Natural disasters are unpredictable and can happen at any time. They often catch homeowners off-guard and unprepared to provide legal documentation for their home required to begin the reconstruction process. As an emergency manager, it’s important to provide information on the process and necessary documentation before a disaster hits so homeowners can return to their… Read more
“The biggest mistake I’ve seen across the country in programs is not following proper procurement,” says IBTS Corporate Disaster Recovery Executive Mike Spletto. “I’ve seen local governments have the entire procurement become null and void for not following federal competitive bid requirements.” Because the CDBG-DR program is federally funded, grantees must follow federal procurement policies when… Read more
Because the program is federally funded, grantees must follow federal procurement policies when issuing contracts for goods and services using program funds. These can be easy to overlook in the urgency to rebuild after a natural disaster, especially for the many localities that have little to no experience with federal procurement policies. As the… Read more
Many grantees are unfamiliar with federal procurement policies, which must be followed when procuring goods and services with CDBG-DR funds. In the urgency of post-disaster recovery it’s easy for grantee’s to overlook program procurement requirements, however if you don’t comply you may be forced to repay your funds. This toolkit provides guidance to help CDBG-DR… Read more
This form is to be used by responsible entities and recipients when requesting the release of funds, and requesting the authority to use such funds, for U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) programs identified by statutes that provide for the assumption of the environmental review responsibility by units of general local government and state.… Read more
Before work begins on a post-disaster recovery project funded by the program, grantees must perform an environmental review to evaluate the impact of the project on the environment, and vice versa. The review, which must be in accordance with requirements, provides documentation to prove that no harm is done to either the environment or the… Read more
Successful program management requires adequate recordkeeping systems that allow subrecipients and grantees to track their performance against contract goals. This chapter of ‘s Playing by the Rules: A Handbook for CDBG Subrecipients on Administrative Systems, provides an overview of the minimum standards required for documentation and also provides a checklist of key administrative, financial and project records.… Read more
grantees that choose to engage subrecipients in their program are responsible for providing a formal subrecipient agreement. This sample CDBG-DR subrecipient agreement template identifies the minimum amount of content for consistency with the Entitlement and State CDBG Program requirements. However, grantees should adjust the agreement to ensure it meets their CDBG-DR award requirements, in addition… Read more
Before receiving CDBG-DR funding, grantees and subgrantees must conduct an unmet needs assessment to prioritize their recovery projects and determine how their CDBG-DR funding will be allocated into housing, economic development, and infrastructure recovery programs. A comprehensive assessment requires compiling a large amount of data both from residents and from local, state, and federal sources.… Read more
Unlike the initial damage assessment that occurs immediately after a disaster, the required unmet needs assessment occurs months later when CDBG-DR funding has been allocated. To complete the required unmet needs assessment, CDBG-DR grantees will need to acquire data from and other agencies that collected initial damage assessment data. CDBG-DR grantees can use this sample… Read more
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