Report: Many denied FEMA aid

NEW YORK - A change in eligibility requirements for a disaster-relief program may have left thousands of people ineligible for federal rent and mortgage assistance after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, according to a published report. <br> <br> The Federal Emergency Management Agency has begun requiring people seeking benefits to prove that their financial difficulties were a ``direct result&#39;&#39; of the attacks, The New York Times reported Friday. <br> <br> The FEMA programs covers up to 18 months of rent or mortgage payments for those who lost at least 25 percent of their income as a result of a disaster. <br> <br> Records show that seven out of 10 applicants to the program were turned down, many because they could not prove that their loss of income was a ``direct result&#39;&#39; of the catastrophe, according to the Times. Those denied included hotel workers, taxi drivers and garment workers. <br> <br> Some FEMA officials told the Times that such a requirement goes beyond the laws and regulations that traditionally govern disaster relief efforts. <br> <br> In addition, the FEMA program only accepts applicants facing eviction or foreclosure, the Times said. <br> <br> FEMA&#39;s director, Joseph Allbaugh, insisted that the agency was trying to reach as many people as possible and defended the policy revision as financially sound. <br> <br> ``You have to draw the line somewhere or all 289 million Americans would be eligible,&#39;&#39; he said. <br> <br> Some FEMA officials said the policy change may be one reason why the agency has distributed less money to families affected by the attacks than it has to victims of other major disasters, the Times said. <br> <br> The agency, the Times said, has delivered about $65 million in direct aid to families affected by the attacks, compared with $1.4 billion after the Northridge earthquake in California in 1994, and $1 billion after Hurricane George in Puerto Rico in 1998. <br> <br> Allbaugh said a comparison of FEMA&#39;s payments in individual disaster situations could not adequately measure the agency&#39;s response. But he added, ``I wish the numbers were higher, quite frankly.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> In addition to direct aid, FEMA dedicates funding to debris removal, family assistance centers, and mental health programs.