FEMA Upholds Funding Denial for Eaton Fire Survivors Case Management

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has upheld its denial of additional funding for a disaster case management program serving Altadena residents recovering from the Eaton Fire, but American Red Cross funding is expected to keep services operating, according to an Oct. 30 news release from Rep. Judy Chu’s office.

The additional federal funding would have sustained the program through the full 24-month period approved earlier by FEMA, according to Chu’s office. The program helps survivors navigate insurance claims, find housing and access federal assistance. It serves survivors of both the January Eaton and Palisades fires.

Chu’s office said California confirmed that Red Cross funding would continue services through Catholic Charities of California once remaining federal funds were exhausted.

The state anticipated services could continue through mid-2027, depending on when federal funding runs out and how extensively survivors use the program, according to the release.

“I am deeply disappointed that FEMA has denied California’s appeal for additional funding for the Disaster Case Management Program,” Chu, whose district includes Altadena, said in the release.

“Nearly two years after the Eaton Fire, thousands of survivors are still displaced and still working to come home, and case managers are the people who help them get there.”

California’s supplemental request totaled $6,568,265.60, according to a Sept. 24 letter to the Federal Emergency Management Agency signed by Chu, Rep. Brad Sherman and Sens. Adam Schiff and Alex Padilla. According to the lawmakers’ letter, the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Region 9 denied the request Sept. 11, saying California had not provided sufficient cost justification demonstrating a need for funding beyond the original award.

The Oct. 30 release said the Federal Emergency Management Agency upheld that denial during the week and that there was no further opportunity to appeal. The underlying Federal Emergency Management Agency appeal determination was not available in the source material reviewed for this article.

The supplemental request was separate from the original $13.2 million federal award reported by The Associated Press. Chu’s office announced Sept. 30 that the Federal Emergency Management Agency had released $6.6 million in previously approved installments, followed by the final $3.3 million installment Oct. 7. Those payments completed the original award but did not resolve California’s request for additional funding.

For Altadena residents, the program provides individual help with a recovery process that can involve multiple agencies and complicated paperwork.

Mary Landau, an Altadena resident whose home was destroyed in the Eaton Fire, told The Associated Press that her case manager, Veda Ashby Romero, helped her obtain a grant covering a year of mortgage payments.

“She gave me hope and strength,” Landau told The Associated Press in an article updated Oct. 16.

At that time, The Associated Press reported that roughly 1,400 households faced losing their case managers at the end of October and that 700 households remained on a service waitlist. That reporting preceded the Oct. 30 announcement of anticipated Red Cross-funded continuation.

Bree Jensen, an Eaton Fire Collaborative spokesperson and fire survivor, told The Associated Press that local nonprofits were already struggling with demand.

“You can’t put everything onto the local nonprofits,” Jensen said.

The California Department of Social Services leads program operations in collaboration with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, according to a July California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services newsletter. The reviewed records did not provide an Altadena-specific count of participants.

Chu’s Oct. 30 release did not specify the amount of replacement funding or detail future staffing, eligibility or service capacity. The release said services were expected to continue through mid-2027, depending on when remaining federal funds were exhausted and how much the services were used.