Not only is ICF taking criticism for slow performance in getting payments to citizens, but now they are taking heat for the events leading up to the Road Home Administration contract award.

The specifics include:

• $757 million is too much money to distribute $7.5 billion in an expected 120,000 payments. That is $6,308 per payment which seems high.
  
• ICF supposedly participated in drafting the RFP that they eventually won
• ICF was on the selection committee that selected ICF
  
• ICF executives have received windfall seven figure bonus payments when the contract was signed (these bonuses were actually tied to ICF's initial public stock offering)
  
• ICF hired connected individuals from Virginia to Connecticut rather than locals to manage and adminster the program. (ICF says the vast majority of their Road Home employees are local.)
  
• ICF has allocated $19 million of the contract costs for employee travel expenses.

In February 2007 ICF is still on the job. As of Mardi Gras 2007 there have been 749 closings. This leaves 119,251 to go. At this rate it will take 94 years to complete the program not counting the appeals. And there are plenty of complaints about the awards. The most significant problem seems to be the process for determining the pre-storm value of a home. So the LRA approved an independent appraisal.

• ICF subcontracted to a California firm, which will subcontract to a Florida company, which will pay local appraisers $150 to establish the pre-storm value. ICF will spend $425 of CDBG funds for each appraisal. This is nuts.

This program is shrouded in controversy that is fueled by its lack of transparency. Why isn't there a published procedure that details all the steps in the process?