The Far Too Long and Winding Road Home Program
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Concerned that survivors of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita could lose out on federal funds for rebuilding their homes, POGO sent letters to the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Inspector General (IG) and Members of Congress.
The volunteer-run Citizens’ Road Home Action Team (CHAT) brought to our attention the issues with HUD's The Road Home program, which is designed to compensate homeowners affected by Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita. CHAT has compiled hundreds of egregious stories of applicants being given the runaround from ICF International — the former contractor managing the program — and from Hammerman & Gainer Inc. — the new contractor — such as being denied copies of their files and facing extraordinary delays. For example, Road Home applicant John Lange summarized his appeals process in a May 20, 2009 email to Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA) and other Members of Congress:
POGO asked the IG, as part of its audit of the program, to contact some of the Road Home applicants who can provide detailed accounts and documents about the extensive problems they encountered when trying to access the funds HUD allocated to help them rebuild their homes and lives in the wake of the two hurricanes. POGO asked several Members of Congress who have jurisdiction over HUD to hold off from approving the Louisiana Recovery Authority’s request to divert the half- to one-billion dollars of uncommitted funds away from The Road Home program.
We recommend that no decisions about future uses of Road Home funding, such as diversion to potentially worthwhile projects like hospital renovation and mobile health clinics, should be made until the results of the IG’s audit are publicly released. We also recommend one way to ensure that all Road Home applicants are awarded fair compensation for their loss: applicants’ appeals should be re-opened so they can be heard by Administrative Law Judges, who at one point were the third-tier review panel for The Road Home Program.
We’ll keep you posted on what we hear back from the IG and Congress.
-- Ingrid Drake
I went through the Road Home Debacle and was initially awarded a $150000 grant. Road home then took the grant away.
After a legislative judge appeal which I won and four more state run appeals I have gotten nothing from Road Home.
Al Blankenship the head of Road Home according to ICF insiders ordered his damage evaluation unit, to give me a zero grant. They did this and missed 1/2 of the house and found few damages to A house that was water logged for 3 months and had the roof blown off. It has been the policy of OCD and LRA 9run by JINDAL) to minimize monies to home owners. They have repeatedly lied about the money to congress and to the home owners. The extra monies now can be used to curry favor with Jindals friends in trying for a presidential run in the next election. Paul Rainwater is very willing to take the money from the home owners and give it to the political buddies of Jindal. Rainwater has been appointed to shield the Governor from the fray of stealing the money, to keep documents from the public (As superintendent of Documents), to have OCD do appeals that are done in conjunction with OCD by OCD with little or no representation by the home owners. Jindal came in to office as the ETHICS GOVERNOR, but has elected to keep the governors office from having to follow the laws that the legislators have to follow. Thus our ethics Governor does not look or act to ethical. Rainwater filters all documents that are released and has even violated state law in not releasing documents to watch dog groups such as CHAT.
I am not liked by Rainwater or Jindal and have not been able to get anybody to get me a fair hearing concerning my house damages. Al Blankenship for some reason did not like me and had his employees take away my grant. The state sent the appeal back to ICF and they said they had not lied.
They lied all along and I have the proof of this in the form of appraisals and cost estimates to repair the house from multiple sources outside of the OCD, lRA, and Governors Office.
I hope that this puts some perspective on a power hungry Governor who will take from Louisiana citizens in order to take in money for a possible Presidential Race. He is buying all of the funders that he can with the home owners money.
Posted on: Oct 06, 2009 at 04:58 PM
I am one of the lucky ones. My house in Metairie only flooded a few inches (it was four feet off of the ground and the ground is twelve inches above sea level) and therefore I did not qualify for the Road Home Program. At the time I was told that I did not qualify I was upset, but after speaking with many, many, many people who did qualify I am glad that I wasn't damaged enough to have to be dependant on help from this program to rebuild my life. I only had to replace floors, baseboards, the lower part of my walls, anything that was on the floor and a few appliances. Of course, I was in the middle of a move from my house in Metairie into my new home in Lakeview. Lakeview was a different story. I lost everything there, but at least I had a structure to go back to in Metairie. Many hundreds of thousands of people didn't even have that.
