GAO-26-108688: Disaster Loan Program: SBA Should Ensure Consistent Outreach to Survivors
Summary
GAO-26-108688, Disaster Loan Program: SBA Should Ensure Consistent Outreach to Survivors, a Government Accountability Office Q&A report to the Chair, Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, United States Senate, dated May 18, 2026. It examines SBA's implementation of its June 2023 direct final rule and FEMA's 2024 interim final rule, which removed the requirement to apply for an SBA disaster loan as a condition of eligibility for some FEMA assistance. It states that the program supported about $1.7 billion in disaster lending in fiscal year 2024 at an estimated cost of $341.4 million. GAO found that outreach updates varied among field operations centers and recommends controls to ensure consistent outreach materials across regions.
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U.S. Government Accountability Office
Disaster Loan Program: SBA Should Ensure
Consistent Outreach to Survivors
GAO-26-108688
Q&A
Report to the Chair, Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship
United States Senate
May 18, 2026
Why This Matters The Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Disaster Loan Program supported
about $1.7 billion in disaster lending in fiscal year 2024 at an estimated cost of
$341.4 million. 1 That year, SBA approved more than 27,000 direct disaster loans
to help borrowers recover from events such as floods, hurricanes, and tornadoes.
Recent natural disasters—including wildfires in Southern California and
hurricanes in the southeast U.S.—highlight the importance of federal agencies
delivering assistance as efficiently and effectively as possible. Consequently, we
added the federal government’s delivery of federal disaster assistance to our
High-Risk List in 2025. 2
In June 2023, SBA published a direct final rule to expand options for disaster
loan recipients and reflect cost increases from inflation. For example, the rule
increased home loan lending limits, extended the deferment period for
repayment, and expanded mitigation options for disaster loan recipients.
Additionally, in January 2024, the Federal Emergency Management Agency
(FEMA) published an interim final rule amending its regulations governing
Individual Assistance for major disasters declared on or after March 22, 2024.
Individual Assistance helps individuals and households meet their immediate
needs after a disaster, such as shelter, through several forms of assistance. The
FEMA rule removed the requirement to apply for an SBA disaster loan as a
condition of eligibility for some types of assistance. Previously, certain disaster
survivors had to first apply for an SBA loan—and be denied or approved for only
partial funding—before receiving some types of FEMA assistance.
We were asked to examine the effects of SBA’s 2023 direct final rule and
FEMA’s 2024 interim final rule on the Disaster Loan Program, to include changes
in SBA’s implementation of the program. This report is the first of two planned
reports reviewing changes to the Disaster Loan Program since the two rules went
into effect. This report addresses SBA’s implementation of and response to these
rules, including how the agency communicated changes to disaster survivors and
how it allocates staff or determines the number of recovery centers needed to
respond to disasters under the program. Our second report will address the
effects of the rule changes on the outcomes of SBA disaster loan applications.
We plan to report on the results of that work later this year.
Key Takeaways • SBA updated Disaster Loan Program outreach materials to reflect its 2023
rule and FEMA's 2024 rule, but the scope and consistency of these updates
varied among its field operations centers, with some materials omitting key
information. We recommend that SBA establish controls to ensure outreach
materials are consistent across regions.
Page 1 GAO-26-108688 Disaster Loan Program Outreach
• The higher home loan limits and longer deferment periods under SBA's rule
may give rural and underserved areas more resources and time to address
common cost, supply, and contractor challenges.
• SBA has not changed how it allocates staff or recovery centers—physical
locations where SBA provides information and assistance to disaster
survivors—since the FEMA rule went into effect. We found that the average
number of staff deployed per recovery center was similar before and after the
rule change for the 53 presidentially declared disasters in 2024.
What assistance does SBA’s Disaster Loan Program provides low-interest loans to businesses,
SBA provide after a nonprofits, homeowners, and renters to help repair, rebuild, and recover from
disaster? physical and economic losses after a declared natural or other disaster.
SBA offers three main types of loans through the program: (1) home and
personal property loans (home loans), (2) business physical disaster loans
(business loans), and (3) Economic Injury Disaster Loans. 3 Most loans are made
to individuals and households, rather than businesses, to help them repair and
replace homes and personal property. For these loans, eligibility is restricted to
uninsured or otherwise uncompensated disaster losses.
