What Is Possible? Policy Options for Long-term Disaster Recovery in Puerto Rico.

Policymakers, practitioners, academics, and community leaders can often identify unjust outcomes resulting from disaster policies that fail to satisfy basic needs or that underserve disadvantaged populations. What is less clear is how to design and implement successful programs that result in better and more just outcomes. To shed light on this matter, this paper explores CDBG-DR governance models across different U.S. jurisdictions and examines strategies that promote equity by targeting the most vulnerable and prioritizing local needs, knowledge, and capabilities for long-term recovery. The paper uses a policy assemblage framework and draws on key stakeholder interviews and analysis of various secondary sources about disaster recovery planning and policy. Findings suggest that a great deal can be improved through (a) an equity-oriented interpretation of federal guidelines and the exercise of bureaucratic discretion, and (b) enabling networks to build local capacity for community and economic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]