FEMA issues are "in your face" serious right now. An agency we tend to think of as the answer to catastrophic assistance, they're proving to be otherwise as disclosed in accounts of what happened as Katrina raged through the Southeast, and current testimony from Marty Bahamonde.

Ill equipped, unfocused (as opposed to focused), self-possessed are some of the adjectives that beg the issue. Adding to this picture appear to be a few additional descriptors -- poorly trained and poorly selected. These latter two apply to not only those in the headlines but also recent hires to provide customer support in North Hollywood, California.

A train ride with a business acquaintance brought this last conclusion to bear. Although hearsay at this point, the acquaintance is a very reliable source. After one short month of providing customer support for Katrina victims consisting of information about where to obtain services for their many needs, the North Hollywood facility was shut down and all of the temporary workers let go.

Mind you, the FEMA call for customer support representatives went out around the early part of September and was to be open until September 30. Candidates were to work 8-12 hour shifts for $18. By September 26, the opportunity was closed. According to an administrator at FEMA, they received 11,000 applications and/or resumes by September 11 and there was simply no way they could review all of them for the 200-300 positions.

Who was hired for these positions? Some of the ones who got interviews are people with whom I am acquainted. They are recovering from various forms of substance abuse and teetering on relapse each day. Their emotional maturity level is extremely low while the number and degree of their insecurities is extraordinarily high. Their reliability is shakey.

I met one of these people on the train one day. "How's the FEMA thing going?" I asked. "They shut it down," was the reply. "So what was it like?" I continued. "It was a little disappointing. Just the usual customer service stuff. Selling things to people and such."

According to my acquaintance, the reason for the North Hollywood's shutdown was because of the quality of those who were to provide customer support. "They were the sort that should have been working at Wal-Mart," she confided. Their skill levels were low, their integrity impaired. The acquaintance said there were many attempts at identity and credit fraud.

We think of FEMA as a government agency that provides quality service. There is the impression that they will be extremely responsible in all of its endeavors. Likewise, it is expected that their priorities will be in the proper places, their responses timely and appropriate.

Those in the recruiting industry would expect that the screening and hiring processes would have a high level of integrity and sophistication, that there would be a plan to handle a large hiring initiatives. Yet it didn't happen. It appears there was little planning and little research into what was needed and how to accomplish it.

The people who filled these customer service jobs are accustomed to minimum wage situations. To be paid $18 per hour for them was like a child receiving $2,000,000 for doing nothing. There was instant reward for having done little besides:

• be one of the lucky few who heard of the call
• have the time (lots of it) and resources (the library is just down the street where a computer with Internet access resides, not to mention the fax machine in the domitory where they live) and
• have the ability answer the call in a timely fashion.

The interview should have revealed that these were people who do not really possess the ability to deal with people in a caring and sensitive manner during their time of stress, crisis and need. The background check should have revealed the criminal background and need for care and a higher level of supervision during calls. The drug screening should have revealed whether there were any existing issues.

Whether the protocols used for the customer service representatives are the same as those used to hire those who were in charge of executing relief efforts during Katrina is unknown to me. But given the reportage in the Los Angeles Times and from my acquaintance, it appears both are lacking in quality and we as the public relying on their expertise and professionalism are suffering the consequences.