SAIPAN — FEMA has approved $10,162,706 in federal funding for the CNMI’s Disaster Unemployment Assistance program following Super Typhoon Sinlaku, according to a FEMA funding notification obtained by NMI News Service, clearing the way for the Commonwealth’s first unemployment benefits of the recovery after months of federal review.
The notification, dated Thursday, also discloses a second award: $1,320,108 for the Crisis Counseling Regular Services Program, funding continued mental health and counseling support for Sinlaku survivors. Both awards fall under disaster declaration FEMA-DR-4910-MP, cover the entire Commonwealth including Rota, Saipan and Tinian, and carry a 100 percent federal cost share. The unemployment funding is provided under Section 410 of the Stafford Act and the counseling program under Section 416.
The approval matches, to the dollar, the $10.1 million request the CNMI submitted June 8, which the U.S. Department of Labor endorsed and forwarded to FEMA on June 10. The request had remained under federal review since, with Congresswoman Kimberlyn King-Hinds pressing FEMA for status in late June.
Disaster Unemployment Assistance provides temporary income support, for up to 26 weeks, to workers and self-employed people who lost work as a direct result of the disaster and are not eligible for regular unemployment benefits. Because the CNMI has no standing unemployment insurance system, DUA is the Commonwealth’s only unemployment lifeline, and the CNMI Department of Labor has been building a new claims platform, with staff-assisted interviews, to administer it under a federally approved plan. Benefits cannot extend beyond Sinlaku’s Individuals and Households Program period, which runs through October 24, 2027.
Applications are not yet open. DOL has previously asked residents not to contact the department about Sinlaku unemployment claims until an official launch is announced, and said it will make a public announcement when the program opens. Per the notification, FEMA obligates the funding directly to the Commonwealth, which is responsible for ensuring eligible sub-recipients receive the awards on a reimbursable basis following documentation review.
