The Chester County commissioners approved the first round of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) grant recipients, with Commissioners Marian Moskowitz, Josh Maxwell, and Michelle Kichline stressing that the ARPA grants will aim to provide an equitable infusion of resources to meet local pandemic recovery needs and help accelerate the ongoing rebuilding of Chester County's economy.

In the first round, 73 groups and organizations were selected and awarded ARPA grants totaling close to $40 million. Chester County received more than 300 ARPA applications for funding requests from a wide array of municipalities, public authorities, small businesses, and nonprofit organizations that are located within or provide substantial service to the county. Application funding requests amounted to three times the total ARPA funds allocated to Chester County.

The grants were distributed as follows: $7.4 million for housing; $13 million for behavioral health; $1.4 million for workforce development; $1.6 million for community facilities and programs; $900,000 for child care; $1.6 million for food security; $8.7 million for public health; and $5.2 million for public safety.

Chester County's ARPA funding recommendations were made to the commissioners by a volunteer committee of 18 Chester County residents and 18 county staff members. The volunteers formed six independent review teams and developed a system that followed ARPA guidelines to review proposals and address each priority for ARPA funding. All ARPA funding applications recommended by independent review teams have also been reviewed by Susquehanna Accounting and Consulting Services (SACS) to ensure compliance with federal rules.

The county is continuing its due diligence in evaluating additional projects and expects to announce further awards at a later date, potentially before the end of the year.

A list of the first round of Chester County ARPA fund awards can be found at http://www.chesco.org/arpa.