To administer the Disaster Loan Program, SBA’s Office of Disaster Recovery and
Resilience has two Disaster Field Operations Centers that establish and maintain
field operations and conduct SBA outreach in disaster areas. 4
SBA also supports a variety of recovery centers following a disaster declaration:
• Disaster Recovery Centers. Coordinated by FEMA, with SBA staff onsite to
inform disaster survivors about available federal assistance. 5
• Business Recovery Centers. Operated by SBA for certain disasters to
assist business owners specifically, with support from SBA staff, volunteer
organizations, and business resource partners. 6
• Disaster Loan Outreach Centers. Operated by SBA for certain disasters to
serve all disaster survivors.
SBA is one of at least 30 federal agencies that administer disaster assistance
programs and activities, an effort coordinated by FEMA. The Disaster Loan
Program is activated through federal disaster declarations, which can be issued
by the President or by the SBA Administrator if certain criteria are met. 7
In addition, FEMA, through its Other Needs Assistance, provides financial
assistance to disaster survivors for other non-housing disaster-related necessary
expenses and serious needs that cannot be met through other means. 8 Prior to
FEMA’s 2024 rule, certain individuals and households applying for this
assistance to aid with transportation losses or to repair or replace personal
property damaged by the disaster had to first apply for an SBA disaster loan. 9
The applicant could be considered for these types of Other Needs Assistance
only after SBA either denied the application or approved partial funding. 10
What changes did the SBA’s June 2023 direct final rule and FEMA’s January 2024 interim final rule
SBA and FEMA rules made changes designed to improve federal assistance to disaster survivors,
make regarding the including through the SBA Disaster Loan Program.
SBA Disaster Loan SBA’s rule amended program regulations to expand options for disaster loan
Program? recipients and to reflect the effects of inflation (see table 1). 11 For example, the
rule updated lending limits established in 1994, which SBA determined were no
longer sufficient to cover many disaster loan applicants’ costs for rebuilding,
Page 2 GAO-26-108688 Disaster Loan Program Outreach
replacing, and repairing homes and household effects lost or damaged in a
disaster. These changes apply to disasters declared on or after July 31, 2023.
Table 1: Summary of SBA’s June 16, 2023, Direct Final Rule on Changes to the Disaster Loan Program
Rule component Before the rule After the rule
Home loan limits for $40,000 $100,000
repair and replacement
of household and
personal effects
Home loan limits for $200,000 $500,000
repair and replacement
of a primary residence
Deferment period for all 5 monthsa 12 months
loans
Increased limits and Lesser of the cost of the 20% of the verified loss, up to a
eligible uses for mitigation measure or up to maximum of $500,000.
mitigation for all loans 20% of the verified loss, to a Funds can be used to protect
maximum of $200,000. damaged or destroyed real property
Funds could be used to protect from all types of disasters.
damaged or destroyed real
property from possible future
similar disasters.
Collateral requirements SBA provided examples of Increased discretion for SBA to
available collateral it may determine the collateral required for
require to secure a disaster disaster loans, allowing SBA to tailor
loan, such as a lien on the this collateral requirement to the
damaged or replacement disaster loan applicant’s
property, a security interest in circumstances.
personal/business property, or
both.
Source: GAO analysis of Small Business Administration (SBA) rule changes. │ GAO-26-108688
a
In December 2022, SBA temporarily waived interest on new disaster loans for the first year and extended the
initial payment deferment period to 12 months. This change applied to disaster loans for disasters declared from
Sept. 21, 2022, through Sept. 30, 2023.
FEMA’s January 2024 interim final rule removed the requirement that certain
individuals and households apply for an SBA loan to be eligible for some types of
FEMA assistance. 12 The revised process allows these applicants to receive the
FEMA assistance they qualify for, including all forms of Other Needs Assistance,
without first applying for an SBA disaster loan. Applicants may still choose to
apply for an SBA disaster loan if they require additional funding to address their
unmet real or personal property needs (see fig. 1). These changes apply to major
disasters and emergencies declared on or after March 22, 2024.
Page 3 GAO-26-108688 Disaster Loan Program Outreach
Figure 1: FEMA’s Process for SBA-Dependent Other Needs Assistance Before and After March 22, 2024
Under FEMA’s March 2024 rule, applicants for Other Needs Assistance are no longer required to apply for an
SBA disaster loan before receiving assistance for personal property or transportation.
