New Orleans City Council passed the resolution below by a vote of 6-0 at its Thursday, August 21 meeting.

WHEREAS, The State of Louisiana’s Road Home program was instituted to disburse federal Community Development Block Grants to homeowners, including low income homeowners in order to enable post-hurricane rebuilding; and

WHEREAS, the State of Louisiana hired a private contractor, ICF International (ICF), to design and administer this Road Home Program, including disbursement of funds to Louisiana’s homeowners; and

WHEREAS, the State of Louisiana through the Louisiana Recovery Authority (LRA), and especially the current LRA leadership, has made strides toward improving the Road Home Program as compared to its predecessor; and

WHEREAS, ICF has been unable to effectively implement the program and it is well documented that ICF has lost applicants’ documents, failed to provide written notice of award amounts, failed to timely produce responsive information and documents to answer applicants’ questions about application status and how to move forward toward closing in the Road Home Program, made errors in calculating grant awards, failed to produce written determinations on disputes and appeals, and failed to consistently and timely produce information about individual program files to applicants; and

WHEREAS, the State of Louisiana is aware of the systemic barriers individuals face in moving through the Road Home Program because of ICF’s widespread program failures and recently fined ICF one million dollars for its deficiencies; and

WHEREAS, the State of Louisiana has regularly changed Road Home Program rules without making these new rules public when passed leaving homeowners with almost no current information regarding the most recent policies further compounding homeowners’ difficulties in moving through the Road Home Program; and

WHEREAS, the State of Louisiana has, without adequately informing the public, changed key policies without sufficient disclosure, such as those related to home valuation, which is the anchor to ICF’s determination of Road Home grants; and

WHEREAS, on July 30, 2008, the State of Louisiana passed a September 5, 2008 deadline for applicants to provide “all necessary documents” and “proof of ownership” or else risk being dropped entirely from the Road Home Program; and

WHEREAS, this deadline does not provide sufficient notice to Louisiana homeowners; and

WHEREAS, homeowners awaiting specific documentation and/or information requirements from ICF have no knowledge when ICF will communicate this information to homeowners; and

WHEREAS, low income homeowners are in an especially vulnerable situation because many cannot complete successions by the established deadline and the State is well aware that there are currently wait lists for low income people in need of affordable legal assistance to complete successions and who consequently cannot provide "proof of ownership" within the established deadline period; and

WHEREAS, tens of thousands of Louisiana homeowners, including low income homeowners in desperate need of rebuilding funds, could be permanently cut out from receiving federal rebuilding funds because of arbitrary deadlines; and

WHEREAS, the State has contracted with ICF well beyond September 5th to complete the Road Home Program; now therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF NEW ORLEANS, that it does not agree that the September 5th deadline serves a meaningful or just purpose.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Council strongly urges the State of Louisiana to rescind the September 5th deadline and allow all homeowners to move forward in the Road Home Program under a timely, yet equitable timetable.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that The Louisiana Recovery Authority (LRA) is to be commended for canceling its contract with IEM upon determining the existence of conflicts of interest.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the LRA also provide stronger accountability measures for its own contractor, ICF, and that the State itself provide greater program transparency in all aspects of its administration and start by making all rules and change in policies regarding the Road Home Program available to the public, immediately and in the future, at the same time as rules and policies are made and/or changed.

The Terrebonne Parish Council unanimously passed the resolution below at its August 25 meeting.

WHEREAS, The State of Louisiana’s Road Home program was instituted to disburse federal Community Development Block Grants to homeowners, including low income homeowners in order to enable post-hurricane rebuilding; and

WHEREAS, the State of Louisiana hired a private contractor, ICF, to design and administer this Road Home Program including disbursement of funds to Louisiana’s homeowners; and

WHEREAS, ICF International has been unable to effectively implement the program and it is well documented that ICF has lost applicants’ documents, failed to provide written notice of award amounts, failed to timely produce responsive information and documents to answer applicants’ questions about application status and how to move forward toward closing in the Road Home Program, made errors in calculating grant awards, failed to produce written determinations on disputes and appeals; and failed to consistently and timely produce information about individual program files to applicants; and

WHEREAS, the State of Louisiana is aware of the systemic barriers individuals face in moving through the Road Home Program because of ICF’s widespread program failures and recently fined ICF one million dollars for its deficiencies; and

WHEREAS, the State of Louisiana has regularly changed Road Home Program rules without making these new rules public when passed leaving homeowners with almost no current information regarding the most recent policies further compounding homeowners’ difficulties in moving through the Road Home Program; and