I've spoken with my neighbors in Lakeview, Gentilly, and New Orleans East who lost everything they had left behind while evacuating. It's impossible to understand unless you, yourself, go through the hell of rebuilding without reliable information with which to make decisions. Navigating the process of rebuilding (which isn't something that most people are familiar with in their everyday lives) is hard enough. Try doing it while the rules of the government program set up to aid in the rebuilding effort keep changing. Now imagine that it's not just you that you have to care for. Imagine you have children or elderly parents to care for while you navigate this process. Try building a life out of rubble while being told to keep your kids' schedules the same so that they won't have any lasting emotional damage while keeping your emotional trauma in check so that you can successfully hold down a job. That was my main challenge.
While my house in Metairie was partially gutted and I waited for disbursements from insurance companies and, later, my now empty retirement accounts, we lived on the 1x board subflooring with plastic and cardboard serving as floors, baseboards, and doors. (By the way, the most important door in the house is the bathroom door - not the front door.) Our sole piece of furniture was a piano bench, but at least we were together, had clothes on our backs, a roof over our heads, food in our bellies, and we were physically healthy. Yes, it came down to that. When you go home tonight, look around at all that you have and give thanks. Fundamentally understanding that all that you have can be gone in the blink of an eye is a hard concept to fully understand unless you've lived through it personally.
The sad thing is that it didn't have to happen. If the federal government had listened to the locals when they said that digging shipping canals through the wetlands and creating the MRGO was a bad idea and would lead to the flooding of South Louisiana, the floods that followed Katrina would never have happened. If the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had done what they were paid to do and built strong levees, the floods that followed Katrina would have been minimal. The rest of the country should really look upon this as a warning. How many other cities and towns need to be flooded, how many lives need to be lost before someone with authority has the backbone to do something about it? Until then, we, the citizens of the United States of America will have to fund our own recovery as federal rebuilding programs serve chiefly to make rich the contractor who gets the job to run the program instead of actually helping legitimate disaster victims get back on their feet.
Posted on: Oct 06, 2009 at 03:44 PM
Ms. Drake,
The average citizen, when confronted with what appears to be an insurmountable obstacle in their lives to which the resolution is dependant upon municipalities, politicians and/or ranking government officials, often times find themselves at a disadvantage when attempting to personally seek resolve, be it written or oral.
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita would certainly qualify as "seemingly insurmountable obstacles" to the victims of this horrific tragedy, which occurred when the levees were breached. Devastated at the first sight of one's home that was inundated, in many instances, with five, six, upwards to twelve feet of water, Louisianians had no choice (in efforts to be made whole) but to rely on their savings, homeowners'flood insurance, where possible, and ultimately the Federal government when "financial gaps" were evident. Ensuing efforts to rebuild have proven and continue to prove, for many who have "fallen through the cracks" of the Road Home (RH) Program, a hard fought losing battle to return home.
It is with the foregoing in mind, I seize this opportunity to express my sincere gratitude and support for Project On Government Oversight (POGO), having taken up the mantle in a collaborative effort with Citizens' Road Home Action Team (CHAT) to continue the move toward fairness, transparency, RH accountability and a respect for fellow human beings in their efforts to find a resolve whatever the dilemma encountered resulting from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
With kindest regards, I am
Sincerely,
Barbara Blackwell
Posted on: Oct 06, 2009 at 03:21 PM
I already commented, but wish to make one more point.
Critics fault New Orleanians for feeling entitled to this federal money to help us get back in our homes, but I feel their opinions are based on a bunch of myths.
The one big big myth is that we suffered a 'natural disaster'. Unfortunatly, these critics won't listen to the truth. Our outfall canal floodwalls collapsed with more than four feet of freeboard, at less than half their design load, because the US Army Corps of Engineers' designs specified the floodwall supporting steel sheet-piles be driven to only 17.5 feet below sea level when they needed to be driven to about 60 feet in order to remain standing if water rose all the way to the tops of the walls. We flooded, many hundreds died and 80 percent of New Orleanians lost their homes, jobs, businesses and everything else only because of the negligence of federal government engineers. If the federal government did that to you, wouldn't you feel entitled to some federal government help?
There are many more slanderous myths directed at New Orleans, New Orleanians, Louisiana and generally everyone in South Louisiana, but this big big myth about why we flooded is the one that hurts the most - that ours was a well deserved natural disaster. It's just wrong in so many ways.