To what extent did SBA SBA’s field operations centers did not consistently update SBA’s disaster-specific
update its outreach press releases or fact sheets to capture key components of SBA’s 2023 and
materials to reflect its FEMA’s 2024 rules. According to SBA guidance, the field operations centers are
and FEMA’s rule responsible for outreach materials for declared disasters that affect localized
areas, which are the most common types of disasters. 13 SBA relies on press
changes?
releases and fact sheets to inform disaster survivors and the media about the
disaster loan program.
Our analysis of fact sheets and press releases SBA issued for 76 presidentially
declared disasters in 2023 and 2024 found that outreach materials consistently
communicated some information following the rule changes. For example, both
centers included information on the updated loan limits in all of their post-disaster
fact sheets. Similarly, almost all of the press releases issued by the centers
included updated home loan information (see table 2).
Table 2: Extent to Which SBA Outreach Materials Incorporated Selected SBA and FEMA Rule Changes
for 2023–2024 Disasters
Rule-change information East Field Operations Center West Field Operations Center
Fact sheets Press releases Fact sheets Press
including this including this including this releases
information information (%) information including this
(%) (%) information
(%)
Home loan limits for repair and 100% 95% 100% 100%
replacement of household and personal
effects
Home loan limits for repair and 100 95 100 100
replacement of a primary residence
Increased limits and eligible uses for 100 92 100 0
mitigation for all loans
Deferment period for all loans 0 100 0 96
Reference to FEMA’s new application 0 96 0 5
process (post-FEMA rule)
FEMA = Federal Emergency Management Agency; SBA = Small Business Administration
Source: GAO analysis of SBA documents. │ GAO-26-108688
Note: The East Field Operations Center oversaw 45 disasters and the West Field Operations Center oversaw
31 during the sample period. Of those, 25 (East) and 20 (West) disasters occurred after the FEMA rule went
into effect.
Page 4 GAO-26-108688 Disaster Loan Program Outreach
However, our analysis also identified instances where the information provided
by the two field operations centers differed. For example, the East Field
Operations Center incorporated the updated mitigation amount in 92 percent of
its press releases, while the West Field Operations Center did not include this
information in any of its press releases. Similarly, the East center incorporated
updated language explaining that survivors could apply for certain FEMA Other
Needs Assistance without first applying to SBA in 96 percent of its press releases
for disasters declared after the FEMA rule change, compared with 5 percent of
press releases issued by the West center. 14
SBA has established a process for developing press releases and fact sheets.
SBA officials told us these materials are intended to be standardized and
generally should not differ across field operations centers, apart from disaster-
specific details. In 2022, SBA implemented templates and a review procedure for
press releases, and in 2023 it introduced templates for fact sheets. SBA updates
these templates when significant changes occur. For example, SBA officials told
us that shortly after the FEMA rule change took effect, they revised the press
release templates to inform survivors they could apply simultaneously for FEMA
assistance and SBA disaster loans. Staff who prepare press releases are
individually trained by a veteran Public Information Officer, officials said.
However, the differences we identified indicate gaps in SBA’s controls for
ensuring that this approach is implemented consistently.
The Department of Homeland Security’s National Preparedness Goal identifies
five broad mission areas and defines 32 core capabilities, including providing
clear and consistent information to communities to support recovery after a
disaster. 15 In addition, federal internal control standards state that management
should design control activities, including program-related ones, to mitigate risks
to achieving the entity’s objectives to acceptable levels. 16
By implementing controls for ensuring that the field operations centers
consistently include standardized information in their outreach materials, SBA
would have greater assurance that survivors across regions receive key
information needed to access resources and manage their recovery.
How might SBA's 2023 Although SBA’s 2023 rule was intended to help all disaster survivors, it also
rule affect rural and addresses obstacles we previously identified for rural and underserved areas in
underserved areas? accessing the Disaster Loan Program. 17
For rural communities, the rule may help survivors overcome challenges related
to geography. Our February 2024 report noted that rural communities can face
difficulties accessing resources for basic needs, cleanup, or rebuilding. 18 Limited
nearby supplies and rising costs after a disaster can make recovery more
difficult. While SBA’s rule did not specifically identify rural benefits, the increased
home lending limit could help homeowners and renters better manage increased
construction costs when demand rises and supply is limited. The extended
deferment period (from 5 months to 12 months) also provides additional time and
flexibility to acquire supplies and make repairs.
