Application for ARPA Funds

Agency:	Durham County
State:	North Carolina
Type of Government:	State & Local
Category:	D - Automatic Data Processing and Telecommunication Services
Posted:	Sep 11, 2023
Due:	Oct 11, 2023
Solicitation No:	RFAP - 001
Publication URL:	To access bid details, please log in.

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Applications Due: October 11 at 5:00pm

Durham County Government American Rescue Plan Proposals

Application Instructions and Guidelines

American Rescue Plan Act Funding Overview ............................................................................................... 1

Federal Guidelines for the Use of SLFRF Funds ....................................................................................... 1

Durham County Framework for Use of SLFRF Funds .............................................................................. 1

Durham County American Rescue Plan Act Nonprofit Grant Program.......................................................... 3

Request for Proposals Phase 2 -- Small Business Support Grant Program ($1,500,000) ....................... 4

Background ........................................................................................................................................... 4

Request for Proposals – Small Business Support Grant Program....................................................... 5

Important Considerations .................................................................................................................... 6

Proposal Instructions and Process Highlights ................................................................................................ 7

Durham County Government ARPA Nonprofit Grant Program Application ................................................. 13

DURHAM COUNTY GOVERNMENT

American Rescue Plan Act, Request for Proposals

American Rescue Plan Act Funding Overview

In March 2021, President Biden signed the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). Of the $1.9 trillion package,

Durham County will receive $62,445,275 from the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds

(SLFRF) program, which will be split into two equal payments of $31,222,637.50. Funds must

be incurred and obligated by December 31, 2024. In addition, all funds must be expended to cover

obligations and all work must be completed by December 31, 2026. The SLFRF program funding is

intended to be a transformative investment to the community, with the goal of leveraging resources from

other local, state, and federal dollars to optimize the potential overall community impact.

Federal Guidelines for the Use of SLFRF Funds

The U.S. Treasury Department has issued a Final Rule for the SLFRF program to establish guidelines for

use of the program funds. A link to the U.S. Treasury Final Rules for SLFRF funds follows: SLFRF-Final-Rule-

Overview.pdf (treasury.gov). Under the Final Rule, the U.S. Treasury Department set specific guidelines

and requirements regarding how funds can be expended using ARPA dollars. Among its provisions, the

Final Rule included the following guidelines for the allowable uses of SFLRF funds:

U.S. Treasury Guidelines for Primary Ways to Invest ARPA Funds

• Support public health response: COVID-19 mitigation efforts, medical expenses, behavioral

health care, and certain county public health, public safety, human services, and other related

staff.

• Address negative economic impacts: Respond to economic harms to workers, families, small

businesses, impacted industries, and rehiring of public sector workers (including county staff).

• Replace public sector revenue loss: Use funds to provide government services to the extent of

the reduction in revenue experienced during the pandemic – this provision allows a much broader

use of funds.

• Premium pay for essential workers: Offer additional compensation, up to $13 per hour in

additional wages, to those – both county employees and other workers in the community – who

have faced and continue to face the greatest health risks due to their service.

• Water and sewer infrastructure: Make necessary investments to improve access to clean drinking

water, invest in wastewater and stormwater infrastructure.

• Broadband infrastructure: Provide investments to provide unserved or underserved locations

with new or expanded broadband access.

Coupled with the Durham County Government’s guiding principles on the use of ARPA funds, adopted

by the Board of County Commissions and outlined below, adherence to the U.S. Treasury guidelines will

help ensure that these historic, one-time federal dollars have lasting community impacts.

Durham County Framework for Use of SLFRF Funds

On May 4, 2022, the Durham County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) formally adopted a

framework to guide the County’s implementation and management of its SLFRF grant funding: American

Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Funds | Durham County (dconc.gov). This framework outlined approaches for

DURHAM COUNTY GOVERNMENT

American Rescue Plan Act, Request for Proposals

ARPA funding allocations that aligned with the BOCC’s strategic priorities and emphasized prioritizing

projects that promote evidence-based, transformative solutions to identified issues. Strategic priorities

identified for SLFRF funding allocations included:

• Community Empowerment and Enrichment

o Education – Provide and support learning enrichment opportunities that support

educational achievement and life success.

o Workforce Development – Strengthen the workforce by support the provision of

effective education, training, and workforce support, particularly for hard-to-employ

groups.

o Family Success – Support and provide programs, services and systems which improve

life skills and increase family success and prosperity.

