Right to Democracy: Nearly 4 in 5 Sinlaku housing aid referrals not awarded

An analysis by Right to Democracy said nearly four out of five CNMI households referred for federal housing assistance after Super Typhoon Sinlaku walked away without an award, with problems proving occupancy and ownership topping the reasons affecting applicants.

Right to Democracy said its analysis of Federal Emergency Management Agency OpenFEMA data showed 12,153 applications following Sinlaku. Of those, 8,857 were referred for Housing Assistance, but only 1,905 were deemed eligible and awarded assistance—a success rate of just 21.5%.

Put another way, 78.5% of Housing Assistance referrals were not awarded assistance.

And compared with Super Typhoon Yutu, the difference is stark.

Right to Democracy said 8,591 applicants were referred for Housing Assistance after Yutu and 5,612 were deemed eligible and awarded assistance, for a 65.3% success rate. That is more than three times Sinlaku's 21.5% rate.

Sinlaku's rate was also lower than those calculated by Right to Democracy following Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Puerto Rico had 746,985 Housing Assistance referrals and 231,229 eligible and awarded applicants, for a 31% success rate. The U.S. Virgin Islands had 18,448 referrals and 7,501 eligible and awarded applicants, for a 40.7% rate.

Right to Democracy cited FEMA's OpenFEMA Individuals and Households Program-Valid Registrations-v2 datasets for its comparison, including Super Typhoon Yutu and Hurricane Maria.

The group's Sinlaku figures were drawn from the OpenFEMA dataset for DR-4910, which Right to Democracy said was last refreshed July 4.

"After 2 super typhoons in the span of less than 3 months, many in the CNMI remain in ongoing recovery," Right to Democracy said. "Thousands of households across the CNMI sought individual assistance through FEMA; yet many - nearly 4 out of 5 families - were denied assistance, mainly through rigid documentation barriers."

A breakdown provided by Right to Democracy gives a clearer picture of those barriers.

Occupancy Not Verified, or INONV, was the top reason listed, affecting 2,977 Housing Assistance applicants, or 33.6%. It means FEMA could not verify that the applicant occupied the damaged home.

Ownership Not Verified, or IOWNV, was next, affecting 2,462 applicants, or 27.8%. In those cases, FEMA could not verify that the applicant owned the damaged home.

Failed Identity Verification, or IIDV, affected another 1,767 applicants, or 20%, meaning FEMA could not confirm the applicant's identity.

Right to Democracy said many of the denials can be grouped under documentation-based denials, particularly problems verifying ownership and occupancy.

The group said FEMA's process does not adequately account for what it described as the unique circumstances surrounding land and property ownership and occupancy in the CNMI and other U.S. territories. It said similar patterns occurred in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands following Hurricanes Irma and Maria.

There may be another option, however, for some residents having trouble producing standard documents.

Right to Democracy pointed to FEMA Individual Assistance guidelines that say FEMA may accept a self-declarative statement as evidence of ownership or occupancy when other forms of documentation are unavailable. According to the group, the option is available to those living in insular areas, islands or tribal lands.

Right to Democracy said the statement should include the address of the disaster-damaged primary residence, how long the applicant lived there before the presidential disaster declaration, an explanation of why standard verification cannot be provided and the applicant's signature. The statement may also be written after the disaster.

The group has made a self-declarative statement template available and is directing residents to its more detailed data dashboard on Sinlaku Individual Assistance.

Right to Democracy is also pointing people who want to help typhoon survivors toward the Micronesia Climate Change Alliance and the Ayuda Foundation. The group said both organizations are helping route critical supplies to impacted residents.

Additional information and recovery resources are available through Right to Democracy's @Right2Democracy social media account and website.

According to its website, Right to Democracy is a non-profit organization dedicated to confronting and dismantling the undemocratic colonial framework affecting the 3.6 million people living in U.S. territories and their mainland diaspora. The organization focuses on the five permanently inhabited U.S. territories: Puerto Rico, Guam, America Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Northern Mariana Islands.