Officials from six of the seven rural communities we visited believed these two
elements—the longer deferment period and increased loan limits—would be
particularly helpful. For example, one local government official told us that the
longer deferment period allows additional time to procure contractors, which can
take longer in rural settings where fewer are available.
The SBA rule may also improve access for survivors in underserved
communities. Our November 2023 report noted that SBA’s lending criteria for
disaster loans could disadvantage survivors in these areas because of financial
Page 5 GAO-26-108688 Disaster Loan Program Outreach
disparities. 19 By increasing flexibility in the collateral required to secure disaster
loans, the rule may help more applicants in underserved communities qualify for
assistance.
Has SBA changed how SBA officials told us the agency has not changed how it allocates staff or
it allocates staff and determines the number of recovery centers to open since the FEMA rule was
recovery centers since published. Overall, we found that the average number of SBA staff who assisted
the FEMA rule was disaster survivors per recovery center was similar before and after the rule
change. 20
published?
Our analysis of SBA staffing reports for 53 presidentially declared disasters
declared between January 2024 and December 2024 also found the following: 21
Disaster Recovery Centers. SBA staffed Disaster Recovery Centers that FEMA
opened for at least 43 of the 53 disasters we reviewed within the same month as
the disaster declaration and ultimately staffed all of the centers. 22 The number of
Disaster Recovery Centers FEMA opened where SBA assisted survivors within
the first month for each of these disaster declarations ranged from zero to 26. 23
SBA staff who assisted survivors at these centers ranged from one to seven per
center, with an average of about three staff both before and after the FEMA rule
(see table 3).
Table 3: SBA Staff Who Assisted Survivors per Recovery Center in the Month of Disaster Declaration,
January 2024–December 2024
Before FEMA rule After FEMA rule All disasters
Staff per Disaster Recovery Range 1–4.6 1–7 1–7
Centera Average 2.6 2.9 2.9
Staff per Business Recovery Range 1–5 1–12 1–12
Center Average 2.8 4.3 4.0
FEMA = Federal Emergency Management Agency; SBA = Small Business Administration
Source: GAO analysis of SBA documents. │ GAO-26-108688
Note: The FEMA interim final rule went into effect for disasters declared on or after March 22, 2024. The rule
removed the requirement that certain disaster survivors apply for an SBA disaster loan as a condition of
eligibility for some types of assistance.
a
Disaster Recovery Centers also include Mobile Disaster Recovery Centers and Roving Disaster Recovery
Centers.
Business Recovery Centers. SBA opened a Business Recovery Center for 39
of the 53 disasters we reviewed during the same month as a disaster declaration
and opened a Business Recovery Center for all but seven disasters through
December 2024. 24 The number of Business Recovery Centers SBA opened
within the same month as the disaster declaration ranged from zero to two for
disasters declared before the rule change and zero to seven after. The number of
staff who assisted survivors at these centers ranged from one to 12 SBA
employees, and SBA averaged about one and a half additional employees per
center following the rule change.
According to SBA’s annual performance plan, SBA’s performance goal is to open
a Business Recovery Center within 5 days after a disaster declaration. 25 SBA
reported that from January through September 2024, it opened centers an
average of 3.1 days after the declaration.
Officials from the areas we visited were appreciative of SBA’s response.
Representatives from many of the communities noted that SBA responded
quickly following the disaster.
Conclusions SBA’s Disaster Loan Program can help homeowners, renters, businesses, and
nonprofits recover after a disaster. The 2023 SBA direct final rule and 2024
Page 6 GAO-26-108688 Disaster Loan Program Outreach
FEMA interim final rule made changes intended to improve that assistance.
However, we identified certain gaps in SBA outreach materials and differences in
how the two field operations centers communicated rule changes. Establishing
controls to ensure that outreach materials consistently follow agency guidance
and approved templates would help standardize communications across regions
and better ensure that survivors nationwide receive clear, complete information
to support their recovery.
Recommendation for The SBA Administrator should establish controls to help ensure that agency
Executive Action outreach materials across regions consistently include key information for those
affected by disasters to access needed resources and manage their recovery.
