Governor Josh Green, M.D., and the State of Hawai‘i Department of Human Services (DHS)  announced the launch of an interim Disaster Case Management Program (DCMP) for Maui wildfire survivors.

Disaster case management is typically a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) funded program that connects survivors of disasters with specially trained case managers to help assess and address their needs through a disaster recovery plan, which includes resources, decision-making priorities, providing guidance, and tools. The state of Hawai‘i’s application for this program has been granted initial FEMA approval with additional details to come.

In order to meet the immediate needs of survivors and provide the benefits of the DCMP as quickly as possible, Governor Green sought funding from the American Red Cross to launch the program on an interim basis. This interim DCMP is funded by the American Red Cross for 90 days and will provide 20 dedicated case managers who will be able to help support up to 700 individuals. Once finalized, the FEMA-supported DCMP will expand to provide support to all survivors for up to two years.

DHS is working with a nonprofit organization, The Society of St. Vincent DePaul, to bring together three local community-based organizations, the Catholic Charities Hawai‘i, Family Life Center, and Family Promise of Hawai‘i, to train the specialized case managers. This program will build on Governor Green’s ongoing efforts in the community to ensure survivors are able to access the support they need, including housing and resident transition support through the non-congregate sheltering (NCS) program. This interim DCMP will also focus on expanding these critical services to individuals who need them and are not currently receiving support through the NCS program.

Survivors who will receive services in this interim DCMP will be contacted directly by either their currently assigned American Red Cross Shelter Resident Transition Specialist, or for those eligible who reside outside of the NCS hotels, by a disaster case manager to begin assessing needs and providing disaster recovery services. Disaster case managers will also be able to assist survivors who speak English as a second language.