American Rescue Plan Act
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The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), signed into law in March 2021, provides direct financial relief due to the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. The County of San Mateo was awarded $148,897,819 in recovery funds. Learn about where the Board of Supervisors has allocated the funds, and the impact of these investments in our community.
Under the direction of the Board of Supervisors, the County is committed to using American Rescue Plan Act funds to:
- Address critical relief needs with a focus on elevating priority communities and promoting equity
- Leverage opportunities to invest in long-term, structural recovery using innovative solutions that guide County transformation
- Maximize impact of recovery dollars by filling gaps and stacking funding across sources
On September 28, 2021, the Board of Supervisors approved a $73,025,000 ARPA-funded spending plan to address homelessness, support small businesses, expand vaccination efforts, and provide food assistance. View full budget document
On April 19, 2022, the Board of Supervisors allocated up to $10,396,410 in ARPA funds as the required local match for the state Homekey program which allowed the County to purchase a 52-unit hotel in the city of San Mateo for individuals experiencing homelessness. View full memo
On May 17, 2022, the Board of Supervisors approved a $74,448,909 ARPA funding spending plan that provided additional support to low-income residents, children and families, local small businesses, and workers negatively impacted by the pandemic. View full memo.
On July 26, 2022, the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors approved $2,562,500 in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to create the San Mateo County 2022-23 Out-of-School Care Grant Program. Grants were awarded to the 41 listed providers, who commit to using grant funds to:
- Expand access to out-of-school care programs for low-income and youth from historically marginalized or underrepresented backgrounds or communities (e.g., students with special needs, in foster care, English Language Learners, experiencing homelessness)
- Support the social-emotional well-being of youth to mitigate the setbacks and hardships associated with COVID-19
- Provide opportunities for youth to reinspire and propel learning to counterbalance the loss of learning opportunities attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic and distance learning
More details below under Related Documents
With the help of the Summer Enrichment Grant, we have been able to bring on behavior and emotional support interventionalists, expand our staff training to cover DEI & Mental Health and music & art equipment for our camp.
Summer Enrichment Grant, made possible by ARPA funding: "It will let us serve 240 more K-8th grade students at our free, full-day, four-week summer enrichment program for students in East Palo Alto and East Menlo Park, which is run in partnership between the Ravenswood City School District and the Boys and Girls Club of the Peninsula." - Ann Waterman Roy, Ravenswood City School District
Summer Enrichment Grant, made possible by ARPA funding: "With the help of the Summer Enrichment Grant, we have been able to bring on behavior and emotional support interventionalists, expand our staff training to cover DEI & Mental Health and music & art equipment for our camp." - Christian Sbragia, Executive Director, Cooline Team of East Palo Alto
Summer Enrichment Grant, made possible by ARPA funding: "This Y summer camp program is designed to not only provide a fun learning environment — providing enrichment and mitigating learning loss due to distance learning and summer slide — but also to help bridge the gap from one school year to the next for vulnerable youth who lose access to basic needs like healthy food and safe spaces during the summer months." - Danny Koba, Sr. Executive Director of Youth Development, YMCA of Silicon Valley
Summer Enrichment Grant, made possible by ARPA funding: "During the shutdown period, we developed Camp Sea Hugger to help families who were struggling with distance learning and working from home. [The Summer Enrichment Grant] enables us...to offer scholarships and provide transportation to excursions. Thank you County of San Mateo!” - Shell Cleave, Sea Hugger Founder
Click on the headers below to learn more about the County's recovery initiatives:
Housing:
- Homelessness: Navigation Center and/or acquisition of additional hotels to support residents experiencing homelessness ($20,000,000)
- Modular Housing Pilot: a “test and learn” pilot project to conduct environmental and other pre-development work to determine the cost and amount of time it takes to develop affordable housing with modular units, with the potential to replicate or expand the approach using additional ARPA funding ($1,500,000)
- Safe Parking Program in Pacifica: contributions to support two years of the safe parking program in the City of Pacifica ($400,000)
- Emergency Rent, Utilities and Transportation Assistance: funding to help prevent homelessness by providing rental assistance to qualifying renters ($2,000,000)
- Eviction Counseling and Legal Representation: funding to meet the anticipated demand for eviction counseling and legal services once the eviction moratorium ends on June 30, 2022 ($2,000,000)
- Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) Help Center: funding to cover the start-up costs of a countywide ADU Help Center modeled on such a center serving Napa and Sonoma Counties ($250,000)
- Affordable Housing Expertise for Small and Mid-Sized Cities: funding to support the start-up costs of a shared housing consultants program to provide affordable housing expertise to small and mid-sized cities that lack staff with affordable housing development experience ($125,000)