(Recommendation 1)
Agency Comments We provided a draft of this report to FEMA and SBA for review and comment.
SBA did not state whether it agreed or disagreed with our recommendation. SBA
provided technical comments, which we incorporated as appropriate. FEMA
stated it had no comments on the draft. We maintain that the recommendation
should be implemented.
How GAO Did This To describe how SBA’s Disaster Loan Program communicated changes resulting
Study from the SBA and FEMA rules, we reviewed both rules, as well as SBA’s press
releases and fact sheets for all 76 presidentially declared disasters declared in
2023 and 2024. We assessed the extent to which those documents reflected the
program limits and FEMA process in place at the time—based on the SBA and
FEMA rules—and whether the East or West Field Operations Center issued
them. We also compared SBA’s outreach efforts against elements called for in
the Department of Homeland Security’s National Preparedness Goal. 26 We also
determined that the control activities component of federal internal control
standards was significant to this objective, along with the underlying principle that
management should design control activities to mitigate risks to achieving the
entity’s objectives to acceptable levels. 27 We assessed SBA’s controls for
ensuring consistent outreach against this principle.
To identify how the SBA rule might benefit survivors in rural and underserved
areas, we reviewed GAO reports from 2023 and 2024 that examined rural and
underserved communities’ experiences with SBA’s Disaster Loan Program. 28 In
our 2024 report, we identified six characteristics and three challenges that
survivors in rural areas may encounter with the program, and in 2023 we
identified two barriers for survivors in underserved communities. We assessed
how the provisions of SBA’s 2023 rule might help address these challenges.
To identify how SBA allocates resources, we reviewed activity reports from
January 2024 through December 2024 for the 53 presidentially declared
disasters that were declared during that period. We analyzed the number and
type of recovery centers SBA supported and the number of staff at those facilities
who met with disaster survivors during the month that the disaster was declared.
We used the subsequent month for disasters that were declared within the last 5
days of a month, as that aligns with SBA’s goal for opening a Business Recovery
Center.
We assessed the reliability of the activity reports data by interviewing agency
officials responsible for compiling these data. We determined the data were
sufficiently reliable for the purpose of describing the number of recovery centers
and staff who supported them for disaster responses coordinated by the field
operations centers during this period.
Page 7 GAO-26-108688 Disaster Loan Program Outreach
We interviewed officials from SBA offices primarily responsible for the Disaster
Loan Program—the Office of Disaster Recovery and Resilience, Office of Field
Operations, and Office of Capital Access—to discuss the development and
implementation of the rules and how SBA allocates resources. We interviewed
FEMA officials about the development and implementation of FEMA’s January
2024 interim final rule.
To assess disaster survivors’ understanding of the rule changes and to learn
about their experiences with SBA’s Disaster Loan Program, we interviewed
officials from 15 local governments in five states: Florida, Illinois, Iowa, New
Mexico, and Vermont. We selected these states for their geographic diversity
(covering different census regions); the high number of loans approved and
funds disbursed for disasters that were declared between March 2023 and
October 2024, which covered the period both before and after the FEMA interim
final rule took effect in March 2024; and to capture a mix of urban and rural
settings.
We identified local governments to interview in each of these five states based
on (1) the high number and total value of approved loan applications for disasters
declared between March 2023 (1 year prior to the FEMA rule change taking
effect) and October 2024, (2) the presence of disasters both before and after the
FEMA interim final rule went into effect, and (3) the need to include a mix of
urban and rural areas. For each state, we also included at least one area that
was predominately rural. On the basis of these criteria, we conducted in-person
visits to Pasco County, the City of Perry, and the City of Sarasota in Florida; the
City of Chicago, the Town of Cicero, and Cook County and Henry County in
Illinois; the City of Greenfield, Rock Valley, Sioux County, and the City of
Spencer in Iowa; Otero County and the Village of Ruidoso in New Mexico; and
the City of Barre and the Town of Richmond in Vermont.
We conducted this performance audit from October 2024 to May 2026 in
accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards. Those
standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain sufficient,
appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable basis for our findings and
conclusions based on our audit objectives. We believe that the evidence
obtained provides a reasonable basis for our findings and conclusions based on
our audit objectives.
