Source: Extracted from Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds Interim Final Rule: Frequently Asked Questions
Listed in order of appearance in the FAQ. There are some duplicates.
- supports for vulnerable populations to access medical or public health services;
- public communication efforts;
- enhancement to health care capacity, including through alternative care facilities;
- other public health responses.
Assistance to households includes, but is not limited to:
- food assistance;
- rent, mortgage, or utility assistance;
- counseling and legal aid to prevent eviction or homelessness;
- cash assistance;
- emergency assistance for burials, home repairs, weatherization, or other needs;
- internet access or digital literacy assistance; or
- job training to address negative economic or public health impacts experienced due to a worker’s occupation or level of training.
Assistance to small business and non-profits includes, but is not limited to:
- loans or grants to mitigate financial hardship such as declines in revenues or impacts of periods of business closure, for example by supporting payroll and benefits costs, costs to retain employees, mortgage, rent, or utilities costs, and other operating costs;
- Loans, grants, or in-kind assistance to implement COVID-19 prevention or mitigation tactics, such as physical plant changes to enable social distancing, enhanced cleaning efforts, barriers or partitions, or COVID-19 vaccination, testing, or contact tracing programs; and
- Technical assistance, counseling, or other services to assist with business planning need
- direct cash transfers to households
Specifically, Treasury will presume that certain types of services are eligible uses when provided in a Qualified Census Tract (QCT), to families living in QCTs, or when these services are provided by Tribal governments.
Eligible services include:
- Addressing health disparities and the social determinants of health, including:
- community health workers,
- public benefits navigators,
- remediation of lead paint or other lead hazards, and
- community violence intervention programs;
- Building stronger neighborhoods and communities, including:
- supportive housing and other services for individuals experiencing homelessness,
- development of affordable housing, and
- housing vouchers and assistance relocating to neighborhoods with higher levels of economic opportunity
- Addressing educational disparities exacerbated by COVID-19, including:
- early learning services,
- increasing resources for high-poverty school districts,
- educational services like tutoring or afterschool programs, and
- supports for students’ social, emotional, and mental health needs; and
- Promoting healthy childhood environments, including:
- child care, home visiting programs for families with young children, and
- enhanced services for child welfare-involved families and foster youth
assistance to unemployed workers:
- job training or
- other efforts to accelerate rehiring and thus reduce unemployment, such as childcare assistance,
- assistance with transportation to and from a jobsite or interview, and
- incentives for newly employed workers.
services to unemployed or underemployed workers:
- public jobs programs,
- subsidized employment,
- combined education and on-the-job training programs, or
- job training to accelerate rehiring or address negative economic or public health impacts experienced due to a worker’s occupation or level of training.
The broad range of permitted services can also include other employment supports, such as
- childcare assistance or
- assistance with transportation to and from a jobsite or interview.
internet access assistance program for all low- or moderate-income households
investments in parks, public plazas, and other public outdoor recreation spaces
assist small business startups
eviction prevention efforts or housing stability services
- “rent, mortgage, or utility assistance [and] counseling and legal aid to prevent eviction or homelessness.”
This includes- housing stability services that enable eligible households to maintain or obtain housing, such as
- housing counseling,
- fair housing counseling, case management related to housing stability,
- outreach to households at risk of eviction or
- promotion of housing support programs,
- housing related services for survivors of domestic abuse or human trafficking, and
- specialized services for individuals with disabilities or seniors that supports their ability to access or maintain housing.
This also includes legal aid such as
- legal services or attorney’s fees related to eviction proceedings and maintaining housing stability,
- court-based eviction prevention or eviction diversion programs, and
- other legal services that help households maintain or obtain housing.
Community Violence Intervention (CVI) programs, including capacity building efforts at CVI programs like funding and training additional intervention workers
Recognizing that the pandemic exacerbated mental health and substance use disorder needs in many communities, eligible public health services include mental health and other behavioral health services, which are a critical component of a holistic public safety approach. This could include:
- Mental health services and substance use disorder services, including for individuals experiencing trauma exacerbated by the pandemic, such as:
- Community-based mental health and substance use disorder programs that deliver evidence-based psychotherapy, crisis support services, medications for opioid use disorder, and/or recovery support
- School-based social-emotional support and other mental health services
- Referrals to trauma recovery services for crime victim
Recipients also may use Funds to respond to the negative economic impacts of the public health emergency, including:
- Assistance programs to households or populations facing negative economic impacts of the public health emergency, including:
- Assistance to support economic security, including for the victims of crime;
- Housing assistance, including rent, utilities, and relocation assistance;
- Assistance with food, including Summer EBT and nutrition programs; and
- Employment or job training services to address negative economic or public
- health impacts experienced due to a worker’s occupation or level of training.
- Assistance to unemployed workers, including:
- Subsidized jobs, including for young people. Summer youth employment programs directly address the negative economic impacts of the pandemic on young people and their families and communities;
- Programs that provide paid training and/or work experience targeted primarily to (1) formerly incarcerated individuals, and/or (2) communities experiencing high levels of violence exacerbated by the pandemic;
- Programs that provide workforce readiness training, apprenticeship or pre-apprenticeship opportunities, skills development, placement services, and/or coaching and mentoring; and
- Associated wraparound services, including for housing, health care, and food.
These services automatically qualify as eligible uses when provided in Qualified Census Tracts (QCTs), low-income areas designated by HUD; to families in QCTs; or by Tribal governments. Outside of these areas, recipient governments can also identify and serve households, populations, and geographic areas disproportionately impacted by the pandemic.
Services under this category could include:
- Programs or services that address or mitigate the impacts of the COVID-19 public health
- emergency on education, childhood health and welfare, including:
- Summer education and enrichment programs in these communities, which include
- many communities currently struggling with high levels of violence;
- Programs that address learning loss and keep students productively engaged;
- Enhanced services for foster youths and home visiting programs; and
- Summer camps and recreation
Programs or services that provide or facilitate access to health and social services and address health disparities exacerbated by the pandemic. This includes Community Violence Intervention (CVI) programs, such as:
- Evidence-based practices like focused deterrence, street outreach, violence interrupters, and hospital-based violence intervention models, complete with wraparound services such as behavioral therapy, trauma recovery, job training, education, housing and relocation services, and financial assistance; and,
- Capacity-building efforts at CVI programs like funding more intervention workers; increasing their pay; providing training and professional development for intervention workers; and hiring and training workers to administer the programs.
outreach to increase uptake of federal assistance like the Child Tax Credit or federal programs like SNAP Premium pay for essential workers are those in critical infrastructure sectors who regularly perform in-person work, interact with others at work, or physically handle items handled by others.
Critical infrastructure sectors include healthcare, education and childcare, transportation, sanitation, grocery and food production, and public health and safety, among others, as provided in the Interim Final Rule. Governments receiving Fiscal Recovery Funds have the discretion to add additional sectors to this list, so long as the sectors are considered critical to protect the health and well-being of residents.
The Interim Final Rule emphasizes the need for recipients to prioritize premium pay for lower income workers. Premium pay that would increase a worker’s total pay above 150% of the greater of the state or county average annual wage requires specific justification for how it responds to the needs of these workers.
broadband infrastructure projects
cybersecurity or digital literacy training