Sneak Preview: Disaster Assistance Added to 2025 High-Risk List
(The following is excerpted from a recent Thompson Grants Compliance Expert article.) Because of the potential mismanagement of federal dollars going to disaster assistance stemming from federal agency fragmentation in providing and overseeing assistance, as well as challenges faced by applicants attempting to receive federal aid for recovery, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) added improving the delivery of disaster assistance as a new item on its 2025 High-Risk List.
GAO’s biennial high-risk list, which has been issued as part of a series since the early 1990s, identifies numerous government operations with serious vulnerabilities to fraud, waste, abuse and mismanagement, or in need of transformation. The current list includes 38 areas with actions that the executive branch and Congress can take to improve federal management and potentially save the federal government billions of dollars. For example, federal efforts taken since the issuance of GAO’s 2023 High-Risk List have resulted in about $84 billion in financial benefits, according to the report.
Because natural disasters have become more frequent and costlier in recent years, GAO contends the federal government must “take governmentwide action to deliver assistance efficiently and effectively and reduce its fiscal exposure.” This includes the response to, recovery from and resilience efforts related to man-made and natural disasters.
For example, GAO suggested that the Small Business Administration, which provides loans to disaster survivors, focus on unique challenges particularly faced by rural communities when seeking assistance through its Disaster Loan Program. In addition, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), when managing the Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery program, should ensure that state and local government recipients collect accurate data on milestones met to better address delays in assisting disaster survivors.
(The full version of this story has now been made available to all for a limited time here.)
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