Study Urges More Government Recognition of Nonprofit Disaster-Recovery Work

Government policies need to do more to recognize the valuable role that nonprofit groups play in helping regions recover from disasters like Hurricane Katrina, concludes a new study by the Rand Corporation, a think tank in Santa Monica, Calif.

Groups like the United Way and American Red Cross have proven they can be important assets after a disaster, “but their roles are poorly defined and frequently not suppofted by state and federal guidelines,” Anita Chandra, lead author of the study, said in a press release.

She said such groups are particularly good at “human recovery,” or helping people rebuild their social routines and support networks following a disaster — an effort that can take years.

The study, based on a meeting in April in New Orleans between the Rand Corporation’s Gulf States Policy Institute and local nonprofit leaders, found that “human recovery” is not well defined at federal, state, or local levels.

Furthermore, the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, designed to coordinate disaster relief and recovery between government agencies and nonprofit groups, can create roadblocks for areas with long recovery periods, it found.

For example, the law does not specifically identify case management and services as expenses eligible for federal aid, and requires states to come up with matching funds for rebuilding — a difficult task when recovering from disasters like hurricanes that can happen one after another.

The study, “The Role of Nongovernmental Organizations in Long-Term Human Recovery After Disaster: Reflections From Louisiana Four Years After Hurricane Katrina,” is available on the Rand Corporation’s Web site.