WHEREAS, the State of Louisiana has, without adequately informing the public, changed key policies without sufficient disclosure, such as those related to home valuation, which is the anchor to ICF’s determination of Road Home grants; and

WHEREAS, on July 30, 2008, the State of Louisiana passed a September 5, 2008 deadline for applicants to provide “all necessary documents” and “proof of ownership” or else risk being dropped entirely from the Road Home Program; and

WHEREAS, this deadline does not provide sufficient notice to Louisiana homeowners; and

WHEREAS, homeowners awaiting specific documentation and/or information requirements from ICF have no knowledge when ICF will communicate this information to homeowners; and

WHEREAS, low income homeowners are in an especially vulnerable situation because many cannot complete successions by the established deadline and the State is well aware that there are currently wait lists for low income people in need of affordable legal assistance to complete successions and who consequently cannot provide "proof of ownership" within the established deadline period; and 

WHEREAS, tens of thousands of Louisiana homeowners, including low income homeowners in desperate need of rebuilding funds, could be permanently cut out from receiving federal rebuilding funds because of arbitrary deadlines; and

WHEREAS, the State has contracted with ICF well beyond September 5th to complete the Road Home Program; now therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED BY THE TERREBONNE PARISH COUNCIL that it does not agree that the September 5th deadline serves a meaningful or just purpose.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Council strongly urges the State of Louisiana to rescind the September 5th deadline and allow all homeowners to move forward in the Road Home Program.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the State provide stronger accountability measures for its own contractor, ICF, and that the State itself provide greater program transparency in all aspects of its administration and start by making all rules and change in policies regarding the Road Home Program available to the public immediately and in the future, at the same time as rules and policies are made and/or changed.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the deadline be changed to December 2009.

WHEREAS, The State of Louisiana’s Road Home program was instituted to disburse federal Community Development Block Grants to homeowners, including low income homeowners in order to enable post-hurricane rebuilding; and

WHEREAS, the State of Louisiana hired a private contractor, ICF, to design and administer this Road Home Program including disbursement of funds to Louisiana’s homeowners; and

WHEREAS, ICF International has been unable to effectively implement the program and it is well documented that ICF has lost applicants’ documents, failed to provide written notice of award amounts, failed to timely produce responsive information and documents to answer applicants’ questions about application status and how to move forward toward closing in the Road Home Program, made errors in calculating grant awards, failed to produce written determinations on disputes and appeals; and failed to consistently and timely produce information about individual program files to applicants; and

WHEREAS, the State of Louisiana is aware of the systemic barriers individuals face in moving through the Road Home Program because of ICF’s widespread program failures and recently fined ICF one million dollars for its deficiencies; and

WHEREAS, the State of Louisiana has regularly changed Road Home Program rules without making these new rules public when passed leaving homeowners with almost no current information regarding the most recent policies further compounding homeowners’ difficulties in moving through the Road Home Program; and

WHEREAS, the State of Louisiana has, without adequately informing the public, changed key policies without sufficient disclosure, such as those related to home valuation, which is the anchor to ICF’s determination of Road Home grants; and

WHEREAS, on July 30, 2008, the State of Louisiana passed a September 5, 2008 deadline for applicants to provide “all necessary documents” and “proof of ownership” or else risk being dropped entirely from the Road Home Program; and

WHEREAS, this deadline does not provide sufficient notice to Louisiana homeowners; and

WHEREAS, homeowners awaiting specific documentation and/or information requirements from ICF have no knowledge when ICF will communicate this information to homeowners; and

WHEREAS, low income homeowners are in an especially vulnerable situation because many cannot complete successions by the established deadline and the State is well aware that there are currently wait lists for low income people in need of affordable legal assistance to complete successions and who consequently cannot provide "proof of ownership" within the established deadline period; and 

WHEREAS, tens of thousands of Louisiana homeowners, including low income homeowners in desperate need of rebuilding funds, could be permanently cut out from receiving federal rebuilding funds because of arbitrary deadlines; and

WHEREAS, the State has contracted with ICF well beyond September 5th to complete the Road Home Program; now therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LAFOURCHE PARISH COUNCIL that it does not agree that the September 5th deadline serves a meaningful or just purpose.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Council strongly urges the State of Louisiana to rescind the September 5th deadline and allow all homeowners to move forward in the Road Home Program.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the State provide stronger accountability measures for its own contractor, ICF, and that the State itself provide greater program transparency in all aspects of its administration and start by making all rules and change in policies regarding the Road Home Program available to the public immediately and in the future, at the same time as rules and policies are made and/or changed.