Federal stimulus dollars are helping fuel efforts in local communities to accelerate progress, upend inequity, and strengthen partnerships. Local leaders across agencies, organizations, and systems are operating with a shared sense of what matters most across the spaces and places where young people spend their time. Funding for immediate relief and initial response to COVID-19 is shifting toward investments in the longer-term recovery and infrastructure necessary for lasting change. Together, we can use stimulus funds to create the kind of equitable learning and development ecosystems to which we all aspire. Below is a curated list of resources and tools to help you discover how communities are using these funds and which ideas and innovations might be most relevant to your community.
NACO (The National Association of Counties) has a Resource Page that provides an overview of how counties across the country are distributing their Coronavirus Relief Fund (CRF) payments and other federal funds authorized under the CARES Act. This page will be updated as NACo receives additional information on county CRF plans. Help NACo collect county examples by taking a quick, five minute survey, which you can find on their website. Your county’s response will be included on this resource page.
The National League of Cities has a series of resources available with concrete examples and guidance for how municipal leaders are blending and braiding funding to support COVID-19 Recovery, including the following publications: Municipal Leadership to Support Education Requires Collective Action – Community Learning Hubs, Addressing Student Re-Engagement in the Time of COVID-19, COVID-19 Local Response Principles, and Ensuring That All Children & Youth Have High-Quality Opportunities to Learn & Grow.
The Afterschool Alliance has a set of online Resources for how to make the case at the state and local level about how CARES Act education funds can be used to support students and families during summer and after-school time. They are also tracking how states and districts are using CARES Act funds for afterschool programming here.
The Children's Funding Project produced a guide to navigating new and flexible funding streams for kids during COVID-19.
The Rhode Island Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (RIDE) utilized this waiver application for their 21st Century subgrantees to be able to use funding during the regular school day and year. Here are three examples of how those waivers are actually being used currently.
The Opportunity Project in Tulsa developed these grant guidelines to distribute CARES Act funding in Tulsa. Here's a copy of the actual application that providers completed to receive funding and the contract template that was used to administer the funds.