American Rescue Plan Act

Overview

The City of Worcester was awarded approximately $146 million from the US Department of Treasury and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts related to American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds. The links below will connect you to further information on Federal allowances and the City's initial goals and objectives related to funding. While Federal guidance on the use of funding continues to evolve, the City hosted a series of summer and fall 2021 community needs input sessions to help inform potential uses of the ARPA funds in different neighborhoods throughout the City, in addition to an online survey covering the same questions discussed at the in-person input sessions. Read the Results. As such, approximately $50 million has been reserved for affordable housing solutions and local community-based programs/projects addressing Public Health Emergency and Negative Economic Impacts. As such, the City is establishing ad-hoc committees to review various priorities and grant applications within core areas - affordable housing, social services, mental health, business assistance and arts & culture.

Committee assignments are as follows:

• Affordable Housing Trust Fund - View Members
• Business Assistance - View Members
• Community Programs - View Members
• Creative Economy - View Members
• Mental Health - View Members

The mission of these committees is to provide insight in the prioritization of grant applications to help ensure that grant awards are representative of the community and meet the overall goals and priorities set by the City and Federal Government, including but not limited to those most disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, especially low-income communities and communities of color.

To advance its mission the committees will:

• Review and evaluate grant applications using a scoring tool and make award recommendations to the City Manager.
• Offer a broad and representative perspective to the City to ensure a fair and equitable process is maintained.
• Serve as an ambassador to the City in meeting funding goals without bias and regardless of existing organization/agency affiliations.

Membership:

• Committee will consist of five (5) community members appointed by the City Manager, selected through an application and interview process that includes a review panel comprised of City personnel from departments within the specific funding categories and 2 members of the Worcester Together logistics committee. Committee members must be a resident of the City of Worcester.
• Up to three (3) administrative staff members representing City departments within the specific funding categories for administrative purposes.

Term of Office:

Members shall serve a term dictated by granting cycles within each funding category but shall expire no later than December 31, 2024.

Committee Role:

• City staff will serve as the administrative lead for the Committees: creating the agenda, facilitating meeting discussions and taking meeting notes for members to reference.
• Staff will review grant applications for missing information/documentation to ensure applications meet basic eligibility criteria.
• Committees will review candidate applications meeting basic requirements using a scoring tool and make final recommendations to the City Manager.

Meetings:

Committees shall meet on a regular schedule at agreed upon times and locations but at least bi-weekly until recommendations are made.

ARPA Projects Dashboard

Through the collaborative efforts of the Budget Office and Office of Urban Innovation, a dashboard is now available representing the entire $146M allocations, which includes the $50M in community-based initiatives that the ad hoc committees are being mobilized to assist with. This dashboard will be updated on a monthly basis to reflect the ARPA budget and cumulative expenditures that have been incurred against the City's ARPA awards (both federal and state pass-through).

When available, requests for proposals will be posted here.

Questions can be directed to ARPA@worcesterma.gov.

Resources

• Brief Overview of the American Rescue Plan Act
• US Department of the Treasury
• State & Local Fiscal Recovery Funds: Final Rule
• State & Local Fiscal Recovery Funds: Overview of the Final Rule
• Commonwealth of Massachusetts Executive Office of Administration & Finance
• City Council Informational Communication on Proposed ARPA Budget - December 14, 2021
• City Council Informational Communication on ARPA Community Input Summary - November 30, 2021
• City Council Informational Communication on Proposed ARPA Budget - August 10, 2021
• City Council Informational Communication on Proposed ARPA Budget - July 20, 2021