Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rosselló speaks to a packed room inside the Kissimmee Civic Center on Friday, January 12, 2018. (Jacob Langston / Orlando Sentinel)
The federal hotel voucher program for Puerto Rican families displaced by Hurricane Maria has been extended until May 14, but with stricter requirements, a FEMA spokesman said Friday.
The extension of the Transitional Sheltering Assistance program, which was approved Thursday, will only be granted to families who are already benefiting from the aid program and to those who qualify under new requirements placed by Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rosselló, FEMA spokesman Daniel Llargués said.
The
TSA program, which was set to expire March 20, is housing 3,580 affected families in FEMA-sponsored hotels and motels in 41 states plus Puerto Rico — and 1,360 of them are in Florida.
The extension follows a request from the government of Puerto Rico on Feb. 28, Llargués said, adding that the extensions will be granted on a “case-by-case basis.”
The eligibility requirements have been narrowed to disqualify those who are staying with friends and family; those who have found other housing solutions; and those whose temporary repairs are being done through the island’s emergency housing rebuilding program Tu Hogar Renace.
Osceola County Commissioner Viviana Janer said the TSA extension would be of “great benefit” to those in the region.
“It is so important that we allow these citizens the time to either find permanent housing here, or to return to Puerto Rico as infrastructure is restored,” she said in a statement Friday.
On Jan. 31, the government of Puerto Rico asked FEMA in a letter to approve a separate program for evacuees in Florida, calling other short-term solutions like the TSA program “inadequate.” The direct lease program could pay up to 18 months of rent for eligible families whose homes were damaged by the hurricane.
Llargués said the program has not yet been approved for Florida.
bpadro@orlandosentinel.com or 407-232-0202. Follow me on Twitter @BiancaJoanie
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