The state has a new plan to move displaced Maui residents sheltering in hotels to more permanent housing.
The goal is to have all families in more permanent housing by May.
There are still 1,400 households living in hotels on Maui. But the cost for Hawaiʻi to fund the hotel shelters has been steep — costing hundreds of millions of state dollars.
About 120 households a week move out of the hotel sheltering to “intermediate housing," which are longer-term options that last on average between 12 and 18 months.
The goal is to get that up to 300 households a week.
Now households eligible for FEMA reimbursement will get four chances to accept an intermediate housing placement. And those who are ineligible will get two chances.
If the household does not accept any of those options, they will have eight days to find their own housing, or begin paying the cost of their stay at the hotel.
The Hawaiʻi Emergency Management Agency said until now, there hasn’t been a limit. Darrick Ching, the Non-congregate Task Force Lead, said moving into a more permanent residence is an important step toward recovery.
“Being in a shelter for a long period of time is not healthy for these families,” he said.
“They need to regain their resilience and their sense of normalcy. So I think just to emphasize that point this is for every family's well being, as well as for the state and being fiscally responsible.”
Some of the reasons why people have not accepted the intermediate housing offers are because it would not accommodate family pets, accessibility issues or it was not in West Maui — where their school or work are.
If people have been offered a direct option in the past, it may count as one of the opportunities.
That's why Hi-EMA Administrator James Barros stressed how important it is for people who can offer housing to do so.
“We don't want to say, 'Yeah, we have enough, we're good.' No, we're not. We're not good,” he said.
“We still need property owners, homeowners that have something available to reach out to [Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement], reach out to the state, because we still need solution sets, right? So that we can provide different offers.”
There are currently 597 FEMA-ineligible households, but that number will continue to be negotiated. In the last month, itʻs dropped by about 200 households.
So far, the state has spent $250 million on the hotel sheltering and can spend up to $500 million — although officials hope it will not reach that amount.
