LOS ANGELES, CA – Los Angeles County Supervisors Kathryn Barger and Lindsey P. Horvath announced a motion asking the county to prepare to step in so Eaton Fire survivors do not lose their disaster case managers while federal funding for the program remains pending.
The supervisors announced the motion Tuesday, Oct. 6, in a news release. It is scheduled to be heard by the Board of Supervisors on Oct. 20. Barger represents the Fifth District and Horvath the Third District.
The program is operated by five nonprofits. According to the release, it was told in September that it would end Sept. 30, 2026, and the state has since extended that deadline to Oct. 31.
FEMA approved about $13 million for the program but had disbursed about $3 million, leaving about $10 million approved but unpaid, the release states.
Motion asks county to prepare to bridge the gap
The motion would put the county on standby to keep case managers working with Eaton Fire survivors if federal money does not arrive before the state deadline. Barger and Horvath want the county ready to cover the interval until the federal funds are paid.
Barger has said that without these case managers, many survivors would fall through the cracks. Horvath, in the release, pointed to the time that has passed since the fires began.
“637 days after these fires, the federal government is still failing survivors when they need help most,” Horvath said.
CEO would report back within seven days
The motion directs the county’s Chief Executive Office to report back in writing within seven days. The report would cover three things: bridge programming, a single point of contact for survivors and prioritizing households at the greatest risk of homelessness.
It also asks the CEO to evaluate repurposing $1.5 million in Renter Protection Homeless Prevention funds. The CEO would further evaluate reprioritizing part of $2 million in legal services grants.
In addition, the Board would ask the Affordable Housing Solutions Agency for a $1.5 million match.
Caseload in Altadena’s 91001 ZIP code
The release gives program figures through Aug. 31, 2026. By that date the program had served 1,990 Eaton Fire survivors and had about 1,084 open Eaton cases.
Altadena’s 91001 ZIP code has 882 households that need case management or are on a waitlist. Another 358 Eaton households are in the program’s highest-acuity tier.
Those cases are handled by the five nonprofits that operate the program, which is managed by the state and funded by FEMA.
Altadena couple describes what the support meant
Altadena residents Rasheed Ali and Gayle Nicholls-Ali lost their home to the Eaton Fire while they were out of town. Ali said the frustration of navigating recovery grew so severe that he was ready to give up.
He said his disaster case manager stepped in to handle the process and gave the family the confidence to move forward with rebuilding.
Nicholls-Ali said losing that assistance could potentially set the family’s recovery back.
Lawmakers demanded release of withheld funds
The funding gap drew a federal response before the county motion. On Sept. 10, 20 days before the program’s original end date, Reps. Judy Chu and Brad Sherman and Sens. Adam Schiff and Alex Padilla demanded that FEMA release withheld funding for the program.
“The looming termination is not due to a lack of approved funding,” the lawmakers wrote. “FEMA has simply failed to release millions of dollars it has already approved for the program.”
They said California requested approximately $26 million to operate the program and FEMA approved roughly $13 million. Only about $3 million had been paid, leaving nearly $10 million outstanding.
The California Department of Social Services had said the program would end Sept. 30 for lack of FEMA funding. The lawmakers said 109 case management staff positions were at risk and asked FEMA to respond by Sept. 18.
FEMA announces additional funding
On Sept. 30, FEMA announced an additional $11 million for Disaster Case Management. The announcement covers survivors of the Palisades Fire and California storms, and the money is meant to support nearly 6,000 survivors of the 2025 Los Angeles County wildfires and the 2023 winter storms.
More than $6.6 million of that amount is for more than 3,000 survivors of the 2025 wildfires and straight-line winds. FEMA describes the program as “a state-managed, FEMA-funded program that connects survivors with case managers, resources and services to support their long-term recovery.”
The agency also said it has awarded more than $180 million in Individual Assistance to more than 35,000 eligible individuals and households under disaster declaration DR-4856-CA.
Sherman said the same day, in a statement, that he was “pleased to see that FEMA is paying California the money it owes to the state for providing caseworkers for fire victims through September 30.” He also said the program needs to be sustained.
Barger said, “I welcome FEMA’s approval of additional funding for disaster case management for Los Angeles County.” The California Department of Social Services said on Sept. 29 that “unlike the Trump administration, California has not left survivors behind.”
FEMA announced another $3.3 million on Oct. 7 to support more than 3,000 wildfire survivors. The agency said it has now provided more than $13 million in total for case management for survivors of this disaster.
According to the supervisors, the announced money has not yet reached the state.
County opens FAIR Plan investigation
The county took a separate step on insurance a day after the motion was announced. On Oct. 7, Los Angeles County announced that it had launched an investigation into the claims handling practices of the California FAIR Plan Association for policyholders affected by the January 2025 Eaton and Palisades fires.
County Counsel is examining possible violations of the Unfair Competition Law. County Counsel Dawyn R. Harrison said her office is committed to thoroughly investigating the FAIR Plan.
“After having their lives devastated by the fires, Altadena residents should not be victimized yet again by their own insurance company,” Barger said in the announcement.
Barger has called the FAIR Plan “anything but fair.” She also said county leaders will not wait for the California Department of Insurance to act and will advocate directly for survivors.
The county cited a July 2026 survey from the Department of Angels that found 67% of FAIR Plan customers were dissatisfied, the most of any insurer. The announcement said the investigation follows the county’s Aug. 31, 2026 lawsuit against State Farm and a Sept. 9, 2026 investigation announcement concerning Farmers.
FAIR Plan says it is reviewing the letter
The California FAIR Plan said Oct. 8 that it is reviewing a letter it received from Los Angeles County Counsel.
The investigation is separate from the case management motion, which concerns the state-run program that supports survivors through recovery. Both items involve the county’s response to the Eaton and Palisades fires.
Board vote is set for Oct. 20
The Board of Supervisors is scheduled to take up the case management motion Oct. 20. The state’s extended deadline for the program is Oct. 31, 11 days after that meeting.
The vote on the motion is pending, and the Chief Executive Office’s written report on bridge programming has not been released. The County Counsel investigation into the FAIR Plan remains ongoing.
