Ethics Newsline®

WASHINGTON
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) faces the dual threat of internal systems vulnerable to fraud and dishonest people willing to exploit the agency in the chaotic aftermath of disasters, lawmakers were told last week in a hearing on mismanagement following last fall’s hurricane season.

FEMA, which is charged with helping disaster-stricken areas recover quickly, gave away $31 million in Miami-Dade County without adequate diligence in the wake of Hurricane Frances last September, according to a new federal audit.

Even though Miami-Dade was only mildly hit by Frances, FEMA declared the county a disaster area before assessing its damage, leading to $31 million in disaster relief to 12,000 residents, according to the audit.

In some cases, payments were made to individuals based only on verbal claims, with no FEMA verification of the injuries or damage, Department of Homeland Security inspector general Richard Skinner concluded.

Suspect claims included $9 million in unsubstantiated rental assistance, $720,000 for unverified property damage, and nearly $16,000 for three funerals without any proof that the deaths were hurricane-related.

“It was a pay first, ask questions later approach,” Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), chairwoman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, said at last week’s congressional hearing on FEMA’s practices.

Skinner said FEMA’s claims system is “susceptible to potential fraud, waste, and abuse” due to “programmatic, system-wide weaknesses” that date back at least a decade, reported the Associated Press.

The problems “we found here are just indicative or representative of the problems we have on a nationwide basis,” Skinner said. “The problems we found were across the board.”

While FEMA needs reform, blame also falls on individuals trying to cheat the agency during chaotic post-disaster days, said FEMA chief Michael Brown, who lamented that “in every disaster there will be those who attempt to abuse or defraud FEMA.”