The Federal Emergency Management Agency is urging some CNMI residents whose disaster assistance applications ran into eligibility problems after Super Typhoon Sinlaku to contact the agency if they had a minor child who could have been an eligible applicant when the storm struck.
FEMA External Affairs officer Victor Inge said the agency has encountered cases in which the person who submitted the original application was not eligible for federal assistance but had a minor child living in the household who potentially was.
“We're trying to find ways to help people,” Inge told Marianas Press. “And in this instance, what we're discovering, there may have been some people who applied for federal assistance that weren't eligible, but they had minor children in the home.”
In those cases, Inge said FEMA may be able to transfer the existing registration to the minor child's name, potentially allowing the household's eligibility for assistance to be reevaluated.
“If that's the case, we're asking you to give us a call because what we can do is sort of shift the registration to the minor child's name, which could lead to eligibility,” he said.
The clarification comes amid questions over why some CNMI households seeking federal disaster assistance following Sinlaku were denied or found ineligible.
Federal disaster assistance is subject to citizenship and immigration-status eligibility requirements. In information Inge separately provided to Marianas Press, qualified-alien categories include legal permanent residents, people granted asylum, refugees, certain humanitarian parolees, certain victims of human trafficking, and legal residents under the Compacts of Free Association with the Federated States of Micronesia, Republic of the Marshall Islands, and Republic of Palau.
For households in which the person who originally registered was not eligible but had an eligible minor child living in the disaster-affected residence, Inge said FEMA wants them to contact the agency so their individual circumstances can be evaluated.
The option does not reopen FEMA's registration period or allow entirely new applications. Inge stressed that the household must have applied before the registration deadline.
“So we're not taking new registrations now,” he said. “What I'm saying is if someone's applied prior to the registration deadline and that was an issue for them, we can transfer the registration to the minor child's name.”
“But, of course, they need to reach out to us and let's evaluate that,” he added.
Residents who believe they fall into this category can call (671) 735-1050. Inge said the number is staffed from 8am to 3:30pm, five days a week.
Applicants should explain that a minor child was living with them at the affected residence at the time of Sinlaku and be prepared to provide the child's information.
“And express that was your situation and the fact you had a minor child living with you,” Inge said. “And, of course, at that point, we'll need the child's info.”
Inge said what matters is whether the child was a minor and living at the affected residence when Sinlaku struck. A child who was 17 at the time but has since turned 18, for example, would still have been a minor at the time of the disaster.
“If they were 17 during the time of the incident, they could have turned 18 yesterday or last week,” Inge said. “But the part we're concerned about is when the storm, when Sinlaku devastated the CNMI, and you had a minor child living with you in the residence, if you did not apply on behalf of the child, you can transfer that registration.”
Inge said FEMA is trying to assist households that may not have included the minor child when they initially registered.
“Well, it's unfortunate that it was probably an opportunity for them to include the minor child in the initial registration,” he said. “But if they didn't, again, this is our government's attempt at trying to help.”
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