Introduction
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has repeatedly documented gaps in FEMA’s support for disabled people during disasters. Its 2026 report, “Disaster Assistance: FEMA Actions Needed to Better Support People with Disabilities in Disasters,” along with earlier reports, including “Federal Disaster Assistance: FEMA’s Progress in Aiding Individuals with Disabilities Could Be Further Enhanced” (2017) and “Disaster Assistance: FEMA Action Needed to Better Support Individuals Who Are Older or Have Disabilities” (2019), identify recurring barriers in disaster assistance applications, disability integration staffing and coordination, and training, with recommendations to improve equitable access. Many of the deficiencies identified in previous reports were never resolved. These reports to Congress formally make the Disability Community, the public at large, and Congress aware of FEMA’s shortfalls in equitably serving disabled people during disasters and how to begin closing the identified gaps.
The GAO isn’t the only federal agency analyzing FEMA's effectiveness in equitably serving disabled people. The National Council on Disability has also published papers that hold agencies that serve disabled people in disasters, including FEMA. It has published “The Impacts of Extreme Weather Events on People with Disabilities” and “Preserving Our Freedom: Ending Institutionalization of People with Disabilities During and After Disasters, Saving Lives: Including People with Disabilities in Emergency Planning.” Findings from these reports reinforce the need for accessible disaster services, meaningful Disability Community participation, and supports for disabled people to remain in their communities.
While The Partnership appreciates the oversight of FEMA, we remain concerned that successive reports continue to identify barriers to equitable disaster assistance. We urge FEMA to implement GAO’s recommendations and ensure its services are accessible and equitable for all disabled people.
What is the GAO and what does it do?
According to the GAO, it is “an independent, non-partisan agency that works for Congress… Its job is to analyze how taxpayer dollars are spent and provide Congress and federal agencies… information to help the government save money and work more efficiently.” Its responsibilities include issuing reports on federal agencies with recommendations to improve their performance, conducting audits, and providing legal findings.
Why the GAO Created this Report
In 2019, the GAO investigated and provided recommendations on how to improve FEMA services to disabled disaster survivors. Some of the recommendations in the 2019 report were not implemented, not fully implemented, or the structure of the agency changed, making the implementation status unclear. Others, such as development and presentation of training, were implemented; however, training ceased in 2025, ostensibly for FEMA to assess it conflicted with Executive Orders.
Under the Think Differently About Emergencies Act (H.R. 6249), the GAO is required to review the assistance FEMA provides to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The GAO filed a report in September of 2026. This report analyzes FEMA services provided to people with a broad range of disabilities, as did the 2019 report.
Below is a summary of the 2026 GAO report. All quotes in this summary are directly from the report.
Findings
GAO findings included that FEMA:
- Stopped providing training to its partners on including disabled people in disaster response. This may have been done to comply with various executive orders.
- Does not routinely coordinate with partners to support disabled people before disasters, and that other coordination is inconsistent.
- Has not solicited feedback from people with disabilities on its overall grant application process, limiting its ability to ensure accessibility.
In addition, GAO found that:
- Clearly documenting a responsibility for disability specialists to coordinate with state and local partners would help ensure equitable access to assistance for people with disabilities when a disaster happens.
- The application for financial assistance process may make it hard for some disabled people to apply.
Some people with disabilities may face obstacles when applying for grant assistance. Some obstacles include:
- Unclear application questions
- Difficult to understand eligibility letters, which were written at a grade 12 reading level, far exceeding plain language requirements
- There were 4 percentage points fewer applicants with disabilities approved for FEMA assistance than people without disabilities from 2022 through 2025.
Recommendations
The GAO made the following three recommendations:
GAO Recommendation 1
“The FEMA Administrator should re-institute training to state and local partners on addressing the needs of people with disabilities in disasters.”
FEMA Response:
“FEMA agreed with this recommendation. FEMA said it would revise and strengthen training related to integrating the needs of people with disabilities. They will then determine the most effective approach for making updated or supplemental training and locally developed efforts, while prioritizing support for jurisdictions that may not have access to comparable training. Estimated completion is September 2027 (emphasis ours). We will monitor the progress of these efforts.”
GAO Recommendation 2
“The FEMA Administrator should document and standardize that the disability specialist role in all regions includes coordinating with relevant state and local partners before disasters happen to ensure that the needs of people with disabilities are taken into account during disasters.”
FEMA Response:
“FEMA agreed with this recommendation. The agency plans to review and update, as appropriate, position descriptions, program guidance, standard operating procedures, and related documentation for the disability specialist role. They will document and standardize core expectations across all regions, providing enough flexibility to account for differences in jurisdictional structures, partner capabilities and regional operating environments. FEMA will also consider applicable statutory, policy and operational developments that may affect the role and responsibilities of specialists. Estimated completion is September 2027 (emphasis ours). We will monitor the progress of these efforts.”
GAO Recommendation 3
“The FEMA Administrator should solicit and incorporate feedback on its [Individual Assistance] application process from people with different types of disabilities to address issues we identified in this report, such as use of plain language and the discontinuation of door-to-door assistance teams, and make it easier for people with disabilities to apply for assistance.”
