Special Guidance for Homeless Providers Regarding Puerto Rican Evacuees

In the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, evacuees from Puerto Rico are arriving in Connecticut.  Most of these evacuees are staying with family and friends.  Some of these living arrangements may become unstable over time.  CCEH, 211, DOH, and many other partners are working together weekly, seeking new federal resources to address the specific needs of Puerto Rican evacuees in Connecticut.  We will continue to update you as this situation evolves.

At this time, FEMA has made available “Temporary Shelter Assistance,” for evacuees, which allows for hoteling of evacuees who may have no housing options.  However, evacuee households facing a housing crisis may approach CANs for housing assistance if they are not aware of this available option.  We will alert you if the assistance available through FEMA for evacuees in CT changes.

If Puerto Rican evacuees present at your CAN for intake, please help us by ensuring that your frontline workers do the following:

  • ​​At intake, make sure that the evacuee household registers/updates their information with FEMA – please see fliers on FEMA contact in English and Spanish Evacuees must register for federal assistance for disaster victims through FEMA, and must update their contact information/addresses if they move.  Assistance available through FEMA is changing rapidly:  there may be resources available when that household comes into contact with you (like the Temporary Shelter Assistance for hoteling) that were not available when they last spoke with FEMA. For additional information on resources available to help evacuees, visit the 211 CT Hurricane Maria Resources page, which is updated on a regular basis.
  • Mark any evacuee who presents at your CAN as “Hurricane Maria Evacuee” in HMIS, if the household does require a full intake to the homeless system.  This will help us, in the event we need to go back to households later to make sure they are aware of federal assistance that can help them.  It will also help us to track of the impact of the storm evacuation on the homeless system.
  • All clients calling 211 will be asked if they have relocated to CT as a result of Hurricane Maria; 211 call specialists are asked to mark that field in the HMIS referral.  If, however, it is discovered at the CAN intake or at a later point in time that a person is an evacuee, homeless services providers are asked to  make sure to indicate evacuee status by updating this field under  the “Basic Demographics” screen in the “Other Information” section.  Please see, below: