Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)

In 1803 the federal government gave its first attempt at helping victims of a tragedy. For some people in a New Hampshire town this was a great relief after an extensive fire went through their town. After this incident, during the next century the government helped in over 100 times to aid victims of disasters such as hurricanes, earthquakes, floods and other natural disasters. In the 1930's legislatures passed laws and acts to further aid in the event of a disaster. The Reconstruction Finance Corporation had been given authority to disburce loans for repairs and the reconstruction of public places. The Burea of Public Roads were able to provide funding for highways and bridges that had been damaged during natural disasters. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers could implement greater flood prevention projects once the Flood Control Act had passed. With their being so much legislation going on it tended to cause problems between federal agencies requiring the President to oversee them himself.
In the 1960's and 70's The Federal Disaster Assistance Administration was established through the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). It provided relief over and over due to the large amount of natural disasters that occured:

• Hurricane Carla-1962
• Hurricane Betsy-1965
• Hurricane Camille-1969
• Hurricane Agnes-1972
• The Alaskan Earthquake-1964
• The San Fernando Earthquake-1971

These natural disasters brought about a lot more legislation and the National Flood Insurance Act was passed along with the Disaster Relief Act. Eventually hazards dealing with nuclear power plants and the transportaiton of hazardous materials were added as disasters. There were so many federal agencies involved that the National Governor's Association stepped up and asked President Jimmy Carter to centralize these efforts. in 1979 President Carter did just that, he merged many agencies together forming what is now known as FEMA. Under this change FEMA combined the following agencies:

• The Federal Insurance Administration
• The National Fire Prevention and Control Administration
• The National Weather Sevice Comminity Preparedness Program
• The Federal Preparedness Agency of the General Services Administration
• The Federal Disaster Assistance Administration w/ HUD
• The Defense Department's Defense Civil Preparedness Agency (civil defense responsibities)

In my opinion this was a great idea. There were a lot of different agencies involved. They kept their mission the same: to lead America to prepare for, prevent, respond to and recover from disastersa with a vision of "A Nation Prepared."

They needed someone to be the director and this position was given to John Macy. He taught how the civil defense activities and the natural hazards preparedness were alike and developed the Integrated Emergency Management System. This system included warnings for small events to much larger ones like war.

The Agency discovered just how hard it was to manage emergency disasters very soon. There were several events that can take credit for that and they include the contamination of the Love Canal, the Cuban refugee crisis, and an accident at a nuclear plant called Three Mile Island. A while later in 1989 the Loma Prieta Earhquake hit and in 1992 Hurricane Andrew came. When Macy left FEMA President Clinton appointed James L. Witt as the new director and he had a somewhat different approach to managing disasters. He had his employees to focus on customer service and he redirected the limited resources from civil defense into disaster relief, recovery, and mitigation programs.

With growing threat of terrorism FEMA joined what is known at the Department of Homeland Security along with other agencies. This was a better approach for both natural and manmade disasters. In August of 2005 the worst natural disaster to hit America occured: Hurricane Katrina. President Gearge Bush had to sign the Post-Katrina Emergency Reform Act into effect.

Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP)

LIHEAP is a program that is designed to help low income households with meeting their everyday energy needs. This program has been in effect since 1982. Applicants must meet certain income eligibility. An applicant cannot exceed 150% of the poverty level or 60% of the state median income level.
On the federal level there is the Division of Energy Assistance. This office is in charge of the following:

• developing quidelines and regulations for grantees. Grants are available to all fifty states, five territories, tribal groups, and the District of Columbia.
• allots funds to grantees
• devises statistics on home energy costs and incomes of program users
• researches and evaluates statistical data
• explains federal policies and ensures compliance of grantees
• provide training and technical assistance to grantees
• reviews grantee applications and forwards to financial management

On a state level the grantees administer the funds to eligible families based on their income and their high cost of energy use. There is usually an office in each county. In Montgomery County the office is called Gateway Community Action and is located on U.S. 60.

US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)

In 1937 the U.S. Housing Act was passed and in 1965 the Department of Housing and Urban Development was created at a cabinet level. HUD along with the Fair Housing and Equal Oppurtunity was created to offer equal homeownership to all American citizens with the worry of discrimination. There are federal laws that say no person shall be discriminated against because of race,religion, color, sex, national origin, age, disability, or famalial status. The Office of Fair Housing and Equal Oppurtunity make and establish policies to ensure that all civil rights policies are being followed. There are 7 main laws that they pay extra close attention to and they are as follows:

• Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
• Section 109 of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974
• Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973
• Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990,
• Age Discrimination Act of 1975
• Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972
• Architectural Barriers Act of 1968

In additon they help other agencies with fair housing issues, process complaints and compliance reviews, conduct oversight of the Government-Sponsored Enterprises such as the Fannie Mae Foundation and the Freddie Mac jFoundation, and they help advocate for voluntary fair housing compliance throughout communities.

