Katrina exposed need for disaster assistance reform

Hurricane Katrina's devastating impact on the poor would have been smaller if the United States had a comprehensive disaster assistance policy, say U-M researchers.

The hurricane, which struck the Gulf Coast on Aug. 29, 2005, exposed the plight faced by many living in poverty and revealed long-standing gaps in federal anti-poverty policies, they say.

"If there were less poverty and unemployment in normal times, the effects of natural disasters would not be as large as the effects generated by Hurricane Katrina," says Sheldon Danziger, co-director of the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy National Poverty Center. He co-authored "Poverty, Race and Antipoverty Policy Before and After Hurricane Katrina" with Sandra K. Danziger, professor of social work and research professor of public policy.

The researchers proposed a reformed federal disaster-assistance safety net that would include programs for displaced workers and non-workers.

Those who lost jobs because of the disaster would receive aid from an expanded federally funded disaster unemployment insurance program. Regular unemployment insurance is funded jointly by the state and the federal government, and lasts only for about six months. A federal program could pay higher benefits for a longer period of time without causing undue burden on the state's fiscal capacity.

In addition, there is the need for a new program that would pay the employer's share of health care premiums for workers in firms that close because of the disaster, the researchers say. These workers could continue to get their health coverage through their regular plans.

Cash assistance for needy non-workers could be provided through the current Food Stamp program rules. A family with limited income would apply for both food stamps and the disaster-assistance cash supplement. One advantage to this plan is displaced families would have short-run emergency expenses covered, the researchers say.

"These special benefits would be time limited, with time limits determined by the severity of the disaster," says Sheldon Danziger, the Henry J. Meyer Distinguished University Professor of Public Policy.

The paper is published in the current issue of the Du Bois Review: Social Science Research on Race.

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