GAO Reports Detail Problems With Katrina Disaster Response

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As the fourth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina nears, four new reports by Congress’ investigative arm have found a wide range of problems with the federal government’s handling of the storm’s aftermath.

The Government Accountability Office reports were a reminder that the federal government’s response to the costliest disaster in U.S. history has been flawed, and that the nation may be unprepared for the worst disasters.

In particular, the batch of reports, which were released July 20, looked at the inadequate mental health services for children in the New Orleans region and the state’s disaster-struck health care system, at how workers helping disaster victims had overwhelming caseloads and at how Louisiana and Mississippi used their federal rebuilding money differently.

“Four years after Hurricane Katrina struck, many of its survivors continue to struggle, which means that we must continue to fight for more effective programs to help those in need,” Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn. and chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, said on Tuesday about the GAO reports.

Lieberman said Congress, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the White House “must learn our lessons” to ensure citizens “receive the support they need to rebuild their lives, and taxpayers receive their money’s worth.”

In one report, the GAO said case management agencies for disaster victims had high turnover and that “some case managers had caseloads of more than 100 clients, making it difficult to meet client needs.”

The report said the federal government had spent more than $209 million for “disaster case management services,” which helped about 116,000 families affected by Katrina and Rita.

The GAO said FEMA was trying to develop better guidelines for disaster case management.

Another GAO report found serious problems with the way children were treated for mental health issues. Child psychiatrists and psychologists were scarce after the storms, funding was unreliable, and families were often unwilling or unable to get their children treated, the report said.

“Children in the greater New Orleans area may be at particular risk for needing mental health services,” the GAO said.

According to semiannual screenings of children, the LSU Health Sciences Center found about 30 percent of 12,000 children as of January 2008 “met the threshold for a possible mental health referral,” the report said.

An LSU researcher said the 2008 data “showed that 16 to 21 percent of children screened had a family member who had been injured in Hurricane Katrina, and 13 to 18 percent of children screened had a family member who had been killed in the hurricane,” the GAO said.

That rate was better than the 2005-2006 school year screening, but “the rate of decline was slower than experts had expected,” the GAO report said.

“The effects of a traumatic event can persist for years,” the GAO said.

The GAO report on children did not offer recommendations.
Two other GAO reports dealt with the federal government’s handling of Community Disaster Block Grant funds and the Department of Health and Human Services’ $100 million in health care grants to Louisiana to restore primary care services for the poor.

The GAO said the Department of Housing and Urban Development should develop guidelines for future disasters to spell out how the community block funds can be used, after Louisiana and Mississippi went different ways with their money.

In Louisiana, the state adopted a plan “that linked federal funds to home reconstruction and controlled the flow of funds to homeowners, while Mississippi paid homeowners for their losses regardless of their intentions to rebuild,” the GAO said.

“This helped Mississippi avoid challenges that Louisiana would encounter, but with fewer assurances that people would actually rebuild,” the report said.

“Federal guidance was insufficient to address Louisiana’s program and funding designs,” the GAO said.

Since 2005, Congress has appropriated about $26.2 billion in CDBG funds to help the Gulf Coast recover from four major storms _ Katrina, Rita, Ike and Gustav.

As for health care funds spent in New Orleans, the GAO said that despite the HHS’ grant money, primary care providers still found it hard to find and retain staff and refer patients “outside of their organizations.”

“And these challenges have grown since Hurricane Katrina,” the GAO said.

“From strengthening case management, to untangling housing funds from bureaucratic red tape, to increasing access to mental health and other primary health care services, these GAO reports shed light on several concrete steps our government must take to improve response and recovery,” said Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., who chairs the Senate’s subcommittee on disaster response.

On The Web:
Government Accountability Office: www.gao.gov