hurricane katrina homeowner's grant program presented to national grants partnership june 6,...

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Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina Homeowner's Grant Program Homeowner's Grant Program Presented to Presented to National Grants Partnership National Grants Partnership June 6, 2006 June 6, 2006 by by Mississippi Development Authority Mississippi Development Authority Reznick Group Reznick Group STR, L.L.C. STR, L.L.C.

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Page 1: Hurricane Katrina Homeowner's Grant Program Presented to National Grants Partnership June 6, 2006 by Mississippi Development Authority Reznick Group STR,

Hurricane KatrinaHurricane KatrinaHomeowner's Grant ProgramHomeowner's Grant Program

Presented toPresented toNational Grants PartnershipNational Grants Partnership

June 6, 2006June 6, 2006

bybyMississippi Development AuthorityMississippi Development Authority

Reznick GroupReznick GroupSTR, L.L.C.STR, L.L.C.

Page 2: Hurricane Katrina Homeowner's Grant Program Presented to National Grants Partnership June 6, 2006 by Mississippi Development Authority Reznick Group STR,

Hurricane KatrinaHurricane KatrinaHomeowner's Grant ProgramHomeowner's Grant Program

Hurricane Katrina – Made land fall in Mississippi on August 29, 2005– Worst natural disaster ever to hit the United States– Over $125 Billion in damage– 65,380 homes damaged or destroyed in South Mississippi

alone Critical need to get grant money to homeowners so

they can repair or rebuild

Page 3: Hurricane Katrina Homeowner's Grant Program Presented to National Grants Partnership June 6, 2006 by Mississippi Development Authority Reznick Group STR,

Mississippi Development AuthorityMississippi Development Authority

The Mississippi Development Authority is the State of Mississippi ユ s lead economic and community development agency. More than 250 employees are engaged in providing services to businesses, communities and workers in the state.

The agency is organized into three groups, Economic Development, Asset Development, and Administrative and Financial Services.

The Hurricane Katrina Homeowner's Grant Program is designed to provide financial assistance to those homeowners outside the flood plain whose homeowner's insurance did not cover structural flood damage. Single-family homes, owner-occupied duplexes and manufactured housing including mobile homes are eligible for grants under this program.

Page 4: Hurricane Katrina Homeowner's Grant Program Presented to National Grants Partnership June 6, 2006 by Mississippi Development Authority Reznick Group STR,

Reznick GroupReznick Group Prime Contractor on Mississippi Hurricane Katrina Homeowner

Grant Program Largest CPA firm headquartered in the Washington, D.C. area,

and the 18th largest public accounting firm in the United States Three decades of experience working with housing and nonprofit

organizations Solid reputation of providing government agencies with cost

effective, practical solutions that address the root causes of problems

Page 5: Hurricane Katrina Homeowner's Grant Program Presented to National Grants Partnership June 6, 2006 by Mississippi Development Authority Reznick Group STR,

Federal Financial AssistanceFederal Financial Assistance

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Community Development Block Grant

– Disaster relief– Long-term recovery and restoration of infrastructure

$11.5 Billion made available to MS, LA, AL, FL, and TX

Majority of funds going to MS and LA– Approximately $5 Billion to MS

Page 6: Hurricane Katrina Homeowner's Grant Program Presented to National Grants Partnership June 6, 2006 by Mississippi Development Authority Reznick Group STR,

Homeowner Grant Assistance ProgramHomeowner Grant Assistance Program

Requirements:– Homeowner’s primary residence on 8/29/05– Homeowner owned and occupied home on 8/29/05– Located in 1 of 4 designated counties– Must have had homeowners insurance– Home located outside the FEMA designated 100-year flood zone– Maximum grant $150,000

Expected between 35,000 and 50,000 applications, reduced to 15,000 after FEMA reviewed its estimates.

Page 7: Hurricane Katrina Homeowner's Grant Program Presented to National Grants Partnership June 6, 2006 by Mississippi Development Authority Reznick Group STR,

Grants SoftwareGrants Software

Needed:– A proven solution that could be implemented within weeks (not years)– A solution capable of interfacing with many other systems– A solution that could be easily modified – A solution that could also serve other MDA grant programs in the

future– Available over the internet

STR’s eGrantsPlus was chosen– COTS solution– Currently implemented at Corporation for National and Community

Service (CNCS) and the Department of the Interior (DOI)

Page 8: Hurricane Katrina Homeowner's Grant Program Presented to National Grants Partnership June 6, 2006 by Mississippi Development Authority Reznick Group STR,

Software ArchitectureSoftware Architecture

Web enabled application accessible from all popular browsers on either PC or MAC.

Database and application servers hosted by Rackspace in San Antonio, Texas

Firewalls, separation of processors from database, and use of complex passwords protect the application and data.

InternetUser

Firewall

Application Server Layer

Oracle Application Server

Tomcat Servlet Engine

Database Server Layer

OracleDatabase

Server

WebServers

Firewall

Page 9: Hurricane Katrina Homeowner's Grant Program Presented to National Grants Partnership June 6, 2006 by Mississippi Development Authority Reznick Group STR,

Homeowner Assistance ProgramHomeowner Assistance Program

Mississippi and HUD determined program requirements Application had to capture extensive information

– Homeowner and occupants information– Land/Public records information– Estimated damages – Lien holders (Mortgage) information– FEMA funds request and status– SBA funds request and status– Homeowners insurance information

Within 3 weeks, Reznick established and staffed:– 4 major service centers and 3 additional satellite centers to accept

applications– Call in center to answer questions and schedule appointments

Page 10: Hurricane Katrina Homeowner's Grant Program Presented to National Grants Partnership June 6, 2006 by Mississippi Development Authority Reznick Group STR,

Application ProcessApplication Process Applicants could create application from any computer with access to the

internet (www.mshomehelpap.gov) or go to service center– Account creation -- user name and password– Wizard-like screens that move applicant through the process of entering data

Applicant must come to a service center to complete application– Prove identify– Have documents scanned and attached to application– Agree to terms and conditions of grant program

“We limited appointments this week to make sure that we could iron-out any rough spots in the application process, but everything has gone very smoothly.”

Terri Hudson, MDA CFO

Page 11: Hurricane Katrina Homeowner's Grant Program Presented to National Grants Partnership June 6, 2006 by Mississippi Development Authority Reznick Group STR,

Unprecedented VerificationUnprecedented Verification

Fraud/Identity verification– Every homeowner had to show up at one of the designated service

centers with proof of identity, proof of ownership, and proof of insurance

Duplication of benefits– Homeowners insurance proceeds– FEMA grants received– SBA loans received

Interfaces are being developed to verify ALL application data. These include interfaces with FEMA, SBA, insurance companies, mortgage holders, and public records

Page 12: Hurricane Katrina Homeowner's Grant Program Presented to National Grants Partnership June 6, 2006 by Mississippi Development Authority Reznick Group STR,

Project Milestones/StatusProject Milestones/Status

Software was installed and applications started being accepted 3 weeks after requirements were finalized

Applications were received over a 6 week period starting on April 17, 2006 and ending May 31, 2006.– 1500 applications were received the first week through a controlled

rollout– 13,000 applications were received the first month– 15,800 applications were received in total

The verification process has begun First 6,000 checks scheduled by end of June

Page 13: Hurricane Katrina Homeowner's Grant Program Presented to National Grants Partnership June 6, 2006 by Mississippi Development Authority Reznick Group STR,

Questions???Questions???

Contact Information

Frank Banda (Reznick Group)[email protected]

(301) 652-9100

Scott Meyer (STR, L.L.C.)

[email protected]

(703) 460-9001