Item Coversheet

Board Action Request
20-0202

Item Description:
Allocate $2,500,000 CARES Act to emergency relief/recovery for private non-profits and community organizations providing human services to Hennepin County involved individuals, families and youth.
Resolution:

BE IT RESOLVED, that the Hennepin County Board of Commissioners hereby allocates $2,500,000 of its federal funding from the Coronavirus Relief Fund available under section 601(a) of the Social Security Act, as added by section 5001 of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) to provide private non-profits and community organizations technical assistance and emergency funding for costs incurred to enable compliance with COVID-19 public health precautions while providing human services programming; and 

 

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that a supplemental appropriation to the 2020 Human Services and Public Health department operating budget in the amount of $2,500,000, be approved; and that the County Administrator direct staff to develop guidelines and an implementation plan with strategies to provide private non-profits and community organizations with technical assistance and emergency funding as outlined above; and

 

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that any funding amounts not awarded will be returned to Hennepin County.

Background:

History: Section 601(a) of the Social Security Act, as added by section 5001 of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), established the Coronavirus Relief Fund (Fund) and appropriated $150 billion to the Fund. Under the CARES Act, the Fund is to be used to make payments for specified uses to States and certain local governments; the District of Columbia and U.S. Territories; and Tribal governments. Hennepin County received a direct payment out of the Fund from the U.S. Treasury. 

The CARES Act provides that money from the Fund may only be used to cover costs that:

1.     are necessary expenditures incurred due to the public health emergency with respect to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID–19);

2.     were not accounted for in the budget most recently approved as of March 27, 2020 (the date of enactment of the CARES Act) for the State or government; and

3.     were incurred during the period that begins on March 1, 2020 and ends on December 30, 2020.

 

Allowable expenditures include those incurred to respond to second-order effects of the emergency, such as providing economic support to those suffering from business interruptions due to COVID-19-related business closures. Federal guidance for the Coronavirus Relief Fund specifically includes as allowable “expenditures related to the provision of grants to small businesses to reimburse the costs of business interruption caused by required closures,” or “to benefit small businesses that close voluntarily to promote social distancing measures or that are affected by decreased customer demand as a result of the COVID-19 public health emergency.”  Federal guidance also includes expenses for technical assistance to entities on mitigation of COVID-19-related threats as an eligible expenditure. In addition, federal guidance indicates that expenses for acquisition and distribution of medical and protective supplies, including sanitizing products and personal protective equipment, and expenses to facilitate compliance with COVID-19 public health measures, such as technological improvements that allow for social distancing, may qualify as eligible expenses, so long as the County determines these are necessary expenditures.

 

Current Economic Impacts of COVID-19

  • Support for private non-profits and community organizations on both an emergency relief basis and support for recovery are needed to assure critical human services are available and accessible to support county-involved individuals, families, and youth.
  • Support for private non-profits and community organizations on both an emergency relief basis and support for recovery are critical to ensure that workers in Hennepin County have jobs to return to and massive, continued unemployment can be prevented.
  • Support local programs that prioritize racial equity and inclusion, when combined with additional strategies such as culturally specific outreach, which can help mitigate the disproportionate impacts of the COVID-19 crisis for people of color and low-income communities.

 

Current Request: The recommendation is that $2.5 million in Federal CARES funding be allocated to support the network of human services providers impacted by COVID-19 that serve county-involved individuals, families and youth.  Funding would be allocated for facility adaptations, technology, supplies and personal protective equipment needed to safely provide services during the COVID crisis in compliance with public health measures.  

 

This proposal will support the county’s Disparity Reduction work and those entities that deliver services to disadvantaged individuals and communities who comprise a significant portion of the clients the county serves.

 

Impact/Outcomes: Approval of this agreement will make the funding available for approximately 400 Hennepin County non-profits and community organizations.