Phases
Federal Guidance to Serve the Most Vulnerable Populations
The program anticipates having adequate funding to address the needs of all homeowners in Phases 1-6. If your submitted application indicates you meet all eligibility criteria, you should be able to receive a grant award when the program begins inviting applications in your phase.
To serve the most vulnerable populations most effectively in our state, the program’s phased approach, which is aligned with federal guidance, ensures that the most vulnerable populations are prioritized for assistance.
The phases prioritize eligible homeowners for assistance based on household income, homeowner age, whether any member of the household has a disability, whether the damaged address is in a most impacted parish, and whether the damaged address’ repairs are complete or incomplete. Income level will affect the phase in which a homeowner is invited to apply.
To be placed in a phase, homeowners must meet the following criteria:
Owned and occupied the damaged home as your primary residence at the time of disaster and still own the damaged home
Sustained FEMA IA damages of $3,000 or greater for repairs
Must not have received or expect to receive structural insurance payments greater than $50,000
Homeowner Phase Prioritization Factors
Household Income
All applicants must meet income eligibility requirements to be placed in a phase. Households with the lowest income will be prioritized.
Homeowner Age
Homeowners over the age of 62 will be prioritized.
Disabled Household Members
If a household includes a disabled member, it will be prioritized.
Located in Most-Impacted Parish
Household addresses located in a most-impacted and distressed parish will be prioritized.
Repairs Complete or Incomplete
Households with incomplete repairs will be prioritized.
The program has started inviting homeowners who meet the initial Phase 1 – 6 criteria based on their survey responses to begin an application for assistance after submitting a program survey.
Application Phases
- Household income
- LESS THAN 50% AMI
- Phase 1
- N/A
- N/A
- N/A
- N/A
- N/A
- Between 50% & 80% AMI
- N/A
- Phase 2
- Phase 3
- N/A
- N/A
- N/A
- Greater than 80% AMI
- N/A
- N/A
- N/A
- Phase 4
- Phase 5
- Phase 6
- LESS THAN 50% AMI
- Geography
- Most impacted Parish
- N/A
- N/A
- N/A
- Phase 4
- N/A
- N/A
- Other impacted Parish
- N/A
- N/A
- N/A
- N/A
- Phase 5
- N/A
- Most impacted Parish
- Homeowner 62+ and/or Household Member with Disability
- Yes
- N/A
- Phase 2
- N/A
- N/A
- N/A
- N/A
- No
- N/A
- N/A
- Phase 3
- N/A
- N/A
- N/A
- Yes
- Status of Repairs
- Complete
- N/A
- N/A
- N/A
- N/A
- N/A
- Phase 6
- Incomplete
- N/A
- N/A
- N/A
- Phase 4
- Phase 5
- N/A
- Complete
Phased Approach
- Phase 1Low-to-moderate income families equal to or below 50% area median income (AMI)
- Phase 2Low-to-moderate income families equal to or greater than 50% AMI but less than or equal to 80% AMI, and elderly or persons with disabilities living in the home
- Phase 3Low-to-moderate income families equal to or greater than 50% AMI but less than or equal to 80% AMI
- Phase 4Reside within one of the most impacted or distressed parishes or zip codes, no priority due to income, and repairs have not been completed
- Phase 5All other parishes, no priority due to income, and repairs have not been completed
- Phase 6Reimbursement for homeowners whose income is greater than 80% AMI who completed the rebuilding process at the time they submitted their survey or completed their application
If additional funding is made available, the program reserves the right to modify program criteria to provide additional assistance and/or assist additional applicants with remaining unmet needs.