List of Addressees The Honorable Joni Ernst
Chair
Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship
United States Senate
We are sending copies of this report to the appropriate congressional
committees, the Administrator of the Small Business Administration, Secretary of
the Department of Homeland Security, and other interested parties.
GAO Contact For more information, contact: Courtney LaFountain, Director, Financial Markets
Information and Community Investment, LaFountainC@gao.gov.
Media Relations: Sarah Kaczmarek, Managing Director, Media@gao.gov.
Congressional Relations: David A. Powner, Acting Managing Director,
CongRel@gao.gov.
Staff Acknowledgments: Marshall Hamlett (Assistant Director), Daniel Newman
(Analyst in Charge), Chelsea Carter, Daniel Horowitz, John Karikari, Jason
Page 8 GAO-26-108688 Disaster Loan Program Outreach
Marshall, John Milberg, Marc Molino, Jessica Sandler, Jennifer Schwartz, and
Rebecca Sero.
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Endnotes
1Fiscal year 2024 was the most recent fiscal year for which data were available at the time of our
review.
2GAO, High-Risk Series: Heightened Attention Could Save Billions More and Improve Government
Efficiency and Effectiveness, GAO-25-107743 (Washington, D.C.: Feb. 25, 2025).
3SBA also offers a Military Reservist Economic Injury Disaster Loan in addition to the three main
types of disaster loans. 13 C.F.R. § 123.5(a).
4FEMA, SBA, volunteer groups, and other agencies answer questions and help survivors apply for
federal disaster assistance at Disaster Recovery Centers. SBA, along with other organizations and
resource partners, also may assist homeowners or renters seeking assistance at Business
Recovery Centers. A Disaster Loan Outreach Center is a public facility established and staffed by
SBA to help disaster loan applicants obtain applications, return completed applications, complete
disaster loan application forms, and close loans, and to assist them with loan modifications,
reconsiderations, and late application requests. SBA is usually the only agency present at these
centers.
5FEMA may set up a Disaster Recovery Center at the request of a state. These centers are
accessible facilities and mobile offices in convenient areas for survivors. Individuals can learn more
about FEMA and other disaster assistance programs, apply for assistance, check application
status, and get answers or resolve problems.
6By statute, SBA must identify locations that may be used as Business Recovery Centers in a
declared disaster in each county, parish, or similar unit of general local government in the area
served by an SBA district office, and ensure that identified locations may be used without cost to
the federal government (to the extent practicable). 15 U.S.C. § 636(b)(14)(B). According to SBA
officials, SBA does not operate Business Recovery Centers in response to disaster declarations in
tribal areas.
7See 13 C.F.R. § 123.3(a). See also 42 U.S.C. § 5170 for further details on the criteria for issuing a
major disaster declaration and 42 U.S.C. § 5191 for further details on the criteria for issuing an
emergency declaration.
8State or tribal governments may request several types of assistance from FEMA, including
Individual Assistance to help individuals and families meet their immediate needs after a disaster.
Individual Assistance consists of several programs, such as the Individuals and Households
Program and Other Needs Assistance. The Individuals and Households Program provides financial
assistance and direct services to eligible individuals and households who have uninsured or
underinsured necessary expenses and serious needs resulting from a major disaster. FEMA
considers all relevant factors as part of a Governor’s declaration request when determining whether
to provide supplemental assistance under Individual Assistance.
9SBA-Dependent Other Needs Assistance also included Group Flood Insurance Policies, which
enabled FEMA to directly purchase a policy on an applicant’s behalf if the applicant was required to
purchase and maintain flood insurance but could not otherwise purchase a policy. Only individuals
with certain income levels based on family size were required to apply to the SBA Disaster Loan
Program. Eligibility for SBA-Dependent Other Needs Assistance was determined by FEMA in
collaboration with SBA. See 42 U.S.C. § 5174(e); 44 C.F.R. § 206.119 (2023).
10Prior to FEMA’s 2024 rule change, FEMA offered other types of Other Needs Assistance that did
not require applying and being denied for an SBA disaster loan, but assistance for transportation or
personal property was SBA-dependent. Non-SBA-dependent types of Other Needs Assistance
included assistance for funerals, medical and dental needs, childcare, and more.
Page 9 GAO-26-108688 Disaster Loan Program Outreach
11Disaster Assistance Loan Program Changes to Maximum Loan Amounts and Miscellaneous
Updates, 88 Fed. Reg. 39335 (June 16, 2023).
