FEMA - Disaster Assistance Information Services (DAIS)

The Disaster Assistance Information Services (DAIS) was created in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina to alleviate disaster survivors' frustration when dealing with multiple federal programs and to ensure survivors receive prompt and efficient access to federal disaster assistance. DAIS measures program value by consistently monitoring performance to demonstrate the program is meeting the needs of the Agency and to ensure the program delivers expected value to disaster survivors and internal stakeholders. DAIS is reducing costs and improving efficiencies by streamlining and consolidating the delivery of disaster assistance to survivors. This single, online application eases the burden on disaster survivors and increases their access to disaster relief by creating a continually updated information clearinghouse that provides information on the benefits most valuable to a disaster survivor, such as housing, food and employment aid in both English and Spanish. DisasterAssistance.gov reduces the time needed to apply for aid and check the status of claims while decreasing redundancy in application forms and processes. DAIS provides cost avoidance to FEMA for every registration or account inquiry done on-line or mobile device over traditional call-center or in-person applications. As shown in the Hurricanes Sandy, Harvey, Irma & Marie responses, the DisasterAssistance.gov portal provides a cost-effective alternative to increasing call center capacity and volume without any additional cost to the American Taxpayer. DAIS improves government efficiencies at FEMA, DHS and across the federal government. This investment centralizes multiple disaster survivor databases, application processes, and information channels thereby improving utilization and efficiency. DAIS's application processing allows for survivors to apply for multiple forms of assistance across multiple agencies and programs with built in protections against waste, fraud and abuse. For the period of actual andsimulated activity, the sum of planning costs is $34.037M, DME, excluding planning costs, are $66.885M. O&M costs are $166.507M, for a total AoA Life Cycle Cost of $267.430M. The values of six benefit classifications have been evaluated. The AoA conducted in FY 2015 was based across the time span FY 2015 through FY 2023, DAIS has projected net benefits of $687.036M offset by a costs of $134.315M yielding a simple ROI of 4.11%, that is, each dollar invested returns greater than four dollars. These benefits are split between the taxpayer in reduced costs and additional services provided to the disaster survivor. The benefits of investing in DAIS will continue to improve service delivery, assist survivors and reduce duplicative costs by multiple agencies. Since the primary focus and mission of DAIS is to expedite and improve the delivery of assistance to survivors of disasters, virtually every operational performance metric associated with DAIS is related to customer satisfaction.

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