FEMA Response:
“FEMA agreed with this recommendation. FEMA is reviewing its Individual Assistance Program and Policy Guide, which documents IA programs and activities to impacted jurisdictions, including information on the application process. As part of the update, they will solicit public comment in Fall 2027 (emphasis ours). They will then consider comments, including feedback from people with different types of disabilities, disability advocacy groups and other stakeholders on barriers to the application process. FEMA plans to review and evaluate these comments in Winter 2027 and incorporate feedback, as appropriate, with plans to publish the guide in May 2028. We will monitor the progress of these efforts”
GAO Finds Ongoing Gaps in FEMA’s Disability Supports
Updated: November 4, 2026 by admin
Introduction
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has repeatedly documented gaps in FEMA’s support for disabled people during disasters. Its 2026 report, “Disaster Assistance: FEMA Actions Needed to Better Support People with Disabilities in Disasters,” along with earlier reports, including “Federal Disaster Assistance: FEMA’s Progress in Aiding Individuals with Disabilities Could Be Further Enhanced” (2017) and “Disaster Assistance: FEMA Action Needed to Better Support Individuals Who Are Older or Have Disabilities” (2019), identify recurring barriers in disaster assistance applications, disability integration staffing and coordination, and training, with recommendations to improve equitable access. Many of the deficiencies identified in previous reports were never resolved. These reports to Congress formally make the Disability Community, the public at large, and Congress aware of FEMA’s shortfalls in equitably serving disabled people during disasters and how to begin closing the identified gaps.
The GAO isn’t the only federal agency analyzing FEMA's effectiveness in equitably serving disabled people. The National Council on Disability has also published papers that hold agencies that serve disabled people in disasters, including FEMA. It has published “The Impacts of Extreme Weather Events on People with Disabilities” and “Preserving Our Freedom: Ending Institutionalization of People with Disabilities During and After Disasters, Saving Lives: Including People with Disabilities in Emergency Planning.” Findings from these reports reinforce the need for accessible disaster services, meaningful Disability Community participation, and supports for disabled people to remain in their communities.
While The Partnership appreciates the oversight of FEMA, we remain concerned that successive reports continue to identify barriers to equitable disaster assistance. We urge FEMA to implement GAO’s recommendations and ensure its services are accessible and equitable for all disabled people.
What is the GAO and what does it do?
According to the GAO, it is “an independent, non-partisan agency that works for Congress… Its job is to analyze how taxpayer dollars are spent and provide Congress and federal agencies… information to help the government save money and work more efficiently.” Its responsibilities include issuing reports on federal agencies with recommendations to improve their performance, conducting audits, and providing legal findings.
Why the GAO Created this Report
In 2019, the GAO investigated and provided recommendations on how to improve FEMA services to disabled disaster survivors. Some of the recommendations in the 2019 report were not implemented, not fully implemented, or the structure of the agency changed, making the implementation status unclear. Others, such as development and presentation of training, were implemented; however, training ceased in 2025, ostensibly for FEMA to assess it conflicted with Executive Orders.
Under the Think Differently About Emergencies Act (H.R. 6249), the GAO is required to review the assistance FEMA provides to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The GAO filed a report in September of 2026. This report analyzes FEMA services provided to people with a broad range of disabilities, as did the 2019 report.
Below is a summary of the 2026 GAO report. All quotes in this summary are directly from the report.
Findings
GAO findings included that FEMA:
In addition, GAO found that:
Some people with disabilities may face obstacles when applying for grant assistance. Some obstacles include:
Recommendations
The GAO made the following three recommendations:
GAO Recommendation 1
“The FEMA Administrator should re-institute training to state and local partners on addressing the needs of people with disabilities in disasters.”
FEMA Response:
“FEMA agreed with this recommendation. FEMA said it would revise and strengthen training related to integrating the needs of people with disabilities. They will then determine the most effective approach for making updated or supplemental training and locally developed efforts, while prioritizing support for jurisdictions that may not have access to comparable training. Estimated completion is September 2027 (emphasis ours). We will monitor the progress of these efforts.”
GAO Recommendation 2
“The FEMA Administrator should document and standardize that the disability specialist role in all regions includes coordinating with relevant state and local partners before disasters happen to ensure that the needs of people with disabilities are taken into account during disasters.”
FEMA Response:
“FEMA agreed with this recommendation. The agency plans to review and update, as appropriate, position descriptions, program guidance, standard operating procedures, and related documentation for the disability specialist role. They will document and standardize core expectations across all regions, providing enough flexibility to account for differences in jurisdictional structures, partner capabilities and regional operating environments. FEMA will also consider applicable statutory, policy and operational developments that may affect the role and responsibilities of specialists. Estimated completion is September 2027 (emphasis ours). We will monitor the progress of these efforts.”
GAO Recommendation 3
“The FEMA Administrator should solicit and incorporate feedback on its [Individual Assistance] application process from people with different types of disabilities to address issues we identified in this report, such as use of plain language and the discontinuation of door-to-door assistance teams, and make it easier for people with disabilities to apply for assistance.”
FEMA Response:
“FEMA agreed with this recommendation. FEMA is reviewing its Individual Assistance Program and Policy Guide, which documents IA programs and activities to impacted jurisdictions, including information on the application process. As part of the update, they will solicit public comment in Fall 2027 (emphasis ours). They will then consider comments, including feedback from people with different types of disabilities, disability advocacy groups and other stakeholders on barriers to the application process. FEMA plans to review and evaluate these comments in Winter 2027 and incorporate feedback, as appropriate, with plans to publish the guide in May 2028. We will monitor the progress of these efforts”
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