December 15, 2004
By VICTOR HULL
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Photo: FEMA has refused to provide Charlotte County officials with information about hurricane victims living in a temporary mobile home park along Airport Road outside Punta Gorda.
Some elderly citizens forced out of their homes by Hurricane Charley are missing out on vital help, including meals, transportation and in-home care, because federal officials won't tell government aid groups where they are.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has temporarily relocated thousands of Charlotte County residents -- many of them senior citizens -- whose homes were destroyed or seriously damaged by the Aug. 13 storm. But, citing federal privacy protection rules, the agency has refused to say who has been relocated, or where they've been sent.
Frustrated officials from Charlotte County and the Southwest Florida Area Agency on Aging say that has stymied their efforts to ensure that the older people they helped before the storm continue to receive essential assistance.
"We could be helping them with so many things, and we can't connect," said Deedra Travis, a supervisor in Charlotte County's Human Services department, which helps coordinate the county's programs for the elderly.
Travis and other officials said their complaints to FEMA officials have gone nowhere. But in response to an inquiry about the problem Tuesday, FEMA deputy federal coordinating officer Brad Gair vowed to find a way to ensure hurricane victims' privacy while getting them access to services.
"We certainly don't want to stand in the way of getting people help from other agencies," Gair said. "We want to do what we can to get information out there and respect the privacy of the customer."
Gair said members of a "strike team" providing housing assistance in Charlotte had contacted local officials to discuss the problem. "We know they're frustrated," he said.
Gair suggested that seniors in temporary FEMA housing who could potentially benefit from services could waive their privacy right so their name could be given to elder help groups. FEMA could also post information on the homes of people in the temporary trailer parks.
He said he didn't know why the resolution hadn't been proposed earlier.
At issue is FEMA's interpretation of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Federal rules that took effect last year were designed to increase the confidentiality of patients' medical records. Gair said the privacy protection provisions cover information in applications filled out by people seeking assistance from FEMA, including names and addresses.
The agency said it is precluded from releasing the information, even to another government agency.
Nevertheless, officials running elder help programs in other hurricane ravaged counties, including Escambia, Indian River and Polk, said they've found FEMA to be cooperative. In some cases, FEMA representatives have directly identified seniors needing assistance.
"We've had no problems at all," said Voncile Goldsmith, an administrator and the disaster coordinator for the Northwest Florida Area Agency on Aging.
For example, Goldsmith said FEMA called the aging assistance organization about an 80-year-old in need of help and provided the trailer number in which the resident lived.
"We've had that happen in several situations," Goldsmith said.
Gair couldn't explain the apparent discrepancy. He said the situations in other areas may have been more urgent.
For whatever reason, though, requests for similar cooperation in Southwest Florida have been met with firm resistance, local officials said.
Charlotte County's housing coordinator, Loraine Helber, said she was rebuffed when she called FEMA several weeks ago to request even general information about the people living in a 350-unit temporary mobile home park that has been set up outside Punta Gorda. FEMA is in the process of adding another 200 homes to that park.
Without providing names or addresses, information about the residents' ages, and whether they are renters or homeowners, would help the county get assistance to them, Helber said.
"I was angry," said Helber, who added that a FEMA attorney told her that no information would be provided. "I said, 'We're part of a team.' They did not share it."
Travis noted that local elder-help organizations are not seeking private medical records or insurance information. They simply want to know whether people in the temporary mobile home parks include seniors they've previously helped.
The county and state provide an array of services for people 60 and over, including transportation for medical care and grocery shopping, in-home nursing, day care, cleaning, help in bathing and connection to an emergency alert system.
"If they're 60 and over and eligible for services, I want to be able to help them," Travis said.
As a result of FEMA's stance, it's been up to the seniors themselves to request aid. That's harder if they have been relocated to a different county.
FEMA is providing shelter in temporary mobile ho mes or travel trailers to 1,621 Charlotte County families. Gair said a small number of families from Charlotte are still housed temporarily in Sarasota and Lee counties, though the agency is working to get them back to Charlotte.
Jim Jenkins, the disaster coordinator of the Southwest Florida Area Agency on Aging, said those relocated outside their home county may not know the channels to go through to get help.
"Pretty much all the counties have the same services available; it's knowing where they are," said Jenkins, whose district covers seven counties, including Charlotte, DeSoto and Sarasota. "If we knew where they were moved, we could hook them into the right places."
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