Supervisors Kathryn Barger and Lindsey P. Horvath are proposing a report within seven days on possible stopgap services. The federally funded program faces an Oct. 31 cutoff, according to Barger’s office. Approval would initiate planning, not immediately provide replacement funding.
The Disaster Case Management Program helps survivors deal with insurance claims, federal assistance appeals, rebuilding decisions and other recovery problems, according to the county’s recovery website. Five nonprofit organizations operate the service, Barger’s office said.
The Eaton Fire Collaborative counted 1,084 open Eaton Fire cases as of Aug. 31, according to figures Barger cited in an Oct. 6 statement.
The proposed motion identifies an estimated 400 to 500 cases that the collaborative believes may require continued case management.
Under Item 8, county officials would assess how many households risk losing help, the capacity of nonprofit providers to take additional cases and the costs of interim services. They would also examine a single point of contact for survivors and prioritize households facing homelessness or the end of temporary housing assistance.
The motion calls for studying whether $1.5 million in county renter-protection and homelessness-prevention funds could be redirected to case management. It also requests a review of some or all of $2 million in existing consumer-affairs legal-services grants. Officials would have to assess the effects on the programs that currently use that money.
Barger said in an Oct. 6 statement, “We cannot let these families navigate recovery alone.” Horvath, who joined her in sponsoring the motion, said, “Los Angeles County will fight to keep this lifeline in place, because our commitment to fire survivors does not end.”
The proposal also seeks letters urging federal officials to release approved funds and asking California’s governor for interim assistance through the program’s originally planned January 2028 end date. It requests a separate 90-day review of how the county could improve case management during future disasters.
The Associated Press reported Friday, Oct. 16, that the Federal Emergency Management Agency had reimbursed previously overdue installments but had not answered California’s separate request for another $6.5 million. Seven hundred households remained on a waiting list for services, the AP reported. Bree Jensen, an Eaton Fire survivor and Eaton Fire Collaborative spokesperson, told the AP, “You can’t put everything onto the local nonprofits.”
Several other Oct. 20 agenda items would affect how Los Angeles County government operates. Item 19 asks the board to adopt Measure G procedures requiring agendas to be published at least 120 hours ahead of regular meetings, with earlier filing deadlines and new clarity standards targeted for December. Item 18 concerns recommendations for an elected county executive, a budget director and an independent legislative analyst; it was continued from Oct. 6.
The board also will consider continuing the emergency declaration tied to the January 2025 windstorms and fires under Item 23. Items 28 and 36 concern whether to retain emergency contracting authority for ongoing fire recovery work without ordinary competitive bidding procedures.
Another proposal, Item 9, asks for a review of potential earthquake-preparedness partnerships, including with Caltech’s Alliance for Disaster Resilience in Pasadena.
The Board of Supervisors is scheduled to meet at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 20. The county says public registration to address the board opens at 9 a.m. that day.
NEED TO KNOW
Event: Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors regular meeting. When: Tuesday, Oct. 20. Time: 9:30 a.m. Where: Board Hearing Room 381B, Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration, 500 W. Temple St., Los Angeles. Watch online: https://bos.lacounty.
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