Table 2. Selected federal funding programs providing support to victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Federal funding programs Description
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) The Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) TANF program provides assistance and work opportunities to needy families by granting states, territories, and tribes federal funds to develop and implement their own welfare programs.
Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) The Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) CDBG program provides grants to help cities, counties, and states recover from presidentially declared disasters, especially in low-income areas, subject to availability of supplemental appropriations.
Social Services Block Grant HHS distributes Social Services Block Grant funds to enable states to provide social services to residents. Such services may include daycare and protective services for children or adults, special services to persons with disabilities, adoption, case management, health-related services, transportation, foster care for children or adults, substance abuse services, housing, home-delivered meals, independent/transitional living, employment services, or any other social services found necessary by the state.
CDBG Workforce Housing Grant This HUD grant targets housing to those between 60 percent and 120 percent of the area median income.
CDBG Entitlement Communities Through this CDBG program HUD allocates annual grants to large cities and urban counties to develop sustainable communities.
Low-income Home Energy Assistance Program The Low-income Home Energy Assistance Program is a federally funded block grant program administered by HHS and implemented at the state level. The grant serves individuals and families from low-income households who seek assistance for their home energy bills.
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Community Disaster Loans FEMA offers these loans to any eligible jurisdiction in a designated disaster area that has suffered a substantial loss of tax and other revenue. The jurisdiction must demonstrate a need for financial assistance to perform its governmental functions to maintain essential services such as public schools, and fire and police services.
FEMA Voluntary Agency Liaison (VAL) As the primary liaison to the nonprofit community, VALs are responsible for initiating and maintaining a working relationship between FEMA; federal, state, and local agencies; and nonprofit organizations. As of 2009, FEMA's VAL program had 10 memorandums of understanding with nonprofit organizations charged with implementing FEMA programs. These nonprofits include National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster, American Red Cross, The Salvation Army, United Methodist Committee on Relief, Adventists Community Services, Church World Service, Feeding America, Mennonite Disaster Service, Northern American Mission Board—-Southern Baptist Convention, and Operation Hope USA.
Office of the Federal Coordinator (OFC) for Gulf Coast Rebuilding In February 2008, the OFC and FEMA formed a Transparency Initiative, a web-based information sharing network to track the status of selected public infrastructure building projects (such as school or hospital) by providing detailed information on the Public Assistance Grants funds allocated for the project. In 2009, the OFC partnered with the White House to develop intra-government (horizontal) networks that link the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnership centers with 12 federal agencies including the Department of Homeland Security, HUD, and the Small Business Administration. These agencies, in turn, helped buttress and reinforce cross-scale networks with local community and faith-based organizations through the provision of temporary staff, training, and technical assistance.
Gulf Opportunity Zone Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Program HUD designed the Gulf Opportunity Zone Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program to provide tax incentives for developing affordable rental housing along the Gulf Coast.
Primary Care Access and Stabilization Grant HHS awarded the Primary Care Access and Stabilization Grant to Louisiana to help restore primary health care services to low-income populations.
Disaster Housing Assistance Program This HUD program provides temporary long-term housing rental assistance and case management for households affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
Community Mental Health Services Block Grant The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s Community Mental Health Services Block Grant is awarded to states to provide mental health services to people with mental disorders.
Continuum of Care Program HUD’s Continuum of Care Program is a set of three competitively awarded programs (Supportive Housing Program, Single Room Occupancy Program, and Shelter Plus Care Program) created to address the problems of homelessness in a comprehensive manner with other federal agencies.
Disaster Case Management Pilot Program FEMA uses funds from its Disaster Relief Fund to provide state and local governments with federal disaster recovery assistance. The state-managed Disaster Case Management Pilot Program is intended to help households in Louisiana and Mississippi achieve permanent housing.
Katrina Aid Today (KAT) FEMA awarded a 2-year case management grant that channeled US$66 million of foreign donations to the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR). UMCOR used the grant to establish KAT, a national consortium of nine social service and voluntary organizations, to provide case management services to victims of Hurricane Katrina. At the completion of its grant funded activity in March 2008, KAT had enabled case management services for approximately 73,000 households. As the umbrella grants manager, UMCOR provided financial compliance monitoring, technical assistance, and training to the nine consortium members.
Source: GAO (2010)