"The most recent GAO report, “Disaster Assistance: Actions Needed to Strengthen FEMA's Housing Inspections Process,” which details findings on FEMA’s housing inspections process. About 2.7 million people applied to FEMA’s Individuals and Households Program for major disasters declared from January 1, 2018 through November 1, 2021. Of these applicants, FEMA authorized housing inspections for about 1.4 million and approved about 710,000 applicants for assistance. For those who were not approved for assistance, the most common reasons for ineligibility were that they had insurance, or had insufficient or no reported damage. The median and mean amounts of Individuals and Households Program assistance per applicant were $2,314 and $4,157, respectively.
FEMA has taken actions since 2018 intended to improve the housing inspections process, but has not always assessed how the changes affect the Individuals and Households Program applicant awards. For example, in part to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, FEMA streamlined its approach in April 2020 for estimating damages to homes. Instead of recording itemized damages, inspectors estimated the overall damage level of a home based on a smaller set of key indicators (e.g., height of floodwater in a home). However, FEMA has not assessed this new approach to determine if it accurately estimates damages. We found that mean awards were 35 percent lower under the new approach than under the prior approach."
The the summary, this is the crux of the issue, "In March 2020, FEMA began using applicant self-assessment questions to determine whether to authorize housing inspections for applicants.
According to the new policy, applicants who self-assessed having minor home damage would not receive an inspection, and therefore not receive certain types of assistance, unless they took additional steps to request an inspection. FEMA's goal was to reduce the number of required inspections and deliver assistance to applicants with the greatest need first. However, FEMA analysis and GAO's observations indicate that these self-assessments are not a reliable indicator of eligibility. For example, from January 2018 to November 2021, 43 percent of applicants
who self-assessed minor damage were found to have eligible damages. Although FEMA discontinued this practice, officials told GAO that the policy remains in place for FEMA to implement at its discretion in the future. Ensuring its policy on the use of self-assessments is supported by evidence could help FEMA ensure it accurately identifies eligibility for assistance."