Furthermore, it seems the federal government does not care that our state government treats New Orleans and its people as badly as they can manage. Why cannot the feds proactively step in and try to help the people they so wrongly victimized with their bogus flood protection system?
I see the federal government finding the individual RHP abusers and prosecuting them, but what about the RHP managers that abused the human rights of so many citizens? They went out of their way to ruin people's lives. They caused thousands to die of stress and sorrow. Where is the justice?
Posted on: Oct 06, 2009 at 12:23 AM
I would like to Thank You for the dedication and devotion on all the accomplishments you have made and taking our cases with Road Home. ICF has done illegal deals for years without anyone challenging them or not caring how they treated their applicants. Thanks to Melanie Ehrlich and POGO for having our voices heard.
I have been in the program with Road Home for over two (2) years. I was denied the grant money because RH said I am below 51%. I submitted all necessary paper work to prove I was over 50%. My insurance company gave me a summary of damages that I submitted. It showed the insurance co. amount was over the amount RH said I needed to be 51%. RH changed rules as they saw fit to eliminate applicants. I believe all applicants whose houses had flood damages should be grandfather as Type 1. When RH was first implemented it was for wet areas only sometime later it was changed to dry and wet areas.
I hope a complete investigation will take place to see how many applicants were mistreated and how RH misappropriated grant money.
Thank You,
Posted on: Oct 05, 2009 at 09:40 PM
Dear Ingrid Drake of the POGO Program,
Thank you with all of my heart for helping Melanie Ehrlich (FoCHAT) with the problems we are having with Road Home here in New Orleans.
I was denied the Road Home grant on untrue statements due to ownership/transfer of rights, and dates of when I entered into the program. Also, they refused to bring the amount of damage from 50% to 51% on my two story home, which disqualified me from the Road Home funds. I appealed the decision using my insurance company's evaluation, which was well over 51%, and that too was denied by Road Home. I have been in the progam for over two years and not one of these issues were ever brought up until it was proven by my insurance company's statement of loss that I had over 51% damage, then Road Home denied my application.
During the Road Home process the rules and regulations have changed so many times. Road Home made up the rules as they went along. It was not fair to penalize me for changes they made. I, and others who share the same plight, should have been grandfathered in because my application was accepted and was acceptable for the two years it was in process.
I am blessed to have moved back into my home; however, just as I am, many others are still fighting with Road Home so that they can move back to theirs. It has been four years and still no progress for many of us. I thank you for all that you have done so far to help us here in New Orleans. I am asking you to continue to help us. Help us get the Road Home money that is justly due to us.
Sincerely,
Yvonne Johnson
Posted on: Oct 05, 2009 at 08:39 PM
My family and others in the City of New Orleans continue to be victimized by the racism and class distinction in the Big Easy. The system is not working and I truly believe that the factions and organizations that have the power and polictical conections are misusing a very large portion of the road home funds. We need help from the federal government.
Three months ago I sent this letter to Mr. Rainwater and we have yet to sit down with anyone from his organiztion. We need help.
From: kjcalvin@msn.com
To: paul.rainwater@la.gov
Subject: Please Help My Mother
Date: Tue, 14 Jul 2009 20:24:24 -0500
Mr. Rainwater,
My name is Rev. Kendall J. Calvin Sr. and I am the son of Mrs. Earline H. Shief.
My mother is an 80 year old lady who loves her some New Orleans. She has always been in the state and would never think of being anywhere else. Since the storm she has be living in Jackson ,La in an elderly housing facility. She is holding on to the faith the God will someday allow her to come home to her beloved New Orleans. All she talks about is her home, church and friends, who by the way are perishing daily. She is and has always been a devout Christian lady, with the gambling appetite of a riverboat professional gambler(smile). She is a true New Orleanian.
Her home was once lived in by Joe (King) Oliver and is an historical place. Tourist would come by bus to see the place where the “King” once lived. King Oliver’s daughter even offered to buy the place about 12 years ago. The house has been a home for our family since 1957 , I was one year old when we moved into that house. It is the only place in New Orleans where all of our family call home. In 2000 Mrs. Roberts,a TV host for WWLTV did a piece on my mother for her 50th anniversary with the radio choir from The Historic Second Baptist Church Radio Ministry. My is the oldest active choir member still. Mother is a good lady and deserves an opportunity to live in that house again.