Medicare

Medicare is an entitlement program funded through the government. This and other entitlement programs make up a big part of the United States budget spending. the money to help support these programs come from taxes. In 2007 nearly 440 billion dollars were spent in support of medicare. Medicare is a health insurance for United States citizens who are 65 or older, or who meet other criteria to be eligible. This program has been available to Americans since 1965 and was an amendment to Social Security. Currently 43 million people depend on this program to enable them to recieve the medical care that they need. By the year 2031 it is estimated that nearly 77 million Americans will be depending on these funds. By this time all of the baby boomers should be enrolled as participants. "Medicare contracts with regional insurance companies who process over one billion fee-for-service claims per year. In 2003, Medicare accounted for almost 13% of the entire Federal Budget. Based on the CMS projections, 33 cents of every dollar spent on health care in the U.S. is paid by Medicare and Medicaid (including State funding). Looked at from three different perspectives, 61 cents of every dollar spent on nursing homes, 47 cents of every dollar received by U.S. hospitals, and 27 cents of every dollar spent on physician services is funded by Medicare or Medicaid." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medicare_(United_States)#Taxes_imposed_to_finance_Medicare
There is no doubt that we may face financial despare over the highly used program but what is a good solution to resolve this problem? It is estimated that the money could be short by the year 2018. The price for health care services is on the rise and it take approximately 4 people's taxes to support one person on Medicare. A solution is needed and needed asap!

Social Security Act

Before the Social Security Act went into effect in 1935 many Americans discovered many hardships. When President Franklin Roosevelt put this into effect it provided many with relief. For retirees it provided a pension which was collected as a tax on their wages while they worked. The employee paid half and the employer paid half. Over the years the act has been expanded and taxes have been raised. There also have been many amendments. In 1956 disability benefits were added. In 1965, Lyndon B. Johnsons "Great Society" program introduced Medicare. In the beginning (1940) $35 million where paid out in Social Security benefits and in 2004 a grand total of $492 billion in benefits were paid to 47.5 million beneficiaries. With these large numbers evolving the country itself was faced with financial stress. During President Carter's years in office inflation doubled, the economy was slow and unemployment rates grew. His attempts to correct this problem only worked for a short while. In the 1980's we were faced with this same problem. President Ronald Reagan signed a bill to increase taxes which helped correct the problem. Currently our country seems to be in a financial crisis again. Who will save us this time?

National School Lunch Program

Each and everyday there are many children who go to school hungry. In 1946, President Harry Truman signed the National School Lunch Act. This act allows for over 101,000 school systems and daycares to provide low cost or no cost meals to over 30 million children daily. On a federal level the Food and Nutrition service oversees this program and on a state level the educational systems look after them. This program must follow nutition guidelines set forth by the Food and Nutrition Service. In order to qualify for free or reduced lunch prices one must meet certain finacial qualifications. If your income falls below 130 percent of the poverty level you will be eligible for free lunch. If your income falls between 130 percent and 185 percent of the poverty level you would be eligible for reduced priced lunch. If your income is over the 185 percent level you will need to pay the full price for lunch. The USDA supports the National School Lunch Program by reimbursing schools and daycares with a cash. They also provide them with commodity foods or "entitlement" foods. In 2006 the cost for this program was 8.2 billion dollars. For more information you may go to http://www.fns.usda.gov/cnd/Lunch/

Hands

The Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Community Based Services offer a program called HANDS (Health Access Nurtruring Development Services) through the local health departments. This program is for new and expecting mothers (dad's too) and is completely voluntary. There will be home visits by someone employed with HANDS. They will answer any questions one may have about their pregnancy or any concerns they have about their new little one. This program is offered because a child's parents are the most important people in their lives. They will teach them and care for them. The HANDS program is important to first time parents because along with all the good things that a child brings also comes alot of stress, questions, and worries. This program will offer a variety of ways for a mother to maintain a healthy pregnancy, a healthy baby, a safe home, and other services in the community that you may benefit from. For information on this program from the Montgomery County Health Department you may call 859-498-3808.