Division of Disaster Recovery & Mitigation

Overview:

The Division of Disaster Recovery and Mitigation (“DRM”) promotes the long-term resilience of New Jersey’s communities by supporting initiatives to fortify housing, businesses, and infrastructure against severe weather events and flooding damage. Such initiatives include the Mitigation Assistance Program, which provides homeowners in flood-prone communities with funds to elevate their homes out of harm’s way, and the Atlantic City Resilience Program, a joint effort with the City of Atlantic City to strengthen the city’s infrastructure and public buildings to guard against repetitive flooding.

The Division is the Responsible Entity for the more than $377 million in federal funds the State of New Jersey received to assist in recovery from Hurricane Ida and the more than $4 billion in federal funds the State received for Superstorm Sandy recovery. These funds come from the Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) program of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and have been used to create Ida and Sandy recovery programs.

The Division is also the grant manager for the Coronavirus State Fiscal Recovery Fund (SFRF) and the Coronavirus Capital Projects Fund, allocated to New Jersey through the American Rescue Plan Act. SFRF monies are designed to help address the COVID-19 public health emergency and its effects on the economy. SFRF accounts for approximately $6.2 billion of the COVID-19 portfolio. The Capital Projects Fund provides the State with an additional $195 million to ensure that all communities have access to modern infrastructure. The Division is responsible for overseeing the allocation of this funding and ensuring it meets all U.S. Treasury requirements.

Potential Areas of Internship for Students with the following Academic Majors: Construction; Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management; Engineering; Project Management; Public Policy; Public Administration.

 

Position 1: Grants Management / Tenant Based Rental Assistance / Housing Counselling

  • Scheduling meetings, meeting minutes
  • Coordinating system access requests for contracted entities
  • Provide systems training for the systems utilized in the department
  • Uploading / attaching documentation into various DRM systems
  • Updating records in DRM’s systems

 

Position 2: Leadership Trainee

  • Coordinate with meeting attendees and prepare materials
  • Take meeting minutes
  • Follow up meeting with stakeholders
  • Provide creative problem-solving recommendations

 

Position 3: Construction/Grant Support

  • Input and update data related to construction projects in system of record
  • Assist in the maintenance and analysis of project documentation, including contracts, invoices, and project schedules
  • Collaborate with construction managers and generate reports
  • General research and accessing public records
  • Construction, design, or engineering experience a plus. Basic construction concepts and verbiage helpful in assisting with administrative duties and grant support