The house is only a shell now, with boards on the windows. We gutted the house in anticipation of the reconstruction that never came. We’ve waited patiently for the governing fathers to take care of the situation, realizing that we were not the only family in desperate need of help. I even begged mother to come and live with me in Huntsville, Al but she would not leave her precious Louisiana. We have been told time and again that her file is active and that they are working on it. We call weekly for updated. We have been doing this for a long time, with no hope of returning mother to her home. Mother has been waiting patiently for the people at The Road Home organization to call and tell her she can move back home. To date that has not happened, and to be quite honest I don’t see it happening any time soon. The Road Home has been a long one for Mother. Her great faith in God and her desire to see her few remaining friend is what keeps her going.
Sir, I solicit your help in getting my mother back home, back into her place of comfort and peace. She has done no harm to anybody and does not have many days of life left on this side of heaven. As a son I am helpless to give her the finance she needs to rebuild, but as a Christian man I have the power to ask any and all who can help to assist me in getting Mother back home.
She is just an old lady who wants to go home. Will you assist us in getting mother back into her home.
Road Home Application No.: 06HH122498,
Damaged Address: 2712 Dryades St. New Orleans, La. 70113
Mrs. Earline H. Shief
1624 Wilson Drive Jackson, LA 70748
My information is: Rev. Kendall J. Calvin Sr.
1064 Toney school rd
Toney, Al 35773
kjcalvin@msn.com
We need help from someone who care about the citizen of New Orleans.
Posted on: Oct 05, 2009 at 06:43 PM
HUD, LRA, and their contractors made the Katrina insurance gap - compensation program into a need based program administered from the level least likely to meet the needs of the target population (see my Publius paper). ICF created a small renters program with rules, staff, and policies to help mom and pop renters but never provided compensation to anyone, eventually closing down the program; now LRA wants to divert funds to developer for new construction. In helping my mother-in-law negotiate the program we met a representatives who were abusive and threatening, unable or unwilling to help. Part of the problem was constant turnover of staff, part was intimidation of staff by managers, part was the total absence of formal written policies and procedures, and of course there was no transparency or accountability from day one onward. When it became clear the application or file was being tampered with, we were denied a copy of the case file; then given a tampered file, i.e., one that did not even match the CD version we received when applying. We have three very different sets of documents purported to be her application and file. One egregious error involves appraisal of her home two blocks from Paris Avenue and one block from the London Canal at $1.5 million. One document that later disappeared from the “official” file indicated this was based on comps in old Metairie. In most instances we were unable to talk to the same person more than once or twice. One councilor told her he could not talk about her case any longer, another was fired for asking supervisors a general question and when asked for an example pointed them to her case. I saw results of a regression analysis of internal data that indicated that grants were systematically awarded in contradiction of ICF policies. This analysis was suppressed and has never been made public. The “compliance” group set up by ICF lacked staff with qualifications sufficient for their work. There was no transparency because their were no permanent policies, procedures, or rules. The ones that did exist were never published and changed at any and all times with not notification or publication. No one at ICF or LRA ever signed any letter or communication...there was no true accountability. ICF and LRA staffers falsified FEMA maps and guidelines in their efforts to impose flood penalties. Once email communications were established we have attributable communications in which staffers cite rules, regulations, and laws that do not exist. I personally contacted FEMA to obtain flood maps and learned about the process which ICF and LRA representatives continued to misrepresent even after Orleans Parish publicly refused to certify proposed changes. I requested the data from the one and only client satisfaction survey conducted by LSU researchers but was denied access to the publicly funded project that was never reported and is apparently being suppressed. My mother-in-law was put out of closings for asking questions about the award and legalities of the closing documents. Closing is an interesting case...applicant/grantee/recipients must pay to have a lean placed on their property in order to receive the grant money. My research has not identified a similar process in Mississippi suggesting denial of equal protection.
All of this experience is documented. I urged my mother-in-law to keep full and complete records from the first meeting on, which she did. She has a holographic record of every call, every communication and every appointment. I can put you in contact with several ICF employees. Much of this information was passed to the local FBI office as well.
