Michelle Cisneros works at a food giveaway event for people in need in Downey, California, in January 2021. Funds from the American Rescue Plan Act are being used to address food insecurity and other health needs in U.S. communities.
Photo by Brittany Murray/MediaNews Group/Long Beach Press-Telegram/Getty Images
“That is exciting, creative stuff. I think we are going to see a lot more transformative projects like that being planned in the U.S.”
— Brad Whitehead
U.S. cities and counties are receiving federal money on a scale that could be transformative for public health and social services. The temporary windfall for local governments comes on the heels of harms caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, which recently entered its third year in the U.S.
The Biden administration’s American Rescue Plan Act is infusing $1.2 trillion into the economy, including $350 billion in state, local, tribal and territorial fiscal recovery funds.
“ARPA is one of the largest infusions of flexible funding writ large since the Great Society,” the 1960s U.S. policy initiative addressing social and health inequities, said Brad Whitehead, an economist and founder of the Fund for Economic Future in Cleveland.
Any eligible municipality can apply for the funds, which can be used to respond to the COVID-19 public health emergency, address its negative economic impacts, support workers performing essential work during the emergency or carry out government services. Communities can also use ARPA funds to make investments in water, sewer or broadband infrastructure. With so many uses that fall under the public health umbrella and wide discretion, local health programs and services can significantly benefit.
“The flexibility of this money allows for these integrated solutions of not only going into low-income districts and delivering direct social services, but you can also start thinking about these other social determinants of health and integrate supports and maintenance” for the programs, Whitehead, a nonresident senior fellow at Brookings Metro, told The Nation’s Health.
A worker digs a line to lay fiber optic cable for high speed internet in Wiggins, Colorado, in 2019. Communities can use funding from the American Rescue Plan Act to improve broadband internet service, among other projects.
Photo by RJ Sangosti, courtesy MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images
Governments can allocate and administer ARPA funds locally until the end of 2024. Funds must be spent by end of 2026. The funding is ample: Local government ARPA allocations can be 25% to 50% of annual budgets, Whitehead said. Cleveland, for instance, which has an annual budget of $1.8 billion, is receiving $511 million. On top of that, 162 entities in metropolitan Cleveland are being funded, pushing local investment to $1.3 billion.
So far, much of the Cleveland-area ARPA money has been used for repair and recovery from the pandemic and supporting social services, Whitehead said. But a partnership of area governments is being discussed that pools expertise and funding to replace lead pipes, which contaminate drinking water in metropolitan Cleveland.
“That is exciting, creative stuff,” Whitehead said. “I think we are going to see a lot more transformative projects like that being planned in the U.S.”
Across the U.S., state and local leaders have been holding online public meetings, forums and workshops to discuss and identify community priorities for the funding. Among those is the city of Austin, Texas, which is planning to use relief funds to tackle a difficult public health issue. It has partnered with Travis County and others in a $515 million plan to end unsheltered homelessness in Austin. Mayor Steve Adler praised the partnership at an October news conference.
“This is a community initiative, and that’s the other reason why I think this is going to work,” Adler said. “The city is just one player.”
According to a tracking database from the National Conference of State Legislatures, communities are using ARPA funds for public health services such as mental health counseling, wastewater infrastructure, food assistance programs, low-income housing repairs, vaccination incentives, workforce training, park maintenance, domestic violence prevention, rental aid and substance use treatment, among many other purposes. Public health supporters can attend local meetings and contact their elected leaders to let them know where they would like to see ARPA funding spent.
Wisconsin is among several states committing large chunks of ARPA funding to broadband expansion for internet access, allocating $100 million. Broadband access became more important during the pandemic for children who were attending school remotely and for adults who needed to work from home and attend their medical visits online.
Nonprofits can also receive ARPA funding via local governments, though some have said the process is daunting. In Maine, for example, 90% of nonprofits have budgets under $500,000 a year, operating with a handful of employees and volunteers, said Jennifer Hutchins, MPA, executive director of the Maine Association of Nonprofits, which represents 1,031 nonprofit members and 160 government and philanthropic entities.
“You are talking food pantries and homeless shelters with very small staff,” Hutchins told The Nation’s Health. “They don’t have the capacity to track (ARPA funding).”
The Maine association has been highlighting ARPA funding in its weekly newsletter and monthly video conferences held since April 2021. To boost success, applicants should partner with other groups to pool money and work, and develop a strategy toward financial sustainability, Hutchins advises.
Nonprofits and philanthropy are practiced in collaboration and understanding community needs, Hutchins said. Tedford Housing, a Maine nonprofit organization that operates shelters for people who are homeless, was recently awarded $1.6 million by commissioners of Cumberland County, Maine.
In California, Meals on Wheels Solano County, a nonprofit that addresses food insecurity for seniors, plans to apply to the county board for ARPA funding. The organization is seeking $3 million to build a larger, more efficient kitchen to support the county’s growing aging population.
Laurie Hartmann, MSL, executive director of the program, said her formal application will emphasize how an expanded kitchen can increase community partnerships involving food insecurity and senior services, and that the one-time funds are a pathway to sustainability. She has also fostered relationships with county commissioners so they understand the needs of her organization.
While the process can be long, ARPA funding can be “game-changing to communities and organizations,” Hartmann told The Nation’s Health.
“Breathe deep,” she advised leaders seeking funding. “You’ll need patience and sustained energy. With the breadth of COVID impact on governmental agencies and organizations, it’s a balancing act to fill in the gaps created and identify where funds are best spent.”
For more information on ARPA funding, visit www.ncsl.org and www.treasury.gov.
- Copyright The Nation’s Health, American Public Health Association