- Affordable Housing Expertise for School Districts and Faith Leaders: funding to pilot a project to provide affordable housing development consulting expertise to a small group of school districts and faith leaders that may be interested in developing worker and/or affordable housing ($125,000)
- ARPA Eligible Affordable Housing Needs: funding to be used for all types of housing; specific initiatives are yet to be determined but may include shelters and associated supportive services, interim housing and the supports needed by residents of those facilities, or development of affordable housing units ($20,000,000)
Children and Families:
- Summer 2022 Enrichment Programs: grants for 68 summer programs of all types for students in school districts with high numbers of socially and economically disadvantaged students ($3,300,000)
- Family Day Care Provider Grants: $10,000 grants to 87 family day care providers to assist them in continuing to operate their facilities, which primarily serve infants and toddlers ($870,000)
- Big Lift Summer 2022: one-time additional funding for the Big Lift to support an additional week of programing for all students, along with recruitment stipends for teachers, in summer 2022 ($505,000)
- 2022 Childcare Grant Program: to provide grants to San Mateo County Child Care Centers and Family Child Care Homes that serve infants and toddlers, families who are lower income, and children with special needs ($4,095,000)
- Technical Assistance for Child Care Center Development: funding for the Build Up Initiative within the Child Care Coordinating Council of San Mateo County (4Cs) to engage a consultant to help developers in San Mateo County incorporate childcare centers into their projects ($100,000)
- 2022-2023 Out-of-School Care Grant Program: funds to increase the availability of before and after school and school vacation programs for socioeconomically disadvantaged students in the County ($2,500,000)
- 2023 Summer Enrichment Grant Program: grants for summer programs of all types for youth from historically marginalized or underrepresented communities ($2,500,000)
Economic Recovery:
- Business Support: funds for the creation of the North County Small Business Center, for the Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center, and for WeHope to develop a modular housing manufacturing plant in East Palo Alto ($5,500,000)
- Environmental Health Fees: one-time support to about 5,400 businesses to offset revenue losses incurred due to restrictive COVID-19 Health Orders ($5,150,000)
- SMC Strong Small Business Assistance Program: 200 grants of $10,000 each to eligible small businesses that have not received a County or state/federal small business COVID recovery grant or loan in past 12 months, plus $75,000 to SMCU Community Fund to administer the program ($2,075,000)
- Micro Food Business Grant Program: grants of up to $2,500 for cottage food operators, $5,000 for caterers, food trucks, food carts, and $10,000 for commissaries and incubator kitchens ($500,000)
- Microenterprise Home Kitchen Ordinance (MEHKO) Pilot and Grant Program: $238,000 for EHS to operate MEHKO pilot permitting program and $62,500 for individual grants of $2,500 to 25 MEHKO permit holders ($300,000)
- Whole-person Workforce Training and Job Placement Pilot: pilot project to test a “whole person” workforce development model that provides wrap-around support to help clients meet all their needs while developing the skills and education to advance their career ($400,000)
- Certification Support for Women and Minority Owned Businesses: funding to help local women- and minority-owned businesses become certified under federal and state rules ($200,000)
- ADA Technical Assistance for Small Businesses: program to provide information to small businesses to help them comply with Americans With Disabilities (ADA) requirements and increase accessibility in the County ($400,000)
- Small Business and Job Seeker Center: funding start-up and two years of operation for two small business and job seeker centers, one in North Fair Oaks, and one in Half Moon Bay ($5,000,000)
Vulnerable Populations:
- Home Delivered Meals Expansion for Older Adults: expansion of the County’s home delivered meals program for older adults for two years, following the end of the Great Plates Delivered program ($1,950,000)
- Second Harvest of Silicon Valley Emergency Food Assistance: emergency food assistance for vulnerable populations and creation of grocery delivery programs for older adults ($4,550,000)
- Unincorporated Area Financial Aid: basic needs assistance for households in the mid and south coast and North Fair Oaks who were heavily impacted by the pandemic ($1,500,000)
- Mental Health First Aid: start-up funding for a Mental Health First Aid training program for staff and community members to recognize and support their family, friends, clients, and community members who are dealing with mental health issues ($200,000)
- Homeless Provider Mental Health and Wellness Support: resources for nonprofit organizations that serve our homeless residents to provide health and wellness support, events, and resources for their staff ($200,000)
- Full-Service Community Outreach Pilot Program: funding to develop a Promotora model pilot program, where trusted nonprofits serve as outreach providers to the Latinx community, providing information and assistance accessing County programs ($500,000)
Infrastructure:
- North Fair Oaks Infrastructure Plan: funding for sewer infrastructure planning for the unincorporated North Fair Oaks area ($1,400,000)
- Public WiFi Operations and Maintenance: funding for operation and maintenance of County Wi-Fi locations and other strategies to connect residents to quality, affordable internet access ($3,500,000)