12This interim final rule went into effect on March 22, 2024. Individual Assistance Program Equity,
89 Fed. Reg. 3990 (Jan. 22, 2024).
13Staff from SBA’s Disaster Public Affairs Division and Office of Communications and Public Liaison
lead the communication efforts for nationwide disasters.
14According to SBA, its outreach materials were updated after the FEMA interim final rule went into
effect to include the following language: “With the changes to FEMA’s Sequence of Delivery,
survivors are now encouraged to simultaneously apply for FEMA grants and the SBA low-interest
disaster loan assistance to fully recover. FEMA grants are intended to cover necessary expenses
and serious needs not paid by insurance or other sources. The SBA disaster loan program is
designed for your long-term recovery, to make you whole and get you back to your pre-disaster
condition. Do not wait on the decision for a FEMA grant.”
15The five mission areas area are: (1) prevention—preventing imminent acts of terrorism, (2)
protection—protecting citizens and assets, (3) mitigation—mitigating the loss of life and property,
(4) response—responding quickly to save lives, and (5) recovery—timely restoration of
infrastructure and housing, among other things. Department of Homeland Security, National
Preparedness Goal, 2nd ed. (Washington, D.C.: Sept. 2015). According to FEMA, the agency
made minor administrative updates to the document in March 2025 in compliance with executive
orders.
16GAO, Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government, GAO-25-107721 (Washington,
D.C.: May 2025).
17In our February 2024 report, we defined “rural areas” using Census Bureau definitions of “rural
area” and “urban area.” That report identified six characteristics of rural areas that can make
recovering from a disaster difficult: limited telecommunications networks, issues with transportation
networks, certain types of geography, lack of temporary housing, limited local capacity, and rural
demographics and social norms. It also identified three challenges these areas may face in
obtaining SBA disaster loans: qualifying for a disaster declaration, survivors’ lack of awareness and
understanding, and the SBA application process. In November 2023, we reported on two barriers
underserved communities face in accessing the program: lending criteria and lack of financial
counseling resources. See GAO, Small Business Administration: Targeted Outreach About
Disaster Assistance Could Benefit Rural Communities, GAO-24-106755 (Washington, D.C.: Feb.
22, 2024); and Disaster Loan Program: SBA Should Include Key Issues in Its Review of How the
Program Affects Underserved Communities, GAO-24-106682 (Washington, D.C.: Nov. 30, 2023).
18GAO-24-106755.
19GAO-24-106682.
20The staffing report we analyzed did not include SBA staff that may have responded to a disaster
outside recovery centers or who did not assist a disaster survivor. Therefore, it is likely that
additional SBA staff responded to the disaster.
21Only staff and recovery centers that assisted disaster survivors within the first month of the
disaster are included. Of the 53 presidentially declared disasters, 31 were coordinated by the East
Field Operations Center, of which seven were declared before the FEMA rule went into effect. The
West Field Operations Center coordinated the response for 22 presidentially declared disasters, all
but three of which were declared after the FEMA rule went into effect.
.
22We analyzed the number and type of recovery centers SBA supported and the number of staff at
those facilities who met with disaster survivors during the month that the disaster was declared. We
used the subsequent month for disasters that were declared within the last 5 days of a month, as
that aligns with SBA’s goal for opening a Business Recovery Center.
23Eight of the 10 disasters for which SBA did not open a Disaster Recovery Center during the
month of the declared disaster occurred between 7 and 11 days prior to the end of the month. SBA
staff assisted disaster survivors at all 10 centers in the month following the disaster declaration.
Page 10 GAO-26-108688 Disaster Loan Program Outreach
24Disaster Field Operations staff coordinate with state and local community partners to determine
whether and where to locate Business Recovery Centers on the basis of damage assessments and
accessibility to the community, according to SBA officials. SBA may not open a Business Recovery
Center for every disaster.
25Small Business Administration, Fiscal Year 2026 Annual Performance Plan (Washington, D.C.:
May 30, 2025).
26Department of Homeland Security, National Preparedness Goal.
27GAO-25-107721.
28GAO-24-106755 and GAO-24-106682.
Page 11 GAO-26-108688 Disaster Loan Program Outreach
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