{ "id": "R45238", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "R", "number": "R45238", "active": true, "source": "CRSReports.Congress.gov, EveryCRSReport.com", "versions": [ { "source_dir": "crsreports.congress.gov", "title": "FEMA and SBA Disaster Assistance for Individuals and Households: Application Processes, Determinations, and Appeals", "retrieved": "2024-04-19T04:03:35.867382", "id": "R45238_13_2024-03-22", "formats": [ { "filename": "files/2024-03-22_R45238_47825cce690a519a47921f661255bcdd0d9688b6.pdf", "format": "PDF", "url": "https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R45238/13", "sha1": "47825cce690a519a47921f661255bcdd0d9688b6" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/2024-03-22_R45238_47825cce690a519a47921f661255bcdd0d9688b6.html" } ], "date": "2024-03-22", "summary": null, "source": "CRSReports.Congress.gov", "typeId": "R", "active": true, "sourceLink": "https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/details?prodcode=R45238", "type": "CRS Report" }, { "source_dir": "crsreports.congress.gov", "title": "FEMA and SBA Disaster Assistance for Individuals and Households: Application Processes, Determinations, and Appeals", "retrieved": "2024-04-19T04:03:35.865174", "id": "R45238_10_2023-08-15", "formats": [ { "filename": "files/2023-08-15_R45238_d5eaf47de3ff3796f70c2714a7a4a309bd4f2c3a.pdf", "format": "PDF", "url": "https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R45238/10", "sha1": "d5eaf47de3ff3796f70c2714a7a4a309bd4f2c3a" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/2023-08-15_R45238_d5eaf47de3ff3796f70c2714a7a4a309bd4f2c3a.html" } ], "date": "2023-08-15", "summary": null, "source": "CRSReports.Congress.gov", "typeId": "R", "active": true, "sourceLink": "https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/details?prodcode=R45238", "type": "CRS Report" }, { "source_dir": "crsreports.congress.gov", "title": "FEMA and SBA Disaster Assistance for Individuals and Households: Application Processes, Determinations, and Appeals", "retrieved": "2024-04-19T04:03:35.864153", "id": "R45238_8_2023-01-10", "formats": [ { "filename": "files/2023-01-10_R45238_5927cf5a38a3b9c0cf9190902ea2f8a40bdaf246.pdf", "format": "PDF", "url": "https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R45238/8", "sha1": "5927cf5a38a3b9c0cf9190902ea2f8a40bdaf246" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/2023-01-10_R45238_5927cf5a38a3b9c0cf9190902ea2f8a40bdaf246.html" } ], "date": "2023-01-10", "summary": null, "source": "CRSReports.Congress.gov", "typeId": "R", "active": true, "sourceLink": "https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/details?prodcode=R45238", "type": "CRS Report" }, { "source_dir": "crsreports.congress.gov", "title": "FEMA and SBA Disaster Assistance for Individuals and Households: Application Processes, Determinations, and Appeals", "retrieved": "2024-04-19T04:03:35.862711", "id": "R45238_6_2022-11-03", "formats": [ { "filename": "files/2022-11-03_R45238_66cea012873e8b3da0ab791e9a98c477e3c5c111.pdf", "format": "PDF", "url": "https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R45238/6", "sha1": "66cea012873e8b3da0ab791e9a98c477e3c5c111" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/2022-11-03_R45238_66cea012873e8b3da0ab791e9a98c477e3c5c111.html" } ], "date": "2022-11-03", "summary": null, "source": "CRSReports.Congress.gov", "typeId": "R", "active": true, "sourceLink": "https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/details?prodcode=R45238", "type": "CRS Report" }, { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 603565, "date": "2019-08-06", "retrieved": "2019-08-13T22:07:37.450474", "title": "FEMA and SBA Disaster Assistance for Individuals and Households: Application Processes, Determinations, and Appeals", "summary": "The Small Business Administration\u2019s (SBA\u2019s) Disaster Loan Program and the Federal Emergency Management Agency\u2019s (FEMA\u2019s) Individual Assistance (IA) program are the federal government\u2019s primary sources of financial assistance to help individuals and households recover and rebuild following an incident. In many cases, disaster survivors need assistance from both programs in addition to other sources of assistance, including private insurance, state and local government assistance, and assistance from voluntary organizations.\nAlthough the SBA Disaster Loan Program and FEMA IA are separate programs administered by different agencies, in many ways they are interconnected. SBA and FEMA share real-time data on disaster loan and grant approvals to identify potential duplication of benefits while providing individuals and households with federal assistance that can be used in conjunction with other forms of assistance to meet recovery needs. The programs are also interconnected in the way they are administered to determine loan and grant eligibility. Eligibility and assistance from one source can affect eligibility and assistance from the other source. \nIt could be argued that the overlap between the programs provides an effective means to identify duplication of benefits and provide federal assistance; however, the overlap also causes some confusion. Some in Congress are concerned that elements of the application process are not sufficiently transparent. For instance, it is unclear to some what criteria are used to determine assistance eligibility, as well as how decisions are made with respect to whether an applicant should be provided a loan or a grant (or both). It is also unclear whether the SBA and FEMA determine eligibility on a case-by-case basis or if eligibility criteria are applied uniformly.