This is a checklist to help LSC programs meet a disaster, if they haven't done so before, and to serve as a refresher for those that have. There are LSC disaster grants for LSC programs to meet an increased demand for help. Usually when faced with a disaster, there will be a number of decisions that will be made quickly and a significant number of steps to take. This checklist will help focus on the most critical areas that will need immediate attention.
1. Secure your staff and assets.
The well being of staff is of primary concern. The program's COOP (continuity of operations) or business continuity plans will provide guidance with this task.
2. The Disaster Legal Services Program
When the President declares a major disaster, one of the programs that may be offered is Disaster Legal Services (DLS), if requested by the state or territory. If DLS is offered, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, through an agreement with the Young Lawyers Division of the American Bar Association, provides free legal assistance to low-income disaster survivors. When Disaster Legal Services is activated, the LSC funded agencies assist, under the auspices of the ABA-YLD. Learn more here.
3. Find out who your ABA-YLD contact is.
You can reach out to the Director or any members of the program listed here. Ideally, your program will have this and all other community contacts ready to go at any time per your program's disaster plan or other continuity plan which will be archived in various formats- thumb drive, print, secure on private email, etc. For a good overview of the ABA-YLD program, click here.
4. Contact your ABA-YLD disaster rep to discuss hotline and outreach issues.
Find out who hosts the hotline in your state, how FEMA's tally sheet for the hotline is kept, who keeps it, etc. If it's your program, you've already heard from them.
5. Review the FEMA, ABA-YLD Disaster Manual.
It is updated each year in June. Check here for more information.
6. Contact your local and state bar leaders.
Also contact your representative or pro bono coordinators to discuss how outreach and services will be coordinated between your agencies.
7. Contact info if your computers are down.
8. Sign up for FEMA alerts, e-mail, newsletters, Facebook, and Twitter.
That way you won't miss any information that might be useful to you and your program. Click here to sign up.
9. Contact your local Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (VOAD).
Or the VOAD closest to your impacted areas. Click here to learn more.
10. Go high tech with your disaster response.
New York blogged after Superstorm Sandy and got a lot of great feedback. They've created a tool kit so your program can do it too. Click here to access the toolkit.
11. Get disaster flyers and online content ready.
Check your state's lawhelp.org site to see if they have content from another disaster that can be used and updated for a flyer. There are many statewide legal aid websites with existing disaster relief information. If your state has been impacted by a natural disaster and you are looking for information you can share with disaster survivors, the websites below are great places to start. These pages have strong pre-existing sections on disaster legal assistance and most of the information is applicable on a national/federal level:
If you don't have any, you can get some from neighboring programs and adapt the language from your state's attorney disaster manual.
Consider where you will distribute flyers, in addition to the Disaster Recovery Centers (DRC) and Red Cross Shelters. You can access free sample flyers here under the Fact Sheets and Flyers Bank folder.
- Open FEMA DRCs can be found here.
- Open Red Cross Shelters can be found here.
- Other places to consider for distribution are libraries, convenience stores, and community centers.
- You can use virtual distribution through community partners. If you send the flyers to your local VOAD, they will send the flyer to all community organizations that are part of your local VOAD.
12. Review your state's attorney disaster manual.
Make sure you update it if needed.
13. Review the Individual Assistance Program & Policy Guide and related sections of the Stafford Act.
Visit the FEMA page here to access these.
14. Set up a training on FEMA and related benefits after a disaster, along with a review of your State's Disaster Manual.
Invite members of your local bar to your organizations training so you will have more qualified volunteers to help you do outreach at DRCs and American Red Cross Shelters.
15. Contact your state's Voluntary Agency Liaison (VAL) in the Department of Emergency Management.
Introduce yourself and your program and communicate what you will be doing. This must be checked on a state by state basis. FEMA VAL information is here.
16. Contact your local VOAD and, if appropriate, use their e-mail system to send out your legal advice and information flyers to all area non profits involved in Disaster Recovery.
This is a good chance to connect with your local VOAD if you're not a member and for you to consider becoming one . Also, other VOAD members might need to be educated that with and through the ABA YLD, LSC funded programs are now part of the Nation's Disaster Recovery Plan. Not all areas have VOADs. If you don't have one, you could consider starting one.
17. Contact your local FEMA representative & American Red Cross representative.
You can also have LSC contact them to facilitate outreach at the DRCs and Shelters. LSC: John Eidleman Senior Program Counsel eidlemaj@lsc.gov, 202-295-1640.
18. Add copies of the ABA-YLD MOU with FEMA and the ARC MOU with LSC to your outreach kits.
You, as an LSC program, will get a letter from your local ABA-YLD representative authorizing you, as their agent, to enter the DRCs to provide legal assistance under the legal assistance provisions of the Stafford Act.
19. Start outreach at FEMA Disaster Recovery Centers and Red Cross Shelters.
Open FEMA DRCs can be found here. Open Red Cross Shelters can be found here.
20. Prepare to be able to do FEMA appeals early.
Get copies of sample appeals that have been successful from other programs here under the FEMA Appeals Brief Bank folder. Learn more about FEMA appeals here.
21. Find out if Disaster Food Stamps and Disaster Unemployment Assistance (DUA) are available for your disaster.
Programs available are listed on each disasters page and in the declaration and amendments from FEMA. Each disaster will have different programs available for survivors. If you have these, be ready to do appeals.
22. Contact local case management stakeholders.
Once it's determined who will be doing case management in your area for FEMA individual aid recipients (check your state emergency plan), you can contact them and introduce your program and explain how disaster legal aid fits into the national disaster recovery plan.
23. See if your state has made a request to FANNIE MAE and FREDDIE MAC to expedite release of insurance monies to homeowners.
An example of NY after Sandy can be found here.
24. Check the IRS to see if there is a tax deferral or other benefits for this disaster.
If so, consider using flyers in the community, post on your website, email your flyers to your community partners to get the word out. Learn more here.
25. Make sure the public understands how they must use their FEMA and insurance monies.
They must know what it is designated for or they will cut off their ability to get additional money from the later CDBG programs. Flyers are a good way to accomplish this. One of your mentoring programs might be able to provide sample flyers.
26. Understand the different types of FEMA housing.
For example, initial rent assistance, temporary housing units, pros and cons of each if people have a choice. Visit the FEMA page here to learn more. FEMA temporary housing will end after 18 months unless the state asks for an extension.
27. Is a lawsuit a viable option for any of your clients to keep them in their emergency housing?
This was done most recently in NY. Compare benefits of any potential lawsuit to potential benefits of getting onto a longer term Disaster Housing Program, like Disaster Housing Assistance Program. (a link to the pleadings and cases status will be added)
28. If Disaster Housing Assistance Program is implemented, review the PIH which initiates it.
Understand how it is similar to, but different from Section 8 voucher housing. The notice will be published by HUD as a PIH, along with any updates and extensions. The program will be extended if your state's governor requests such an extension.
29. Will Flood Insurance Claim deadline be extended? Who in your area is involved in asking for that extension?
30. Prepare to do FEMA Flood Insurance appeals.
Get samples from other programs.
31. Prepare to negotiate insurance appeals.
Verify the deadline (usually two years from disasters) for these client's to file claims under homeowners insurance policies, which don't cover flooding. Verify that homeowners policy has windstorm coverage. There types of cases are fee generating for an LSC program in Texas. Check your state law regarding attorney fees in breach of contract cases.
32. Make sure you understand the requirement of filing the Proof of Claim for Flood Insurance cases.
Make sure you also understand how that will relate to the one year deadline from denial to file a NFIP lawsuit in federal court. Must file Proof of Loss Claim before Filing Lawsuit. It is possible that the Proof of Loss deadline will be after the Lawsuit filing deadline. Track everything to lawsuit deadline of one year from first denial. See Touro's Disaster blog on this issue.
33. Do something in recognition of the many pro bono volunteers.
34. Familiarize yourself with the CDBG monies as soon as they are available.
They will go to your state, which will then either create a state agency to administer them or they will send them back to local governments or Council of Government agencies to administer them. There has been very unequal distribution of these monies in the past and unequal administration of these plans between different counties and agencies.
35. Make sure CDBG monies are fairly allocated or consider an administrative complaint.
36. Keep an eye on what is going on with Federal Subsidized Housing after a Disaster.
Are they rebuilding? Will they rebuild the same number of hard units? The trend has been that they are not. Consider an Administrative Complaint on this issue if there are issues that negatively impact your clients.
37. Make sure all clients understand that they must insure in the future for what caused their disaster damages if they got any federal money.
For example, if your house was flooded, you must get flood insurance going forward, FEMA will not pay you twice for the same type of damage. This comes from the Stafford Act.
38. Understand the Biggert-Waters Act.
Understand the Biggert-Waters Act and what this can mean for your client. Make flyers to make people understand how to make flood insurance more affordable. By raising your deductible to 5K from 1K, you can save 25% on your flood insurance. Even more if you lower your contents coverage. This will help those with repetitive flood properties the most. A new law has delayed the implementation of much of it.
39. Make a disaster plan for your program.
40. Make a disaster plan for your state.
41. Next year, update your disaster manual when the next law change happens.
Make sure it's before the next disaster. Some states make it a yearly virtual meeting. If you divvy up the manual, it's not too hard for any one person or program to update it.
