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Agencies outline equity reforms to disaster assistance; FEMA highlights March regulatory updates
Summary
Federal agencies described steps to integrate equity across disaster programs: FEMA has revised Individual Assistance rules (effective March 22) to add displacement assistance and reduce documentation barriers; ASPR, CDC and ACF described equity action plans and toolkits.
Federal officials used the convening to describe recent reforms to make disaster assistance more accessible and equitable.
Liz Ash, deputy director of FEMA’s Individual Assistance program, summarized a regulatory update effective March 22 that creates new assistance forms and cuts red tape for survivors. Ash said the changes introduce benefits such as “serious needs assistance and displacement assistance” intended as gap grants immediately after a disaster, and modify ownership and occupancy documentation rules to reduce barriers for low‑income survivors. "We cut that dependency," Ash said of a previous requirement to route some survivors first through SBA before accessing FEMA assistance, and she described enhanced applicant services to proactively reach underserved communities.
Dan Dodgen (ASPR), Carolina Luna Pinto (CDC Office of Minority Health) and other agency leads described complementary equity initiatives: ASPR ran an equity assessment across programs and established a climate and health equity policy hub; CDC institutionalized chief health equity officer functions in incident management and maintains regional liaisons to support state public health infrastructure during responses. ACF’s equity toolkit and program‑level action plans were presented as practical resources for human services offices.
Why it matters: The reforms and interagency coordination aim to reduce procedural barriers—documentation, language, and outreach gaps—that have historically limited access to federal disaster assistance for renters, non‑traditional homeowners and other underserved groups. Agencies encouraged practitioners to respond to RFIs and public feedback to shape the next evolution of disaster case management grants.
Next steps: FEMA invited feedback through an open RFI and asked jurisdictions to pilot enhanced applicant services and to catalog accessible, ADA‑compliant resources so disaster case managers have clear referral options.