\nThis report provides an overview of these two programs, including discussions about\nhow different types of declarations put the programs into effect;\nthe application process for both programs;\nthe criteria used by the SBA and FEMA to determine eligibility for assistance and the appropriate types of assistance; and\nthe FEMA and SBA appeals processes.\nThe report concludes with policy observations and considerations for Congress about computer matching agreements, duplication of benefits, and the use of income tests as a screening device for SBA disaster loans and FEMA grants.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": true, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "https://www.crs.gov/Reports/R45238", "sha1": "18960f1f83532d35c48c2d03f0e34c08f2e76d9e", "filename": "files/20190806_R45238_18960f1f83532d35c48c2d03f0e34c08f2e76d9e.html", "images": { "/products/Getimages/?directory=R/html/R45238_files&id=/1.png": "files/20190806_R45238_images_ce5ec9b6f01e3f3332f200d71ebf00e5afd77eb7.png", "/products/Getimages/?directory=R/html/R45238_files&id=/0.png": "files/20190806_R45238_images_fe3adc38d5aad80a201f2db2c75626843ed8b50f.png", "/products/Getimages/?directory=R/html/R45238_files&id=/2.png": "files/20190806_R45238_images_44a57ae443d1994791d4037062a239c6d68ce2ca.png" } }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "https://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/R45238", "sha1": "57d0017588466294b5ba3a7097a6255f7a89bda7", "filename": "files/20190806_R45238_57d0017588466294b5ba3a7097a6255f7a89bda7.pdf", "images": {} } ], "topics": [] }, { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 582226, "date": "2018-06-22", "retrieved": "2018-06-25T13:08:09.560150", "title": "FEMA and SBA Disaster Assistance for Individuals and Households: Application Process, Determinations, and Appeals", "summary": "The Federal Emergency Management Agency\u2019s (FEMA) Individual Assistance (IA) program and the Small Business Administration\u2019s (SBA\u2019s) Disaster Loan Program are the federal government\u2019s two primary sources of financial assistance to help individuals and households recover and rebuild from a major disaster. In many cases, disaster survivors find that they need assistance from both of these programs in addition to other sources of assistance including private insurance, state and local government assistance, and assistance from private voluntary organizations.\nThough FEMA IA and the SBA Disaster Loan Program are separate programs administered by different agencies, in many ways they are interconnected. SBA and FEMA share real-time data on disaster grant and loan approvals to identify potential duplication of benefits while providing individuals and households with federal assistance that can be used in conjunction with each other to meet recovery needs. The two programs are also interconnected in the way they are administered to determine loan and grant eligibility. Furthermore, eligibility and assistance from one source can affect eligibility and assistance from the other source. \nIt could be argued the overlap between the two programs provides an effective means to identify duplication and provide federal assistance; however, the overlap also causes some confusion. Some in Congress are concerned that elements of the application process are not entirely known. For instance, it is unclear to some what criteria are used to determine assistance eligibility as well as how decisions are made with respect to whether an applicant should be provided a grant or a loan (or both). It is also unclear whether FEMA and SBA determine eligibility on a case-by-case basis, or if eligibility criteria are applied uniformly.\nThis report provides an overview of the two programs including discussions about:\nhow declarations put the programs into effect;\nthe application process for both programs;\nthe criteria used by FEMA and the SBA to determine assistance; and\nthe FEMA and SBA appeal processes.\nThe report concludes with policy observations and considerations for Congress.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": true, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/R45238", "sha1": "b0af6afd1a5e028578b433d5f8c56e60fd0dfbe6", "filename": "files/20180622_R45238_b0af6afd1a5e028578b433d5f8c56e60fd0dfbe6.html", "images": { "/products/Getimages/?directory=R/html/R45238_files&id=/1.png": "files/20180622_R45238_images_5dba02906761ad25f3ba9066b7b920e3ceebaa1f.png", "/products/Getimages/?directory=R/html/R45238_files&id=/0.png": "files/20180622_R45238_images_10bf02519e7249c5bfb8331b2d6f310f525ffc7d.png", "/products/Getimages/?directory=R/html/R45238_files&id=/2.png": "files/20180622_R45238_images_44a57ae443d1994791d4037062a239c6d68ce2ca.png" } }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/R45238", "sha1": "fb8fd12ee7a166917c86f2d9799c482e61125186", "filename": "files/20180622_R45238_fb8fd12ee7a166917c86f2d9799c482e61125186.pdf", "images": {} } ], "topics": [] } ], "topics": [ "American Law", "National Defense" ] }