FEMA's Broken Promise to LA Fire Survivors Is a Warning Sign for Every Community Facing the Next Disaster — Including Spokane

ALTADENA, Calif. — Disaster case management providers, long-term recovery groups, and survivors of the January 2025 Eaton and Palisades fires are calling on the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to release funding it has already committed, after the state confirmed the Disaster Case Management Program (DCMP) will shut down on September 30, 2026, short of even FEMA’s own standard 24-month operating period for disaster case management. Advocates say the shutdown is not just a Los Angeles story: it is a test case for whether FEMA honors its disaster case management commitments at all, at a moment when another state is waiting to find out if it will get the same commitment in the first place.

California requested $26 million from FEMA to run the program; FEMA approved only $13 million and has paid just $3 million to date. That $10 million shortfall, which CDSS says it can no longer front, is forcing the shutdown. Unless FEMA acts, roughly 109 DCMP staff positions will be eliminated, and more than 1,500 survivors will lose their case manager.

Advocates are calling on FEMA Administrator Cameron Hamilton and U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin to act now: release the remaining $10 million already allocated to California, and approve CDSS’s pending supplemental funding request of roughly $6 million to sustain the program. A coalition of DCMP providers, long-term recovery groups, and community partners have also sent a formal letter to members of Congress today urging them to press FEMA for immediate action.

This is bigger than one program in one county. Washington state is also seeking a federal major disaster declaration for its historic 2026 wildfires — the same designation that created California’s DCMP, and FEMA has given the state until September 29, one day before DCMP’s shutdown, to submit its application. Washington’s governor has acknowledged that such declarations are not always granted. If FEMA won’t fully honor a commitment it already approved for Los Angeles County survivors, advocates warn, the next community counting on that same promise has little reason to be confident.

“The fire ended. The need didn’t,” said advocates, who point to survivor data showing two in three fire survivors remain displaced, including 85% of those who lost their homes entirely nearly 20 months after the fires.

“Working with my case manager has been a true godsend — she’s helped me navigate the system in a way I simply could not manage on my own.”

— LA Fire survivor

Disaster case management is reaching the people who need it most. Since January 2025, DCM referrals have unlocked more than $100 million in direct assistance for survivors. Today, there are 1,397 open cases and roughly 700 survivors on a wait list, including 1,027 active cases from the Eaton Fire and 339 from the Palisades Fire. If the program lapses, those cases move to community organizations that are already overextended, and survivors could fall through the cracks with real consequences for their mental and physical health and their ability to return home.

“Twenty months after the Eaton Fire devastated our communities, two out of three fire survivors remain displaced, and thousands of families are still fighting to rebuild,” said Rep. Chu. “LA fire survivors have already waited longer than survivors of any other disaster for long-term federal recovery funding. Now, FEMA is withholding millions in approved recovery funding, forcing the Disaster Case Management Program to shut down more than a year early while survivors are still waiting for the help they need. Taking away case managers who help survivors navigate insurance, housing, and rebuilding while people are still struggling to recover is indefensible. Disaster recovery should never be a partisan issue, and survivors should never be used as political bargaining chips. I’m calling on FEMA to immediately provide the funding necessary to keep these case managers on the job. Eaton Fire survivors have already lost enough. I will not stop fighting until they have the federal resources they need to rebuild and come home.” -Congresswoman Judy Chu

“Building resilient communities after disaster strikes means long-term recovery efforts that continue long after the headlines fade. Thousands of people are still counting on vital disaster case management support to help them navigate rebuilding, and ending this program now leaves families who have already fought for months facing yet another obstacle. Survivors should not have to fight their way through recovery alone — they deserve sustained support and a clear path forward. We urge all stakeholders to find a solution that keeps these critical services available to the wildfire survivors who still need them.” –Ann Lee, CEO & Co-founder, CORE (Community Organized Relief Effort)

Providers, survivors, and elected officials will gather for a press conference on Thursday, September 10, at 9:00 AM at the Eaton Fire Collaboratory (540 W. Woodbury Rd., Altadena, CA 91001) to renew the call on FEMA to release the funding and prevent the program’s termination.

Keep the Promise. Pay the Bill.

#PayThePromiseFEMA