Friday, there was a story by the AP about Governor Blanco’s Road Home Program and its goal for grant closings. The story begs the question of what exactly is the goal?

According to the story:

[Governor Blanco’s] Louisiana’s Road Home program hit a milestone Friday, having handed out more than 1,000 grants to homeowners but that’s less than halfway to its February goal, with only days left until the month end.

…ICF International Inc., the contractor running the program… estimated earlier this month that it would dole out 2,300 grants in February.

The latest figures released Friday showed 1,005 homeowners of the more 109,000 applicants have received grants

Interpreting the goal

As I read the above, the TOTAL number of grant closings since the inception of the program is 1,0005. The “goal,” as reported above, is 2,300 grant closings IN FEBRUARY.

Thus saying that ICF is halfway to its mark of 2,300 closings indicates that ICF may be using all of the prior closings to arrive at the goal of “2,300 grants in February.”

Perhaps the AP made a mistake in its characterization that ICF is “halfway” to its goal. If the AP used only the closings in February, ICF would not even be a quarter of the way to its goal.

Perhaps we will see ICF, as it has in the past when it could not reach its goal, simply, after-the-fact, lower the goal.

Questions to be answered soon

In any case, we should know something for certain on Thursday.

Will ICF meet its previously announced goal of 2,300 grants IN THE MONTH OF FEBRUARY?

Will ICF redefine “in the month of February”?

Will Governor Blanco do anything if ICF fails to meet whatever is the goal?

What’s needed?

If we are ever going to hold ICF’s feet to the fire, first we need to set firm, definable, goals for getting grants into the hands of the victims of the disasters . The lack of such goals appear to be the primary weakness in the contract the governor signed with ICF.

C.B.