No one has been watching while LRA and ICF wasted billions of dollars intended to alleviate the suffering and loss of citizens and rebuild New Orleans. The President said the federal government would do all that was necessary for as long as it took...if we learn nothing else from the aftermath of Katrina its that the President’s word and the good faith of the United States is only as good as the paper it is printed on.
Posted on: Oct 05, 2009 at 06:02 PM
My dad and I, like countless others, have begged and pleaded for some semblance of decency from Road Home. Refusal and "ineligible" status has been their response.
It just seems that the program was set up to find ways to exclude rather than include aggrieved citizens in a fair grant award process.
What gives them the right to deem any multi-unit home with more than two apartments ineligible, regardless of the circumstances. I understand this if the owner is an absentee slumlord.
Our "flood damaged" property was my dad's only residence from birth (1925) until Katrina. Ironically, he continues to remain "eligible" to pay taxes on the property.
He asks me why America turned has turned her back on him in his only time of need; him a World War II veteran. What am I to say?
If America insists that we and other taxpaying citizens fend for ourselves in this man-made tragedy, it is no longer the America it once was! It will have become a hollow, meaningless shell of a once-great idea.
Sorrowfully,
Bernard Johnson (for Charles Johnson/Father)
Posted on: Oct 05, 2009 at 05:25 PM
The Road Home Program was a joke that Kathleen Blanco, former Governor of Louisiana should be personally paying for especially out of her pocket. She gave the head of the program a $1,000,000.00 BONUS. This federal money that was given to the hurricane victims should have ALL GONE to the hurricane victims and not in someone's pocket who was getting a paycheck already and was running the operation poorly. WE NEED FEDERAL INVESTIGATIONS. Exactly what is Eric Holder, the U. S. Attorney General Doing besides NOT ENFORCING THE FEDERAL LAW ARRA, OR WHAT ABOUT THE FBI task force hot line on Fraud 1-866-720-5721 to report hurricane fraud. The local U. S. Attorneys are IGNORING the FRAUD that is being reported (all types of fraud) and are doing what is called SELECTIVE PROSECUTION. This is wrong, the U. S. Attorneys are ALLOWING FRAUD to happen. Exactly where is Eric Holder, the U. S. Attorney General????
I have been waiting OVER 4 years now and it is expected of me to take the low figure of $30,000.00 to fix my destroyed home. All contractors I have contacted tell me that it needs to be torn down. What am I suppose to do. The Road Home Program representatives do not return phone calls and their representatives didn't do their job and they tell me to go and do their job and send in pictures. They had unqualified staff.
In that 30,000.00 they want me to remove the roof on my house that is made of asbestos. It will take $30,000.00 alone according to local EPA to remove the roof and properly dispose of it. THE ROAD HOME PROGRAM DOES NOT COVER REMOVAL OF ASBESTOS ROOFS. The Federal EPA tells me that they don't have jurisdiction to oversee that this is properly being handled and wished me luck!!!!!
Governor Bobby Jindal of the State of Louisiana wants to petition Congress to get his hands personally on the remainder of the $1 billion dollars so that he cant take care of his pet projects. THIS MONEY WAS INTENDED FOR THE HURRICANE VICTIMS TO REPAIR OR REPLACE THEIR HOMES. These people are so allegedly corrupt so it implys by their decisions and actions.
Our voices are not heard and Senators Vitter and Landrieu are not of very little support, I never get returned phone calls.
The Afro American hurricane victims took out a law suit in Washington, D.C. for the same issues that I am having. Will this help me who is not Afro American?
The Road Home Program only want to close cases and not hear appeals and now they say that they cannot undo past customer service failures......Where is Eric Holder to recover that $1,000,000.00 in bonus money to reapply it to the Program to help the hurricane victims????
Thank you
Josie
Katrina and Gustav hurricane victim
Posted on: Oct 05, 2009 at 04:12 PM
I worked for the Road Home Program as a Housing Advisor.
CHAT's accusations are both true and accurate. The way our government treated Louisiana (and USA Citizens) is cruel and immoral. For many of the citizens, the emotional damage is done. Hopefully, those individuals that perpetuated these injustices will be held accountable.
Posted on: Oct 05, 2009 at 02:28 PM
The Road Home designed the program to withhold compensation for MOLD and MILDEW remediation. They have refused to compensate for any type of repair associated with mold/mildew damage to homes of New Orleans which sat in a cesspool of water for weeks due to levee breaches.
