The American Red Cross and Hurricane Katrina

Key Facts

and

Issues

• The ARC failed to follow Red Cross procedures in tracking and distributing supplies.
• The ARC raised eyebrows by allow felons to become volunteers in disaster areas which is a violation of Red Cross rules.
• Volunteers had arrest warrants and other

felony charges in their backgrounds.

• The ARC usually does screening for volunteers; due to being overwhelmed they dropped their standards.

Mismanagament of Funds

• There was unauthorized possesion and use of computer equipment by staff and volunteers.
• The equipment had software to add donated money to debit cards for immediate use by hurricane victims. Making it easy to misappropriate funds.
• ARC call centers took part in incidents such as employees writing money orders in the name of victims and fraudently cashing them themselves.
• The ARC had: no cost control, little oversight of inventory, and no mechanism for employee background checks (volunteers)

ARC and FEMA Miscommunication

• The public was largely unsatisfied by untimely

relief efforts.

• The ARC was said to give subpar emergency responses.
• The coordination of the ARC and FEMA was not satisfactory.
• ARC and FEMA failed to communicate about appropriate points of contact for each agency which lead to them having a difficult time maintaining work relationships.

CounterPoint

The American Red Cross is expanding the variety of its

efforts to provide nationwide assistance to victims of

natural disaster.

Assistance is provided in a variety of ways:

• client assistance cards
• vouchers, checks, and cash

Q:

Name some of the problems the

ARC encountered with handling

donation money.

A:

• Failure to follow appropriate protocol

in tracking and distributing supplies

• Allowed Felons (volunteers)

to have access to the computer programs

directly connected to donation money.

Disaster or Relief?

A deeper look into the American Red Cross

Mismanagement of Volunteers

What is the ARC?

An independent organization

Annual Report 05-06

Their mission is to provide relief to victims of disasters

Support for Katrina:

The ARC raised $2,516,000

for the state of Central Louisiana

• 48 shelters were opened
• 1,196,150 meals were served
• There were approximately 2,356 Red Cross Volunteer Staff present to assist.

They help people prevent, prepare, and respond to emergencies

They follow 7 fundamental bylaws to which all Red Cross Societies must conform.

Must conform

• humanity
• impartiality
• neutrality
• independence
• voluntary service
• unity
• universality

Assets

details

map

Important

Details

Stockholm

(cc) photo by Metro Centric on Flickr

(cc) photo by jimmyharris on Flickr

Budapest

(cc) photo by Metro Centric on Flickr

San Francisco

(cc) photo by Franco Folini on Flickr

doodles

Notes

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outlook

Our perception of the ARC

before performing this Case Study

Counter-Point References

American Red Cross Hurricane Katrina

Relief Effort Facts at a Glance

By Alina Plesu, Sept 19 2005

Hurricane Katrina: The Red Cross: Trying to Get It Right This Time

By Sean Gregory, Sept 19 2005

Red Cross Annual and National Report 2005-2006

THE END