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FOIA Case
Study Reporter: Sally Kestin and Megan O'Matz Publication: Sun Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale) Story: “Cashing in on Disaster” Date of publication:
Eight month series starting on
October 10, 2004 Background The first story, based on claims
application information posted on the FEMA Web site and follow-up interviewing,
reported that FEMA had approved more than $21 million in hurricane damage
claims in Miami-Dade County in the five weeks after Hurricane Frances
hit on Sept. 4, 2004. The county is more than 100 miles south of where
the storm hit and public damage reports were minimal. In contrast, Indian
River County – hit directly by Frances and a second storm – had
received a million less in aid, despite the fact that 49,000 residences
were damaged or destroyed. The story noted that private insurance claims
in Miami-Dade totaled $22 million while private claims in Indian River
County were $214 million. A second set of stories ran a month later, when the Miami-Dade claims had reached more than $28 million. These were based on records obtained through a FOIA request but only after considerable negotiation with FEMA. The paper recorded some of what the “hurricane relief” in Miami-Dade paid for, including 5,260 television sets and 1,440 air conditioners. Six claims for the Florida storm were paid because of “snow/ice” damage. The story noted that several low income zip codes had the highest claims rates. One woman, who collected $1,500 for mildewed clothing and water damage, said it was the third time she’d received FEMA aid after a storm. She said that everyone who had the same claims inspector she did got something.
In a third set of stories,
the newspaper reported on the agency’s use of private companies to
hastily hire and train the inspectors and their apparent failure at
due diligence. After FEMA refused a FOIA request for the names of its
damage assessment inspectors, the paper reported that more than one-fifth
of the 133 inspectors it was able to identify had criminal records for
such crimes as embezzlement, drug dealing and robbery. One inspector
had been imprisoned three times for burglary. Finally, the paper reported there was at least some political linkage. A public records request showed that internal FEMA memos cited criticism of Hurricane Andrew and President George H.W. Bush’s subsequently loss in Florida in the 1992 election campaign. The memos made clear a concern that aid not be delayed this time. One state official said in a Sept. 13 memo, after meeting with FEMA officials, that the agency was providing short-term assistance to “everyone who needs it, without asking for much information of any kind.” Why was the result of the story? Members of Congress asked for
an investigation immediately after the first stories. The Senate
held a hearing on waste and fraud allegations in federal disaster relief
in May 2005. An Inspector General’s audit
targeted the alleged Miami Dade abuses and FEMA procedures. It
faulted FEMA for waste and poor management control of the inspection
process, noting among other things that FEMA had paid $8.2 million in
rental assistance to 4,308 applicants who showed no need for temporary
housing. Another investigation led to
the indictment of 14 people in south Miami Dade County for fraud. What information was requested? The Sun Sentinel reporters
made repeated FOIA requests to FEMA for records. The first request, on Sept.
28, 2004, was for all data on hurricane claims in the National Emergency
Management Information System database for both hurricane damage applications
and for approvals of claims. The reporters had ongoing phone
and e-mail contact with FOIA officers in FEMA to amend that request
several times to meet objections. One response said the request
was not specific enough. Another said the request provided no
time frame. On Oct 15, FEMA denied the records request, saying it was
not allowed, for privacy reasons, to disclose names of individuals whose
records they held unless the requester had obtained prior consent. During this time period, FEMA
also pulled from its website the aggregate claims application information
it had posted and stopped answering questions from Sun Sentinel reporters
on aggregate claims payments. The newspaper responded by
asking for “all releasable” claims records for Miami-Dade County
by zip code – and it asked for them in electronic format. On election
day, it received a box with 9,000 pages of paper records. FEMA’s explanations for why
it did not supply an electronic version ranged from it being misrouted
and lost to it needing to be reviewed. Eventually, the paper got the
information on disk and was able to do some analysis. In the meantime,
reporters had hand-sorted the records and used them to identify high-claims
neighborhoods and begin interviews to locate claimants. On October 18, 2004, the Sun
Sentinel filed a request for data on all inspectors assigned to Miami-Dade,
for all Inspector General audits and reports on FEMA dating back to
Hurricane Andrew in 1992, and for any e-mails between FEMA director
Michael Brown and Florida Gov. Jeb Bush related to Miami-Dade claims. FEMA turned down the request for the names of inspectors on Jan. 6, 2005, saying it did not have that information. That data, it said, was held by the private contractors FEMA employed to hire and train the inspectors. It said the badge numbers of the inspectors, which it did have, were not public under the FOIA privacy exemption.
On March 25, it provided two
historic audit reports. FEMA produced copies of some the e-mails but
with much of the information in them redacted. There were indications
of at least 20 missing pages in the reports produced. The Florida
governor’s office did produce the e-mails requested of them after
the newspaper threatened to sue under the state’s relatively tough
open records law. Additional comments about the FOIA experience The newspaper believes all
of the information it sought was public record under FOIA. Note
that the original reporting on the story began because reporters noted
a disproportionate number of claims in the information posted on FEMA
public’s Web site. And FEMA officials were initially helpful in providing
supplemental information about claims applications and claims approval
on a timely basis without a FOIA request. It was only when the information
proved embarrassing and began to raise questions about FEMA’s claims
management and possible fraud that the agency stopped making information
available. In addition, the newspaper has a suit pending for data on the names of the inspectors. And on March 9, 2005, it sued
to force the release of detailed information about individuals who applied
for and received relief from FEMA for the four hurricanes that struck
Florida in 2004, beginning with Charley on Aug. 13, 2004. Link to the story http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/sfl-femacoverage,0,6697347.storygallery |
