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MortgagePoint » Your Trusted Source for Mortgage Banking and Servicing News 66 August 2024 J O U R N A L housing response and recovery phases. Additionally, the State working group discussed developing instate educational efforts to increase the public's and local housing agencies' knowledge of state and federal resources. In addition to ongoing recovery efforts still underway following Hurricanes Laura, Delta, and Ida. The state of Louisiana remains committed to revising their plan and continues to work toward finalizing the Disaster Housing Strategy following their November work- ing group meeting. The state of Montana used the Initia- tive to update its Disaster Housing Strat- egy Framework. To identify what areas of the Framework needed additional input, the State working group conducted a gap analysis, and these findings were then used to develop an updated strategy that included a framework and guidance for continued and future planning/develop- ment. Although stakeholder input and review were not complete by the end of the Initiative, Montana emergency management and housing partners have continued to engage their Disaster Housing Working Group in reviewing the Strategy, creating a subgroup, and developing a project plan for finalizing the Strategy, and addressing findings from the gap analysis. And the state of New Jersey used the Initiative to create a Housing Recovery Support Function (RSF) Annex to com- plement the State's existing Emergency Support Function (ESF) plans, which focused on short-term and sheltering actions with limited detail for long- term housing recovery operations. The working group focused on defining roles and responsibilities in the RSF, develop- ing a concept of operations for housing recovery, identifying state and federal housing recovery resources, and defining preparedness activities such as training, exercising, and updating the plan. The State is also scheduling quarterly meet- ings with state, FEMA, and HUD leaders to discuss strategies for furthering New Jersey's housing recovery preparedness. Washington used the Initiative to revise their existing RSF plan for hous- ing. In addition to revising their Housing RSF, the state working group formed a Disaster Housing Committee to carry on Government FEMA AND HUD COLLABORATE ON DISASTER RECOVERY SOLUTIONS T he Federal Emergency Manage- ment Agency (FEMA), in part- nership with the U.S. Depart- ment of Urban Housing & Development (HUD), have published the Pre-Disaster Housing Planning Initiative Report to promote collaborative approaches to disaster housing recovery challenges and bolster state planning for housing recovery before disasters occur. This joint effort helps build local capacity and ensures states, Tribal Nations and territories adopt a proac- tive approach to housing recovery. The initiative was created to assist families and communities recover effectively from disasters, and help states move from short-term sheltering programs to more sustainable housing solutions. "One of the most heartbreaking consequences of disasters is when an individual's home is damaged or destroyed, leaving individuals concerned about where their family is going to live," FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell said. "Securing post-disaster housing is a major challenge for communities as they begin recovery. FEMA and HUD are partnering together to help commu- nities identify and understand housing gaps before disasters strike to be better positioned to face these challenges head on and help survivors jumpstart their recovery." Disasters tend to exacerbate existing housing challenges like limited housing stock, rising rents, and increased costs to vulnerable populations. Planning around existing housing shortfalls before disas- ters can help communities recover more quickly during emergencies and ensure more resilient outcomes. "I've traveled throughout the country to witness the aftermath of natural disasters and the devastating impact on communities, including my hometown," HUD Acting Secretary Adrianne Tod- man said. "This partnership with FEMA is important to ensure that when another disaster strikes, recovery can occur quickly, and people receive the help they need." Through the Pre-Disaster Housing Initiative (PDHI), technical assistance was provided to four states—Louisiana, Montana, New Jersey, and Washington— over the course of 2023. Each state began the Initiative by convening working groups to discuss the issues they face related to housing and housing recovery. Louisiana used the Initiative to revise its 2019 Disaster Housing Strategy, focus- ing on identifying and clearly defining transitions between agencies during the