How CAVs Work for States: Streamlining Compliance and Floodplain Management

Community Assistance Visits (CAVs) play a crucial role in ensuring that communities remain compliant with the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). These visits, which are a core responsibility of state coordinating offices, allow FEMA and state floodplain management (FPM) teams to assess and support communities in meeting their floodplain management obligations. This blog explores how CAVs work, who is responsible, and how the process is evolving.

What Are CAVs and Why Do States Do Them?

A CAV is a scheduled visit to an NFIP-participating community where FEMA and state staff conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the community’s floodplain management program. The goal is to assess the community’s understanding of NFIP requirements, identify program deficiencies, and assist with corrective actions. CAVs also aim to ensure that communities are adhering to floodplain management standards and regulations, particularly as they relate to development in Special Flood Hazard Areas (SFHA).

The primary teams responsible for conducting CAVs include FEMA region staff and state floodplain managers (FPMs). While FEMA provides overall guidance, many CAVs are carried out by state FPM staff, who play a critical role in working directly with local communities.

How Often Are CAVs Done?

FEMA has implemented a risk-based approach to CAV scheduling, ensuring that resources are allocated to communities that require the most attention. Communities are ranked into Tier 1 and Tier 2 categories based on risk assessments, with Tier 1 communities receiving a CAV at least once every five years. Tier 2 communities typically only receive a CAV if permit activity, compliance problem indicators, or Community Assistance Contact (an informal outreach activity conducted by FEMA via email or phone call) results temporarily qualify them as a Tier 1 community.

The Risk-Based Selection Tool is used by FEMA and state teams to determine which communities will receive a CAV each year, helping prioritize limited resources in the most effective manner.

The CAV Process: What’s Reviewed and Documented?

The CAV typically consists of two parts: a field tour and a meeting with the community’s floodplain management staff. During the field tour, FEMA and state staff inspect the community’s SFHA to observe any development and assess whether it complies with floodplain regulations. The meeting with the local floodplain management team involves reviewing various aspects of the community’s floodplain management program, including:

• Permitting processes and how they handle compliance
• Elevation Certificates (ECs) and their collection
• Endangered Species Act (ESA) review processes
• Code enforcement procedures
• Any properties identified during the field tour that may require attention

If the community has higher standards in its ordinance, such as Cumulative Substantial Improvement (SI) thresholds, the team will review how these are tracked and enforced.

As FEMA begins to phase out the traditional CAV process, the NFIP Compliance Audit will become mandatory starting in 2025. This new audit process will shift the focus to improved compliance tracking and documentation and will require additional state participation in training and webinars to prepare.

How States Receive Funding: CAP-SSSE Program

The Community Assistance Program – State Support Services Element (CAP-SSSE) is a voluntary program that provides vital funding to some states to offer technical assistance to communities in the NFIP. Through CAP-SSSE, states support local communities in areas like mapping, regulation compliance, training, and workshops, and the funding enables them to evaluate the community’s floodplain management performance. Each year, FEMA Regional Offices and the designated state agency negotiate a CAP-SSSE agreement to outline the activities and products that they will be completing with the funding. Notably, states must match 25% of the funding from non-federal sources and not all states receive CAP-SSSE funding.

How Forerunner Helps Streamline the CAV Process for States

Balancing limited staff resources at FEMA Regional Offices and state levels with the number of communities requiring CAVs each year can be a challenge. Adding to the complexity, states often rely on a mix of tools—pen and paper, digital cameras, smartphones, and tablets—making it difficult to keep track of everything.

Forerunner streamlines the CAV process by enabling state teams to collect, organize, and manage data more efficiently, all in one place. State agencies can configure CAV inspections in our software to match their existing workflows. While they’re in the field, they can use Forerunner’s mobile app to enable field teams to document visits directly on their devices, capturing photos, notes, and documents quickly and accurately. All of the actions sync in real time across mobile and desktop platforms, reducing reliance on paper documentation and eliminating duplicate efforts.

Once the field tour is complete, data can be downloaded in spreadsheet or geospatial file formats for review and follow-up. Spreadsheets can be shared with communities to collaboratively define next steps. This ensures that communities are kept informed of any issues before formal meetings, making the entire process more transparent and efficient.

Additionally, Forerunner’s Logs feature enables states to track and document all General Technical Assistance (GTA) interactions with local communities, which can be copied into FEMA’s Community Information System (CIS). This feature helps ensure that all CAP-SSSE activities are properly documented for compliance and funding justification.

The Future of CAVs: New Tools and Processes

FEMA is transitioning to the NFIP Compliance Audit process in 2025, which will streamline and standardize compliance checks. The new process will leverage tools like the Community Engagement Prioritization Tool (CEP-Tool) to select communities for technical assistance and training. This shift will make it easier for states and FEMA to target communities in need of compliance support while increasing overall efficiency.

As this new process evolves, states will benefit from tools like Forerunner that help digitize and simplify compliance documentation, making it easier to track, manage, and share data throughout the CAV process.

For more information on how Forerunner can help streamline the CAV process and assist with NFIP compliance, we'd love to connect! Please request a demo or reach out to us at support@withforerunner.com.