FEMA, in conjunction with the State of Colorado, announced on Tuesday that Colorado will receive a Disaster Case Management Grant in the amount of $2,667,963. The money will be used for the Disaster Case Management Program for survivors of the devastating floods in Colorado last September.
“The State is excited to receive this FEMA program. It will provide the necessary funding for local case managers to assist individuals with the greatest or most challenging unmet needs,” said Emergency Management Director Dave Hard, Colorado Division of Homeland Security of Emergency Management.
Case managers meet one-on-one with survivors to assess their unmet needs as a result of the disaster. Unmet needs are items, support, or assistance that have been assessed and verified by representatives from local, state, tribal and federal governments and/or voluntary and faith-based organizations and that have not been covered by other resources.
Case managers can:
· Qualify clients for long term recovery services;
· Assist clients with disaster recovery plans; and
· Refer clients to agencies for services that match their needs. Needs might include:
o Volunteers to help in repairing or rebuilding a house;
o Building supplies, and
o Furniture, appliances, household goods.
President Obama signed a major-disaster declaration for Colorado on Sept. 14, 2013. Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper requested the Disaster Case Management Program, a federally funded program administered by the State.
The Disaster Care Management Program augments state and local capacity to provide services in the event of major disaster declaration that includes Individual Assistance.
“This is another step in the recovery process. We recognize that people are still rebuilding their lives and this program is designed to link people who have unmet needs with organizations that may be able to help them,” said Federal Coordinating Officer Thomas McCool.
