DISASTER RECOVERY EXPERTS

Public Assistance Consulting Services and Assistance

DRE, Inc. will provide the County and Operational Area partners with services designed to help maximize FEMA’s reimbursement under the Stafford Act and Cal OES’ funding under the California Disaster Assistance Act (CDAA), as well as other available programs. We can help expedite the processing and retention of grant funds during the life of the projects, and support project closeouts and audits. Our approach is to provide a well-trained and supervised staff to work in tandem with County and Operational Area representatives to provide valuable support, continuity, and information. Our team members are provided with the tools to achieve our objectives, including computers, cell phones, safety equipment, and continuous advisory support from senior team members.

Available services include:

Public Assistance Grant Management Tasks

• Provide general grant management advice.
• Assist in the development, implementation, and oversight of comprehensive recovery strategies designated to maximize federal and state assistance.
• Work with the County and OA partners to segregate project management costs from other administrative functions to avoid potential reimbursement disputes.
• Generate time extension requests to FEMA, Cal OES and/or other federal grant programs.
• Develop improved and/or alternate project requests to Cal OES, FEMA and/or other federal grant programs.
• Provide advice to the County Disaster Recovery Team as appropriate and participate in meetings.
• Coordinate implementation efforts with long-term recovery plan and provide program guidance with respect to eligibility, options, contracting, change orders, documentation, and tracking.
• Assist the County in the development and preparation of Hazard Mitigation projects and grant Applications for 404, 406 and related federal and state programs.
• Prepare draft correspondence to FEMA and other relevant agencies as necessary.

Public Assistance Recovery Operation Tasks

• Participate in FEMA/Cal OES Applicants' Briefings.
• Assist the County and OA Partners with filling Request for Public Assistance (RPA) forms for Cal OES and FEMA.
• Develop and submit state and federal grant applications (Public Assistance, Hazard Mitigation and/or Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery), assist in identifying and capturing eligible costs, and reconcile invoices.
• Assist to ensure all PA-eligible County applicants are aware of the Program (applicant outreach).
• Partner with State/FEMA and County personnel to inspect damage sites.
• Provide County and other designated applicants with eligibility oversight.
• In conjunction with FEMA, Cal OES and the County, prepare scopes of work and cost estimates for project worksheets.
• Conduct and/or assist with small project validation.
• Assist with and train County staff on the use of the Cal OES/FEMA Grants Portal to manage their Public Assistance grant applications and projects.
• Submit to FEMA for consideration and disposition design and construction schedules for large projects (if applicable).
• Provide advocacy for the County and OA partners; and immediately bring any misunderstandings or problems that may have involved any aspect of eligibility, funding, or program in general to the attention of Cal OES and/or FEMA.
• Work with the County and its applicants to resolve that misunderstanding.
• Assist with the development and submission of County’s requests for time extensions.
• Review and make recommendations to the County on appeals.
• Advise County of hazard mitigation opportunities.

Public Assistance Eligibility Tasks

• At all stages of recovery, review eligibility issues, and work with the County and OA partners to develop justifications for presentation to the Cal OES and FEMA, and other involved agencies.
• Assist the County and OA partners in developing an approach to filing and tracking costs.
• Maximize reimbursement by utilizing extremely accurate record-keeping and exacting quality control measures.
• Review contracts, vendor qualification process, and purchasing documentation.
• Review documentation prepared by the County and OA partners.
• Assist in capturing and summarizing eligible costs for the County and OA partners.
• Assist in identifying and addressing special consideration issues (e.g., environmental, historical, regulatory, floodplain, insurance, hazardous materials).
• Assist the County and OA partners with compiling and summarizing Category A through G costs for presentation to Cal OES and FEMA.
• Assist the County and OA partners to prepare Project Worksheets for small and large projects based upon information they provided.
• Attend meetings with Cal OES and FEMA to support County or OA partners’ individual Project Worksheets as needed.
• Provide assistance and oversight to County and OA partners with their claims or claiming process.
• Assist in determining if any eligible damages have not been quantified and presented to Project Officers.
• Work with State to resolve disputes that may arise.
• If County disagrees with Cal OES and/or FEMA determinations, DRE, Inc. will provide assistance to strategize and write appeals.
• When the County has completed all projects and drawn down reimbursement for all eligible costs, assist with finalizing preparations for Cal OES and FEMA final inspections, audits, and participate in exit conferences with Cal OES and/or FEMA.
• Provide QA/QC support and general eligibility guidance for all State and federal grant programs including but not limited to FEMA-Stafford Act, Cal OES-California Disaster Assistance Act, Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Emergency Relief (ER), and USACE (PL 84-99) Levee Rehabilitation and Inspection Program (RIP).

Public Assistance Project Management Tasks

• Provide project management services related to coordinating the design and construction phases of the recovery process, including Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) projects and CDBG Funds administration.
• Create and maintain critical contract lists and project tracking mechanisms to include timelines and deadlines.
• Serve as a centralized resource to facilitate interdepartmental coordination and communication related to assigned projects.
• Assist the County and OA partners with pre-construction project development, procurement and management of Architectural and Engineering (A&E) services, and construction contract evaluation and approval.
• Assist the County and its applicants with design and scope development and document preparation and review.
• Assist the County and OA partners with construction cost estimate evaluation and development.
• Assist with codes and standards evaluation and necessary permitting.
• Review all A&E and contractor payment applications for FEMA acceptability and provide policy- and project-related guidance to the State regarding payment application processing.
• Make routine site visits to evaluate progress, performance and compliance; provide verification and reporting, as well as appropriate documentation of activities; and attend progress meetings.
• Prepare and maintain detailed project files, reviewing all addenda for eligibility and compliance.
• Coordinate and oversee design and construction schedules; maintain schedules of documentation deadlines and construction milestones; and provide ongoing monitoring and status reporting to the State and applicants.
• Assist the County and OA partners with change order processing and review.
• Assist the budget office with processing the reimbursement request in a timely manner.
• Support the County and OA partners through project closeout activities.

Public Assistance Reporting and Closeout Tasks

• Validate completion of small projects.
• Assist with submitting documented costs to Cal OES through the VAYGo project cost tracking system.
• Perform routine and final inspections of all large projects, certify completion, and submit final cost accounting to Cal OES and/or FEMA.
• Make recommendations for interim project funding and final reconciliations.
• Assist the County and OA partners in formulating appeals.
• Provide technical assistance for database administration that facilitates project tracking and quarterly reporting to Cal OES and/or FEMA.
• Work with Cal OES and/or FEMA to close out the Public Assistance grant application after all projects have been closed.
• DRE, Inc. will assist the County and OA partners with any Office of Inspector General (OIG) audits or inquiries.

Public Assistance Engagement Management Tasks

• Prepare weekly reports.
• Attend status meetings.
• Provide ongoing staff training for fiscal, environmental and documentation requirements for the federal/state programs and grants.