Situation:

Reengineer the FEMA closeout process to allow FEMA to programmatically closeout approximately $5 billion in public assistance grants within six months and obligate an additional $2.4 billion in 9/11 associated costs.

Need:

Hagerty, under its contract with Fluor and IBM, was tasked with this assignment by the Federal Recovery Officer, the federal official appointed by the President to oversee the recovery of New York, as a result of the Consolidated Appropriations Resolution of 2003, Public Law 108-7 that directed FEMA to reimburse the city and state for 9/11 associated costs not previously eligible for reimbursement under the Stafford Act.

Solution:

Hagerty professionals facilitated stakeholder meetings with federal, state, and local officials to develop a compliant yet streamlined process to close out grants within six months. Hagerty obtained buy in from all the stakeholders on this reengineered process, trained employees and contractors (on the process) so they knew how to close out applicants, and established performance metrics and targets. Finally, Hagerty implemented and oversaw the entire closeout.

Outcome:

As a result of the approach developed by Hagerty, the $7.4 billion public assistance program was programmatically closed out by September 11, 2003, two years after the disaster, without any adverse findings by FEMA’s Office of Inspector General.