• Health and Well-Being for All

o Healthy Lives – Increase the number of healthy years that residents live.

o Healthy Children and Youth – Support the optimal growth and development of children

and youth.

• Safe Community

o Prevention Services – Reduce the number of people entering and involved with the

criminal justice system.

• Environmental Stewardship and Community Prosperity

o Community Prosperity – Provide and support the community and economic vitality for

all residents of Durham County.

• Accountable, Efficient and Visionary Government

o Sound Business Systems – Ensure sound fiscal, operational and technology systems.

Further, the BOCC-adopted ARPA Framework included the following guidelines for the use of ARPA

funds:

• Leverage ARPA funds with federal, state, and local community resources to optimize the local

allocation.

• Prioritization given to funding that addresses equity, including:

o Reducing or eliminating health disparities.

o Closing the achievement gap.

o Equitable access to resources in historically disenfranchised communities.

o Infrastructure support to unincorporated areas.

o Funding to support minority-owned businesses.

• Evaluate infrastructure needed to address compliance increased workloads resultant from

COVID-19 in human services, public safety, and administrative operations.

• Establish a framework for an inclusive process to allow for community discussions and input.

Coordinate discussions with community partners, when possible, with communication to include

accommodations for non-English speaking and individuals with hearing and visual impairment.

DURHAM COUNTY GOVERNMENT

American Rescue Plan Act, Request for Proposals

• Project prioritization will be given to funding priorities that support the Board’s strategic and

capital plans and other assessments endorsed by the BOCC. Projects should reflect evidence-

based and/or data-driven solutions.

• County expenses that can be reimbursed through FEMA should be limited on ARPA dollars.

• Identify strategic one-time projects and/or a sustainability strategy for initiatives that require

funding beyond one year.

• Establish a rubric to evaluate and rank projects to ensure the optimal and highest use of funds.

• Develop strong internal controls to ensure compliance standards are met.

o Compliance must remain in the forefront of project development, execution, and

evaluation. Allocated ARPA funding that does not meet the required federal compliance

standards will have to be reimbursed by the County using local dollars.

o As stewards of these federal dollars, this ownership must be reminded often to ensure

procurement and contractual obligations align with Uniform Grant Guidance.

Based on the BOCC’s adopted plan for ARPA funds use, allocations and Request for Proposals (RFPs)

were planned to occur in various phases to ensure dollars are expended within the U.S. Treasury

prescribed timeline.

Durham County American Rescue Plan Act Nonprofit Grant Program

To execute the BOCC framework for utilization of the ARPA funding, the County developed the new

Durham County American Rescue Plan Act Nonprofit Grant Program. This program was developed in

response to the health and economic crisis facing the community due to the ongoing effects of the

COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, the impacts of the pandemic have highlighted the persistent socio-

economic disparities facing low-income and minority populations in the County, exacerbating the

negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic upon those populations. As such, the ARPA Nonprofit Grant

Program was intended to provide the mechanism for distributing portions of the ARPA funding received

by the County for specific external projects within the community to address the negative economic and

health effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly for the low-income and minority populations that

have been disproportionately impacted.

The first phase of applications for the ARPA Nonprofit Grant Program were solicited through a Request

for Proposals (RFP) published on July 5, 2022. This initial RFP solicited grant applications from

community organizations for projects in the following areas:

1. Capacity Building and Technical Assistance for Child Care

2. Expanding Access to Affordable Child Care

3. Improving Child and Family Social, Emotional, and Mental Health – Children Ages 0-12

4. Improving Youth and Family Social, Emotional, and Mental Health – Youth Ages 13-24

5. Youth Enrichment Activities

6. Maternal Health Support

7. Crime Intervention

From the applications submitted through the initial RFP process, the County selected 49 projects for

funding.

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Application for ARPA Funds

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