
    Biden-Harris Administration Provides More Than $20 Million to Hurricane Helene Survivors, Ongoing Search and Rescue Operations Continue in North Carolina

Recent Posts

Oakland Police Department Selects Mark43 to Modernize Public Safety Technology

July 11, 2025

Accel Atoms AI and Atoms X Scaling Programs to Offer Indian-Origin Founders up to $1M

July 11, 2025

Keeper Security Debuts Secure Model Context Protocol AI Agent Integration for Secrets Management

July 11, 2025

DuploCloud Enters Strategic Collaboration Agreemen with AWS to Bring in Agentic AI to DevOps and IT

July 10, 2025

NVMe Storage Solutions for High-Speed Data Ingestion for AI, Autonomous, and Professional Media Applications

July 10, 2025

Abstract Security Delivers 4X Operational Efficiency at Juul Labs

July 9, 2025

Archives

  • July 2025 (20)
  • June 2025 (54)
  • May 2025 (59)
  • April 2025 (91)
  • March 2025 (57)
  • February 2025 (47)
  • January 2025 (73)
  • December 2024 (82)
  • November 2024 (41)
  • October 2024 (87)
  • September 2024 (61)
  • August 2024 (65)
  • July 2024 (48)
  • June 2024 (55)
  • May 2024 (70)
  • April 2024 (79)
  • March 2024 (65)
  • February 2024 (73)
  • January 2024 (66)
  • December 2023 (49)
  • November 2023 (80)
  • October 2023 (67)
  • September 2023 (53)
  • August 2023 (72)
  • July 2023 (45)
  • June 2023 (61)
  • May 2023 (50)
  • April 2023 (60)
  • March 2023 (69)
  • February 2023 (54)
  • January 2023 (71)
  • December 2022 (54)
  • November 2022 (59)
  • October 2022 (66)
  • September 2022 (72)
  • August 2022 (65)
  • July 2022 (66)
  • June 2022 (53)
  • May 2022 (55)
  • April 2022 (60)
  • March 2022 (65)
  • February 2022 (50)
  • January 2022 (46)
  • December 2021 (39)
  • November 2021 (38)
  • October 2021 (39)
  • September 2021 (50)
  • August 2021 (77)
  • July 2021 (63)
  • June 2021 (42)
  • May 2021 (43)
  • April 2021 (50)
  • March 2021 (60)
  • February 2021 (16)
  • January 2021 (554)
  • December 2020 (30)
  • November 2020 (35)
  • October 2020 (48)
  • September 2020 (57)
  • August 2020 (52)
  • July 2020 (40)
  • June 2020 (72)
  • May 2020 (46)
  • April 2020 (59)
  • March 2020 (46)
  • February 2020 (28)
  • January 2020 (36)
  • December 2019 (22)
  • November 2019 (11)
  • October 2019 (36)
  • September 2019 (44)
  • August 2019 (77)
  • July 2019 (117)
  • June 2019 (106)
  • May 2019 (49)
  • April 2019 (47)
  • March 2019 (24)
  • February 2019 (37)
  • January 2019 (12)
  • ARTICLES & NEWS

    • Business Continuity
    • Disaster Recovery
    • Crisis Management & Communications
    • Risk Management
    • Article Archives
    • Industry News

    THE JOURNAL

    • Digital Edition
    • Advertising & Media Kit
    • Submit an Article
    • Career Spotlight

    RESOURCES

    • White Papers
    • Rules & Regulations
    • FAQs
    • Glossary of Terms
    • Industry Groups
    • Business & Resource Directory
    • Business Resilience Decoded
    • Careers

    EVENTS

    • Fall 2025
    • Spring 2025

    WEBINARS

    • Watch Now
    • Upcoming

    CONTACT

    • Article Submission
    • Media Kit
    • Contact Us

    ABOUT DRJ

    Disaster Recovery Journal is the industry’s largest resource for business continuity, disaster recovery, crisis management, and risk management, reaching a global network of more than 138,000 professionals. Offering weekly webinars, the latest industry news, rules and regulations, podcasts, the industry’s only official mentoring program, a quarterly magazine, and two annual live conferences, DRJ is leading the way to keep professionals up-to-date and connected in an ever-changing world.

    LEARN MORE

    LINKEDIN AND TWITTER

    Disaster Recovery Journal is the leading publication/event covering business continuity/disaster recovery.

    Follow us for daily updates

    LinkedIn

    @drjournal

    Newsletter

    The Journal, right in your inbox.

    Be informed and stay connected by getting the latest in news, events, webinars and whitepapers on Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery.

    Subscribe Now
    Copyright 2025 Disaster Recovery Journal
    • Terms of Use
    • Privacy Policy