Washington State's Administration of the FEMA Medical Relocation Program

Gao ID: 119782 August 10, 1982

GAO reviewed Washington State's administration of the medical relocation program, which is part of the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) Individual and Family Grant medical relocation program, following the Mount St. Helens disaster.

GAO found that this was the first time FEMA had authorized a medical relocation program, and recipients were required to follow Washington State Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) spending procedures. However, records indicated that: (1) grant recipients did not always repay excess grant funds as required, (2) the State relocated individuals to areas far beyond distance guidelines without placing satisfactory explanations in the files, and (3) the State relocated some individuals to areas from which it had moved others. These problems existed in a high proportion of the grants examined, and GAO concluded that DSHS procedures and controls for approving medical relocation program grants resulted in excess or questionable grant payments.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

Director: Lowell Dodge Team: General Accounting Office: Community and Economic Development Division Phone: (202) 512-8389


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