Panel Paper:
Attrition from the Build It Back Program in the Aftermath of Hurricane Sandy: A Mixed Methods Analysis to Enhance Future Programs
Friday, November 4, 2016
:
9:10 AM
Columbia 8 (Washington Hilton)
*Names in bold indicate Presenter
In the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, New York City established Build it Back, a home rebuilding, repair, and acquisition program funded by HUD Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery dollars. After early delays, Build it Back has now provided reimbursement or construction assistance to nearly 70% of applicants. The City has set the goal of completing the program by the end of 2016.
Since the program began, approximately half of initial applicants have chosen to withdraw. In response to this applicant attrition, Build it Back partnered with the City University of New York’s Center for Urban Research (CUR) to assess when, how, and why applicants chose to opt out of the program despite their need to mitigate property damage caused by Hurricane Sandy. To this end, using Build it Back administrative data in addition to survey and focus group data collected on Build it Back applicants, the CUR-partnered study will investigate questions pertaining to applicant attrition such as: Did the applicants secure other sources of funding? Were the documentation requirements, or the efforts to ensure that benefits were not duplicated, excessively burdensome? And, were homeowners dissatisfied with the scope of work or design options presented to them? By seeking answers to these and other similar questions using a rigorous, mixed-methods approach, we hope to illuminate the main drivers of applicant attrition from the Build it Back program so as to improve it, and future similar recovery programs.
