MONDAY, MARCH 9, 2009

Recovery Corps announces 2009 state and federal legislative agenda

BATON ROUGE, La. -- The Louisiana Family Recovery Corps announces the release of its 2009 state and federal legislative agenda. The legislative agenda marks the first time that the Recovery Corps has adopted a formal legislative initiative since its inception in the wake of hurricanes Katrina and Rita in the fall of 2005.

The Recovery Corps’ legislative agenda focuses on aligning the various existing systems and resources associated with long-term human recovery efforts and creating new systems and structures designed to increase accountability, transparency, and efficiency surrounding recovery-related resources. Additionally, the agency will seek to develop centralized and better-coordinated long-term recovery efforts at both the state and federal levels while also strengthening Louisiana's non-profit sector and increasing its role in Louisiana's long-term human recovery. Finally, the legislative agenda calls for amending state and federal legislation that serves to hamper long-term human recovery in the wake of disaster and creating a long-term human recovery preparedness plan to avoid future humanitarian crises.

“We are very excited to be able to put forth these goals publicly and to work toward accomplishing them on behalf of the people of Louisiana,” said Dr. Monteic A. Sizer, President and CEO of the Recovery Corps. “While we have always worked with our legislators and state and federal officials relative to enhancing long-term human recovery, it is critical that we have a strategic plan and a specific set of goals that will guide the work and focus of our organization.”

Many of the individual elements of the Recovery Corps’ legislative agenda focus on adding accountability, transparency, effectiveness, and efficiency into the long-term recovery process. As such, the elements of the legislative agenda focus as much on good government as they do on recovery.

“Much of what we speak about focuses on better aligning our governmental systems and making them more efficient and more effective for those attempting to access them,” said Sizer. “And while the Recovery Corps views these issues through the prism of human recovery, many of them, if applied correctly, can improve numerous other sectors of our government, including education, healthcare, poverty, transportation, our workforce, our criminal justice system, and other areas.”

The establishment of a formal state and federal legislative agenda completes the reorganization of the Recovery Corps, an effort that has made the agency much more sustainable and more-appropriately situated to advance long-term human recovery at the local, state, and federal levels.

In releasing its legislative agenda, the Recovery Corps recognizes that the timing is right to advance an organized effort to provide greater coordination, connection, and communication relative to long-term human recovery. Act 313 of the 2007 Louisiana legislative session recognizes the Recovery Corps as the agency assigned with assisting the state with those tasks, among others (see Louisiana Act 313 and Memorandum of Understanding between the Recovery Corps and the Louisiana Recovery Authority).

Many well-meaning agencies in Louisiana and outside of the state poured an unfathomable amount of money, volunteer hours, and in-kind resources into the state in the wake of hurricanes Katrina and Rita and again in the wake of hurricanes Gustav and Ike. While extremely meaningful, all of the resources were not properly utilized simply because of the sheer volume and the lack of coordination due to the unprecedented nature of the disasters. Dollars and other resources were flowing in all directions, and many of the resources did not necessarily have any associated outcomes tied to them. This happened within large agencies, small agencies, and with resources provided by individual groups. People simply wanted to do anything they could to help and did not necessarily take into account the actual outcomes associated with the resources provided – and the Recovery Corps was no different than anyone else in that regard.

“We know all too well the difficulty in advancing long-term human recovery,” Sizer added. “It’s extremely hard work. We also recognize the very meaningful impacts made by so many in attempting to serve our citizens, and we understand the reasons why many resources failed to either reach their intended target or to have the desired impact. It is because of our experience that we are able to make these very important recommendations and put forth these issues.

“We want to raise the accountability on the state and federal governments to provide excellent services for Louisiana’s citizens. We are also calling for financial transparency and programs designed to make people better instead of the ‘referrals to nowhere’ sometimes associated with governmental programs. Demonstrating positive outcomes for people with taxpayers’ money should be job one for federal, state, and non-profit organizations when it comes to serving our people.

“Having said that, I expect people who benefit from the status quo to be resistant to change and the opportunities this agenda represents. I also recognize that these same people will say that things can't change and will seek to work against many of the points found within the agenda, or they will be indifferent, at best.”

One specific element of the Recovery Corps’ legislative agenda is its call for a comprehensive recovery accountability system called Taxpayers for an Accountable Human Recovery, a model designed to track recovery-related funding allocated to the state of Louisiana. This system would have similar goals as the federal system devised to track funds allocated via the federal stimulus package recently passed by Congress. Specifically, it would demonstrate to the public what recovery-related resources have been allocated to the state, show how, when, and where the money has been spent, provide data that allows Louisianians to evaluate progress and impacts associated with those funds, and allow citizens to provide feedback relative to usage of the funds.

“All federal and state funds that are used for human recovery services such as case management, home repair programs, household establishment funds, mental health services, education, disability services, elderly services, workforce development services, affordable housing, and Louisiana Cottages should be subject to a strict accountability standard,” said Sizer. “This is why we are calling for Taxpayers for an Accountable Human Recovery. Louisiana must be a place where there is opportunity and reciprocal accountability for all with partiality shown to none.”

The state of Louisiana stands at a very important point in its history. If another catastrophic disaster were to strike, the state is not in an appreciably better position to properly address the long-term human recovery needs of its citizens than it was in 2005. It is with that reality, along with the fact that 2009 is the first year that federal funds allocated specifically for recovery from hurricanes Gustav and Ike will begin flowing into the state, that the Recovery Corps has begun to advance an organized state and federal legislative initiative.

“The people of Louisiana who are struggling to recover and those who are helping thousands to recover must dare to believe things can be different, that systems can be aligned, that communities can be rebuilt, and that lives can be recovered,” Sizer concluded.

ABOUT THE RECOVERY CORPS
The Louisiana Family Recovery Corps is a non-profit 501(c)(3) corporation based in Baton Rouge, La., and formed in the wake of hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005. The Recovery Corps’ mission is to facilitate human recovery for the State of Louisiana in the aftermath of disaster, both natural and man-made. The Recovery Corps has partnered with human service and non-profit organizations throughout the state and the country to deliver assistance as effectively and efficiently as possible, allocating more than $80 million to recovery efforts and assisting more than 30,000 households since January 2006.