The COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting economic struggles highlighted long-standing health and societal inequities. Billions of dollars in federal recovery funds are flowing into states and cities, and present unprecedented opportunities to recover from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, to rebuild the economy, and to purposefully address systemic inequities.
Funding + Strategy -> Resilient, Equitable Communities
With this influx of federal recovery money coming into states and cities, there are transformative ways that the health care, public health, and social service sectors can coordinate and align policy and practice to address social determinants of health and rebuild more equitable communities.
As a potential local fiscal intermediary, local wellness funds can play a key role in local recovery planning and implementation efforts. With established cross-sector partnerships, existing governance and accountability structure, and capital absorption capacity, local wellness funds bring important functions to COVID-19 recovery discussions. It is incumbent upon local wellness fund leaders to understand the local allotment of recovery funds, examine this historic opportunity through an adaptive leadership lens, and center discussions around local priorities with an equity framing, while ensuring community engagement and accountability.
The COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting economic struggles highlighted long-standing health and societal inequities. Billions of dollars in federal recovery funds are flowing into states and cities, and present unprecedented opportunities to recover from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, to rebuild the economy, and to purposefully address systemic inequities.
Funding + Strategy -> Resilient, Equitable Communities
With this influx of federal recovery money coming into states and cities, there are transformative ways that the health care, public health, and social service sectors can coordinate and align policy and practice to address social determinants of health and rebuild more equitable communities.
As a potential local fiscal intermediary, local wellness funds can play a key role in local recovery planning and implementation efforts. With established cross-sector partnerships, existing governance and accountability structure, and capital absorption capacity, local wellness funds bring important functions to COVID-19 recovery discussions. It is incumbent upon local wellness fund leaders to understand the local allotment of recovery funds, examine this historic opportunity through an adaptive leadership lens, and center discussions around local priorities with an equity framing, while ensuring community engagement and accountability.
Understanding How Funds Are Allocated
American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 Summary
The National Association of County & City Health Officials provided this overview of the $1.9 trillion of relief spending in the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. This summary provides local wellness funds with a high-level outline of the breakdown of funds for public health, state and local government, and individual economic relief.
National Association of County’s County-By-County Allocations
The National Association of County’s details how the $65.1 billion in county-level direct aid is allocated to every county in America. This information can help local wellness funds map the money coming to their community.
National League of Cities’ Local Allocations in the American Rescue Plan Act
The National League of Cities has searchable funding allocation by municipality. This information can help local wellness funds map the money coming to their community.
Understanding Recovery Fund Uses
U.S. Treasury’s Fact Sheet State and Local Recovery Funds
With the launch of the Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund, the U.S. Department of the Treasury released details on how funds can be used to respond to acute pandemic response needs, to fill revenue shortfalls among state and local governments, and to support the communities and populations hardest-hit by the COVID-19 crisis. This overview aids local wellness funds in understanding allowable uses and ineligible uses.
U.S. Treasury Detailed Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds
This U.S. Treasury Department landing page houses detailed information on every aspect of its Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds. Local wellness funds can find information of allocation, tranching of funds, uses of funds, and compliance and reporting information.
The National Conference of State Legislatures’ State Recovery Fund Allocations
The National Conference of State Legislatures assembled a searchable database to examine the ways states are utilizing their Fiscal Recovery Fund allocations. By examining detailed state actions, local wellness funds can understand how resources may be available for prioritized local needs and can further understand opportunities to influence resource allocation for unmet needs.
Vital Conditions for Community Health and Well-Being Framework
The Seven Vital Conditions for Well-Being, conceptualized by ReThink Health and the Well-Being in the Nation Network, is a framework for conceptualizing holistic well-being. It brings together 75 indicators in seven domains representing major determinants of health. Local wellness funds can use this framework to organize priorities and identify areas where cross-sector coordination can leverage greater resources and impact.
On the Community Commons site, each vital condition is accompanied by stories of inspiration about local, state, and national efforts underway to address the condition, data tools and resources to assess the condition locally, and policy resources that outline how to impact this condition.
