One-on-One Interviews - FEMA Form FF-104-FY-21-197

SAMPLE ONE-ON-ONE INTERVIEW GUIDE

Introduction

Purpose: The purpose of this interview is to gather information about Pueblo of Acoma’s experiences during the declaration process of DR-4352. This information will help FEMA (1) improve its policies and procedures during the pilot period of the tribal declaration implementation process and (2) reduce the complexity of the Agency to better support tribal nations during disasters.

Scope: The primary focus of this interview will be the declaration process, including the following elements that were not tribal responsibilities before the Sandy Recovery Improvement Act of 2013 made it possible for tribal nations to request a direct declarations, for example:

• Joint Preliminary Damage Assessments

• Declaration requests

• Requests for amendments and/or cost share adjustments

• Coordinating directly with FEMA

• Administrative costs and burdens of the operations

• Familiarization costs (time and effort required to learn the new process)

• Benefits (e.g. autonomy, engagement, reduced costs, capacity building)

Additional Notes:

• Comparisons: FEMA would benefit from any comparisons that could be made between DR-4352 and any experiences Pueblo of Acoma has as a sub-recipient of New Mexico.

• Tell us your story: Please do not let the focus of the interview limit your narrative. We want to hear your story; please tell us anything you think would be appropriate.

Demographic Questions

1a. Have you applied for FEMA Public Assistance (PA), Individual Assistance (IA) or the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) before?

If no, skip to 2.

1b. How many times have you applied for FEMA assistance directly? Under the state?

1c. How long ago was your last declaration?

Interview Questions

2. Did your community have mitigation planning in place prior to the disaster?

Probe:

• Who does the mitigation work in your community? (Do you have enough support in mitigation from your community, state, FEMA?)

• How did mitigation help your community during the disaster (or not)?

3. When thinking about your experience requesting the disaster declaration, what level of burden was placed on your community by applying directly versus through a state declaration?

Probe:

• Did you need more or less staff to carry out administrative processes?

• Did you need more resources from your community, state, or FEMA?

• Were there any policy or procedural barriers that you encountered?

• If you don’t have experience with receiving assistance through a state declaration, which parts of the process were the most challenging?

4. What were the major factors that influenced your community to request (or not request) a tribal declaration directly?

Probe

• What were the benefits of applying directly?

• Were there any drawbacks to applying directly?

5. How did you learn about the option to make a direct request?

Probe:

• How did FEMA get the word out? Please describe any outreach, training participation, research conducted, technical assistance utilized, etc.

6. Please describe your experience with the Preliminary Damage Assessment (PDA) process.

Probe:

• How did FEMA support you?

• What would you like to see for a future PDA?

6. Would you apply for assistance directly again? (Why or why not?)

Probe:

• What advice would you have for others applying for assistance?

7. Prior to the disaster, did your nation have access to non-disaster FEMA grants (e.g. the Tribal Homeland Security Grant Program)?

Probe:

• Were there any particular strengths of your nation or opportunities that were leveraged?

8. How has this process impacted your ability to utilize this assistance in the future?

Probe:

• How has this process impacted your ability to recover from future disasters?

9. As we wrap this up, is there anything that you would like FEMA to know about your experience with engaging FEMA directly for the first time?

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