The state has extended its hotel sheltering program for displaced Maui fire victims until June 30.
About 180 Maui families who lost their homes in the fires last August are still living in hotels.
The state’s non-congregate shelter program was scheduled to end on June 10th but has now been extended to the end of the month.
The hope was to have all the families in more permanent housing by May. However, the state’s Non-congregate Taskforce Leader Darrick Ching said finding housing to suit the specific needs of each family has been difficult.
“Some have school-age children that go to school in West Maui, and therefore being tied to a unit outside of West Maui becomes a challenge from a transportation issue,” Ching said.
“There are families that have specific medical requirements, trying to get them matched to meet those medical requirements is a potential challenge," he continued. Those with medical conditions have had trouble finding units that can accommodate gurneys and wheelchairs.
He added that it’s also been difficult to locate pet-friendly units.
In some cases, families have gone to the unit and discovered it to be uninhabitable.
“It can run the myriad of reasons bug infestation, certain areas could pose a tripping hazard, etc.,” he said. “So then landlords and, or FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency,) would then need to do required repairs to make them habitable."
The reason the state can only extend the program a few weeks at a time is that it needs approval from FEMA.
FEMA is supposed to reimburse the state for some of the costs related to the hotel-sheltering program. Ching said most of the families left in the program are eligible for reimbursement.
But that has its limits. For example, some households do not qualify for FEMA because they are undocumented citizens or were homeless before the fire.
Starting in April, FEMA also stopped reimbursing the state for meal service for those staying in the hotels, reasoning that grocery stores on Maui were open. So the state no longer provides meals. The Red Cross is tracking those who are facing food insecurity in the program.
The state signed a $500 million contract with the Red Cross to operate the hotel sheltering program. So far, about $342 million of that has been spent.
The state is still negotiating with FEMA to determine the number of ineligible families. However, the state already received about $250 million of the reimbursement for the families that have been deemed eligible.
Families sheltering in hotels have two chances to accept more permanent housing. If they decline both, they will have eight days to either find their own housing or begin paying the cost of their stay at the hotel.
There are 27 families that declined their allotted housing offers and left the program.
Ching did not have a specific end date for the hotel sheltering program.
“There's a commitment by the state to care for all of those in need,” he said. “I think as long as there's a justifiable need we're going to do whatever we can to care for these families. I think that's a commitment by the governor, the administrator and all of us.”
