Equitable Administration of American Rescue Plan Resources

About the Program

Category: County Administration and Management (Best in Category)

Year: 2023

The COVID-19 pandemic has devastated the lives of many Los Angeles County (County) residents. To date, roughly 1.2 million County residents contracted COVID-19 and over 24,000 have died. COVID-19 also devastated the County’s economy and the quality of life for millions of our residents. This impact was felt most profoundly in our County’s low-income communities and communities of color, which experienced the highest rates of infection and death. The disproportionate health and economic impacts of COVID-19 underscored the vulnerability of our County residents who are people of color, women, younger workers and workers overall. There is an imperative opportunity to transform the lives of millions of County residents by centering equity, harm reduction, and providing proportional resources to address the needs of our residents and communities. Earlier this year, President Biden announced the American Rescue Plan Act (ARP) to provide local communities with much-needed resources to address the great harm caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The County will benefit significantly from the $1.9 billion in ARP funds it is estimated to receive, as well as other ARP allocations in program-specific areas such as emergency response funding. This is an opportunity to make strides to reduce the negative burdens disproportionately borne by people of color, women, younger adults and working class Angelenos.