Gridley, CA (MPG) - Our local AAUW (American Association of University Women) chapter honored its long-standing tradition of informational evenings by inviting FEMA to send a speaker to discuss the Gridley group site and other FEMA-related matters.  Charles Craig, who has served with FEMA for 16 years, addressed matters from the President’s emergency declarations down to individual crisis counseling. Craig works as a FEMA Voluntary Agency Liaison (VAL) he serves the local volunteer groups that inevitably dive in to serve those affected by disasters. 

The Camp Fire began November 8, 2018.  On November 12, 2018, President Trump declared an emergency in Butte, Los Angeles, and Ventura counties, grouping the counties together.  After the declaration, Craig was sent to Sacramento, where the state set up a Joint Field Office to coordinate CalOES and FEMA operations.

Trump’s declaration began the clock on something called the Period of Assistance.  That Period is 18 months. That is the time limit on FEMA’s assistance. The POA for the Camp Fire is set to expire May 12, 2020.

Counties can request extensions to the state, who then request an extension from FEMA.  Derek Thomas from CalOES (California Office of Emergency Services), who also attended the meeting, said that, while he had seldom seen extensions on the POA, that the Camp Fire was an unprecedented disaster, and that there would like be unprecedented solutions to meet recovery needs.

Craig remarked that FEMA assistance comes in stages.  First, FEMA works to save lives. Then they work to stabilize the community and sustain lives.  Eventually they move into short-term recovery and self-sufficiency.

FEMA assistance comes in at least two ways:  public assistance and individual assistance. Public assistance is directed at state and local government agencies, and individual assistance helps individuals affected by the disaster.  Individual assistance cannot exceed a maximum of $34,900 and cannot be duplicated. If other agencies give assistance to a fire survivor, it must supplement FEMA assistance, not duplicate it.  For example, if FEMA gives an individual cash for a washer and dryer, another agency cannot give cash for the same items.

FEMA individual assistance comes in two ways: first, housing assistance, like rental assistance, and second, ONA, or Other Needs Assistance, like assistance purchasing a car or household items.  FEMA assistance will not exceed what the individual’s situation was before the disaster. For example, FEMA will only pay for a washer and dryer if the individual owned a washer and dryer prior to the disaster.

The need to create a FEMA group site with temporary housing arises when there aren’t enough rental properties in the disaster area.  The difficulty for fire survivors was compounded because debris removal and property clean up delayed their return to their properties.  Consequently, FEMA looked to create group sites, and the City of Gridley stepped forward and offered their industrial park on West Liberty Road.  FEMA paid for the installation of the group site. There are 400 sites available, with 300 mobile home units (MHU’s) currently installed.

To qualify for FEMA temporary housing, a fire survivor must have some form of official citizenship status, show a certain amount of uninsured property loss, have uninsured living expenses, and have been an owner or renter prior to the fire.  

Thomas said that the appearance of the Gridley group site is not aesthetically pleasing, because it is temporary housing.  Once FEMA closes the Gridley group site, FEMA will remove the MHU’s and refurbish them for use in other disaster zones.

Again, FEMA housing is only a temporary solution and a FEMA recertification worker meets monthly with each household to verify they are making progress on their permanent-housing plan.  When asked about whether or not homeless individuals are included in FEMA housing, Craig responded that an individual must show property loss.

Craig added that the Disaster Case Management Program aims to help survivors with the process. Disaster Case Managers, or DCM’s, meet with a survivor and help them design a recovery plan based on unmet needs.  The DCM’s then follow up on a regular basis to help the individual make progress. There is currently a critical shortage of DCM’s for Camp Fire survivors.  There are 26 full-time DCM’s and 9 part-time DCM’s, with about 2,000 people on the waiting list.  FEMA is in the process of authorizing more DCM’s.

As of November 6, the Gridley FEMA group site was housing 222 households.  There were 452 residents, including 38 under age 5, 25 ages 6-10, 13 ages 11-13, and 18 ages 14-18.  It was recently reported that our local school district has 35 students from the Gridley group site. Craig said that any assistance to GUSD would come from Butte County, not FEMA.