FEMA Updates Documentation Requirements for COVID-19 Funeral Assistance June 30, 2021 FEMA has issued a revised policy for its COVID-19 Funeral Assistance program that offers more flexibility for documentation attributing a death caused by the coronavirus. Beginning immediately, the new policy enables the individual who certified a death or the local medical examiners to pr...
Together, We Can Stop Body Brokers June 25, 2021 A body broker in Detroit sold and rented body parts infected with HIV and hepatitis … another sold body parts for use in U.S. Army blast experiments … another left bodies and body parts to decompose due to improper storage … another dissected donor bodies with a chainsaw. The...
Body Broker Bill Introduced in Congress June 23, 2021 When a family chooses to donate a loved one’s body for education or research, they do so with the hope that they will help others. Regrettably, many are unknowingly contributing to a for-profit industry in which the body of their loved one could be traded as raw material in a largely unregulat...
Happy Father’s Day June 19, 2021 “When my father didn’t have my hand, he had my back.” ~Linda Poindexter The NFDA Board of Directors and staff wish all fathers, grandfathers, uncles and other men who are “fathers” to someone, a very happy Father’s Day. We also remember with grateful h...
OSHA, COVID and Funeral Homes June 18, 2021 On June 17, OSHA released an emergency temporary standard (ETS) for COVID-19 that healthcare employers must follow. At the same time, OSHA concurrently issued updated, non-mandatory COVID-19 guidance for non-healthcare employers – this does apply to funeral service. OSHA’s updated gui...
FEMA COVID-19 Funeral Assistance Nears $280 Million June 17, 2021 FEMA has provided more than $278 million to more than 41,000 people for COVID-19-related funeral costs reimbursements. The national average award is $6,756, as nearly 2,500 FEMA employees continue working with applicants to manually review every application, determining eligibility each week. Rea...
Meet Your 2021 Leadership Conference Speakers! June 16, 2021 NFDA looks forward to welcoming the funeral profession’s state and national leaders – as well as the future leaders of the profession – to the 2021 Leadership Conference, taking place August 1-4 at the Belmond Charleston Place in Charleston, South Carolina. Our outstanding speakers...
Meet the Grads! June 14, 2021 It’s the month of June and many students are celebrating their graduation. In episode 25 of A Brush With Death, host Gabe Schauf speaks with four mortuary science graduates about why they entered funeral service and what they anticipate going into the future. You'll meet Nicole Judge ...
NFDA Introduces the Inaugural Class of the National Emerging Leaders Program June 09, 2021 The National Funeral Directors Association (NFDA) is proud to announce the 20 funeral service professionals who will take part in the association’s first-ever National Emerging Leaders Program. The selected participants will develop leadership skills that will serve them well in any setting th...
Funeral Service Foundation Announces Spring Academic Scholarship Recipients and Expansion of Academic Scholarship Program June 07, 2021 The Funeral Service Foundation is proud to award 24 academic scholarships to students pursuing an education in funeral service and is on track to award an additional 27 academic scholarships this fall – more than doubling its current program and awarding a record $147,500 in scholarship suppor...