I asked a Representative of the Road Home Program if this was a FEMA decision. I was told no. This was a Decision of the Road Home administrators when they designed what criteria they would pay for and not pay for.
This appears to be a dastardly rule designed to withhold funds from Katrina Victims. I had to rehabilitate my home at my own expense, to remove Sheetrock, insulation, ceilings, cabinets in baths and kitchen so as not to be subjected to toxic mold. I even sent pictures only to be told by the Road Home, sorry MOLD/MILDEW is not covered by the Road Home Program.
This is an egregious Road Home Rule that will have lasting health consequences on the children, the disable and the elderly of the New Orleans area. This lack of ethics will effect mostly the poor and the minorities, who have no money to address living and breeding toxic mold spores the rest of their lives.
The Road Home response to the problem: "Well, we paid you for PAINT!!"
I truly feel this was a sinister and a deliberate act of man's inhumanity to man in the wake of a disaster.
A very sinister act to covert the funds of the Katrina Victims.
PS:
The Road Home Program spent $20 million on travel within the first year.
Posted on: Oct 05, 2009 at 02:05 PM
I I struggled for several years with Road Home, and the experience of dealing with them was worse for me than losing my home, business and possessions. There were so many inconsistencies in how rules were made and applied. RH based your grant amount on the pre-storm value of your home, which they determined. After I received their initial valuation, (which was not done by a certified appraiser), I hired at my own cost a LA certified appraiser. She placed the pre-storm valuation of my home at $60,000 greater than RH. They refused to accept this appraisal because they had a "20% rule" which meant that if a private appraisal was greater than 20% of the value they assigned to your home, they refused to honor the private appraisal. If a homeowner provided an appraisal that was within 20% of their valuation, RH would increase the homeowner's grant by that amount. I appealed the grant amount they awarded me because I thought they were being "arbitrary and capricious" in how they determined my grant amount and in formulating the "20% rule" policy in the first place. RH said it was HUD's requirement; yet a letter from HUD replies that they defer to the States to make policy. I lost my first appeal - I should also note I had to write this appeal without having access to my file - they told me I was not allowed to see the contents of my file. I was finally allowed to see a copy of my file, and ssaw the comparables they used in determining the value of my home. They used comps in inferior neighborhoods, and houses that were not renovated to the degree mine was. In fact, they used the designation of "typical" in referring to the condition of my home, and did not take into account that I had just completed an addition in July '05 and had made substantial improvements. I lost my second appeal. I compared the prices RH paid for homes in my immediate neighborhood that they purchased after Katrina (assuming the purchase price was determined by pre-storm value), and again found their valuations were very disparate. I don't understand how they could throw out the work product of a LA certified appraiser and instead use a very inferior work product. Also, why, if they refuse to accept my private appraisal, wouldn't they increase my grant amount up to 20%, instead of pretending that the valuation they used is adequate? RH has helped many thousands of people return home, however, they should correct their flaws.....
R
Posted on: Oct 05, 2009 at 12:02 PM
I am thankful to Melanie Ehrlich, head of CHAT (volunteer-run Citizens’ Road Home Action Team) to become aware of POGO, and post concerns about the Road Home program, so that real change may happen in Road Home (RH), so that families may have their homes finally rebuilt, and their lives restored.
Road Home (RH) has historically been unaccountable to the citizens and elected Representatives and Senators to Baton Rouge, and to Washington D.C.,, for the many concerns expressed about the very poor performance of RH
My family and I spent over a year and a half attempting to get RH (Road Home) to timely process our roof replacement needs, to the point that the roof was not repaired before Hurricane Gustav hit, which caused further minor damage.
Unfortunately, the abysmal performance of the RH call center agents created extreme delays in getting our RH Application approved; losing documentation, not taking "ownership" of one's case, and otherwise delaying the Application process through extreme inefficiency.
I personally had three RH call center workers mishandle my case, until (being disabled) I heard of the Easter Seal Special Needs Counselors, who had been working with Road Home for several years, to assist disabled and elderly with the torturous path of having their Road Home Applications filled out and approved.
My particular Easter Seals Special Needs worker, during 2007, was very respectful, and efficient, in assisting our family with our RH application, unlike the negative experience with the RH call center agents.
