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Ways FEMA can do better:

 

  • Streamline their menu.
     

  • Clarify the difference between public and individual assistance up front so survivors know where to navigate.
     

  • Clarify the relationship between FEMA and disasterassistance.gov. 
     

  • Provide the same translations for everything across the board.

Accessibility

Upon first glance, FEMA's website seems fairly user-friendly. However, as someone who has a fairly good grasp on Internet research, I found their website misleading and confusing. I wonder how much harder it would have been to navigate had I been under distress. Here are some ways that FEMA contributes to a lack of accessibility on their website:

 

  • Their Navigation menu has way too many options.

    • While it gives the impression that they want to make things available to the visitor, it's way too much to comb through.
       

  • Confusion between public assistance and individual assistance.

    • If you aren't familiar with the difference between these two concepts, it can be hard to find where you must go to apply for assistance.
       

  • There is a completely separate website for people to apply for assistance.

    • disasterassistance.gov is run by FEMA, but can be confusing to those who need assistance on who is actually in charge of providing them with services.

    • Additionally, the individual assistance application only comes in English and Spanish, as opposed to the over 20 languages FEMA's website can be translated to.

Communication

Throughout this project, I attempted to make contact with several officials at FEMA. Unfortunately, many people did not respond to my requests to speak about the Public Assistance Program in Puerto Rico. Here are some of the ways that FEMA partakes in Worst Practices:

 

  • The website does not have specific contact information for specific disasters.

    • Upon visiting the landing page for the Emergency Declaration, the only contact information provided is the general FEMA Helpline open to disaster survivors.
       

  • If one is looking for information about a disaster and is NOT a survivor, you are directed to the News Desk.

    • The News Desk did not respond to any of my inquiries. 
       

  • Upon reaching out to several FEMA officials via e-mail, I received no response.

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Ways FEMA can do better:

 

  • Include direct contact information for specific disasters.
     

  • Provide contact information for those, not in the media attempting to get information.
     

  • Respond to citizens' requests.

...all this leads me to...

Transparency

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Transparency was the biggest issue during my research. Not only could I not get in touch with FEMA officials, but their website was also hard to navigate and many of the terms were difficult to understand.

Here are some ways that FEMA struggles with transparency:

 

  • It's Mission Statement is "Helping people before, during, and after disasters." 

    • What does that even mean? What kind of help are you providing?
       

  • Information is outdated.

    • There is no information on their website about the Public Assistance Program that they used in Puerto Rico. Where is this information and why can't the public access it like they can other policies and programs?
       

  • Lack of FOIA information.

    • The Freedom of Information Act allows the public to request records that are unclassified.

    • The FOIA Library Logs only go up to 2014, and the FEMA Systems of Record Notices only go up to 2016. Nothing more current than that. 

Ways FEMA can do better:

 

  • Tell the public what the true purpose of FEMA is. It's confusing, and many don't understand the role FEMA plays in disaster relief.
     

  • Update information on what policies were being used when. This is information the public has a right to know.
     

  • Create a page that breaks down the different branches of FEMA in laymen's terms.
     

  • Update the FOIA page.
     

  • Make it so that the public doesn't have to submit an FOIA request, that can take months to process in order to get the information they need.

WHat FEMA got right

I can give credit when credit is due, and FEMA deserves credit in one aspect. The new Public Assistance Program that FEMA had intended to implement the summer Hurricane Maria touched down is truly an improvement from their older process. Not only do they have the policy of this program explicit on their website, but it also introduces tasks intended to avoid anything falling through the cracks.

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