In December of 2007, the Easter Seals worker stated that "we are close to completion for your Application to Road Home, for your roof repair."
Easter Seals terminated without explanation by Road Home, January of 2008
Without any explanation, Road Home terminated the services of the Easter Seals Special Needs Counselors, via a one-line terse Fed-exed statement "Your services are no longer needed," (sent to Dan Underwood, the Director of Louisiana Easter Seals).
This was devastating news to not only us RH recipients, but to the Easter Seals Counselors, who now had to, with 30-days notice, find other employment.
This left thousands of senior and disabled Road Home applicants in a sea of confusion and anger, and their cases were delayed six to 12 months, as the "wheel had to be re-invented," as RH workers slowly caught up on the numerous cases.
I attempted, without success, to get an "explanation" from RH, about the abrupt termination of Easter Seals Special Needs workers, and unfortunately, a particular upper-level RH employee made disparaging comments about Easter Seals workers, that
"Oh, Easter Seal Counselors were not really needed; we can do what they did; there was duplicity," in spite of my positive comments that Easter Seals workers were far more efficient at processing our claims, vs. RH workers.
I attempted to "go up the chain of command" in RH, about my concerns about the termination of Easter Seals workers, and the disparaging remarks made of same, but my phone calls were not returned.
My concerns about the Easter Seals Special Needs Counselors being terminated was written up in a late-spring edition of the Times-Picayune of New Orleans (reporter David Hammer, who did an excellent job), but I never heard back from RH again, re: my extreme concerns on the above situation.
Our roof claim finally approved, after six-month delay
Finally, after six long months after our Easter Seals worker was let go, a particularly sympathetic Road Home worker (higher up in the organization) finally got our Claim approved, so that our roof could be replaced. Alas, such was not not been the case for other RH recipients, who are still awaiting approval on their applications.
Lack of Accountability:
The situation with the abrupt termination of the Easter Seals Special Needs Counselors by Road Home serves to point out the lack of accountability of Road Home, and ICF, to the citizenry of Louisiana, which must be addressed, so that this will not happen in the future.
I realize my situation was far less severe than the thousands of applicants to RH, that have yet to have satisfactory approval of their claims, who are living in temporary housing, after four years!
I commend POGO for coming to our assistance here in Louisiana, so that the spotlight will shine on Road Home, so that Road Home will "do the right thing," so that thousands of upset Road Home applicants may finally have their homes rebuilt, and have some normalcy in their lives.
Sincerely,
Mr. Richard W. Phelps
wordsmith1776@yahoo.com
Lafayette, Louisiana
Posted on: Oct 05, 2009 at 10:34 AM
After 1 1/5 years of red tape and lies, our case was rejected. Our insurance company shafted us out of 20K, and the Road Home could not have cared less. We are now paying on a 30 year note, where as before Rita, we would have been debt free within two years. We were severely penalized for moving and not re-building. It made good business sense to move 20 miles further north, but The Road Home did not see it that way. We are among the several thousand people that have been burned by The Road Home. Welcome to the club!
Posted on: Oct 05, 2009 at 10:30 AM
what's new,
I have been lied to for 3 solid years by RH personel.
Ultimately I was called on Friday after almost 4 years of arguing to be in New Orleans on Monday morning for my grant.Take it or leave it. No RH personel present only a straw title company. Granted 37.000,00 for a 100% loss of a 2400sq ft home that the RH formely appraised for a lousy 120.000,00. (try finding one like this 500 feet from the beach)
Did somebody recieve a million dollar bonus for lying and decieving us? I think so.
Does the RH has more excuses than brain....I know so.
Does the RH needs some serious oversight other then their own cronies investigating their old buddies......YOU BET.
Posted on: Oct 04, 2009 at 04:46 PM
I find it ludicrous that they call it a compensation grant.
The only reasons the state may have leftover RHP money are because of 1) unfair rule from the very start of the program, 2) RHP shortchanged nearly every single applicant and 3) RHP waited to provide opportunities for home elevation funding until after most families rebuilt as best they could with what little they had.
While applicants with federal flood destroyed homes painfully waited years to find out if (and how much) they might get funding help to rebuild their homes, the state richly rewarded the stockholders of ICF for their slow, mismanaged incompetence. When ICF made mistakes they were again paid to make more mistakes and paid again to do the job again to make their mistakes a little closer to correct.
It is unconscionable the way the program was designed to penalize homeowners living in poorer neighborhoods making it nearly impossible for them to receive enough 'compensation' in order to rebuild their homes.
Posted on: Oct 04, 2009 at 11:26 AM
The Road Home program was the worst kind of corruption imaginable. ICF, who administered the program, was rife with graft and corruption. The lack of response of any state lawmakers to this corruption, the lack of judicial review, the fact that the people in charge of the Road Home are among the wealthiest and most politically connected in the state, and the sorry condition of the rebuilding of the city attest to the farcical nature of this program. Applicants were treated like dirt, plain and simple. Money was handed out parsimoniously, except to ICF. However, this is Louisiana, so what can be expected?
Posted on: Oct 04, 2009 at 11:24 AM
Money has already been divered from the Road Home Program. The money for the so-called Elevation Incentive Award has been drawn from The CDBG Grant program when it could and should have come from the HMGP program, an altogether different pool of recovery money. While the Elevation Incentive award has helped many homeowners, I personally know of recipients who received the award, but have no intention of elevating their homes. Also the money has been given to homeowners so long after the Hurricane's devastation that many have renovated thier homes without the award. It would be far better to make sure that Homeowners who want to rebuild and who do not have the money to complete the job are able to compete for the "left-over" Road Home grant money and those who have been unfairly awarded and appealed have their appeals reconsidered by an independent ombudsman rather than by the state or the contractor.
Posted on: Oct 04, 2009 at 12:37 AM
I’d like to clarify a few points:
The Louisiana Recovery Authority has not diverted any funds from the Road Home program, nor has the state sought to divert funds from the Road Home program. There have been discussions at LRA board meetings about what to do with any potential unspent Road Home dollars. As we have explained to the public, and members of CHAT, several times, these discussions are preliminary and that we will serve Road Home applicants first.
We are required by the Louisiana Legislature to report on and do an analysis of our Community Development Block Grant budget, which we have done and will continue to do.
Most important to remember is the state of Louisiana cannot access the $3 billion in CDBG funds allocated in November 2007 for anything other than the Road Home program, as per the Congressional language attached to the allocation. To do so, we would first need the Congress to grant us additional flexibility, which has not happened.
We cannot unilaterally recommit money from the Road Home program. Our board does not have the authority to do so. In order to the reprogram funds, we would have to bring a resolution to our board creating an Action Plan Amendment for funding. Then we would publish this Action Plan Amendment for public comment and bring it back to our board at a future meeting to approve any necessary changes. Once our board approved this Action Plan Amendment, we must present it to the Joint Legislative Committee on the Budget. Following this approval, the plan would go before a vote of the full Louisiana Legislature (by mail ballot if it is not in session) before finally being forwarded to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for final approval. This is a process with many steps and one that leaves room for input from members of the public and their elected officials.
We have set aside sufficient funds in our budget to cover those remaining in the program, including those homeowners in the appeals process. We are not taking money from Road Home applicants. Quite to the contrary, we actually are early in the process of increasing funds to some Road Home applicants by removing the cap on Additional Compensation Grants through the program, which we estimate could provide around $600 million in funding to some of the neediest Road Home applicants – those with low-to-moderate incomes.
In fact, since January 2008, we have increased total funding available to homeowners by restarting the elevation program with lump-sum grant amounts (which paid nearly $800 million of Road Home funds to applicants), removing the cap on HMGP elevation grants, which provides additional FEMA funds to Road Home applicants and beginning grant payments to applicants who sold their homes at a loss prior to the program’s launch (more than $24 million paid so far). In total, the Road Home has now paid more than $8 billion to almost 125,000 homeowners.
We know that many people had issues with the Road Home program, which is why ICF International is no longer our contractor. It is also why we reworked the appeals process to make it fairer for applicants. Fewer than 8,000 applicants remain in the program, and many of these applicants have difficult title, legal or financial issues that keep them from closing. We are working to assist these homeowners as best we can so that they may move to closing. We cannot undo past customer service failures, but we are working each day to improve the program.
Thank you,
Christina Stephens
Press Secretary
Louisiana Recovery Authority
Posted on: Oct 02, 2009 at 11:49 AM