• Introduction
  • American Rescue Plan and other Federal COVID-19 Stimulus Packages
  • Federal Agency COVID-19 Resources
  • White House Declarations, Guidance and Executive Orders
  • State Government Resources
  • Local Government Resources
  • Nonprofit Resources
  • Additional Resources
  • Media Resources

American Rescue Plan and COVID-19 Resources

Updates for Federal, State, and Local Policymakers

Results for America is committed to working with our partners at every level of government to help them respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. On this resources page, we’ll be sharing the latest updates, including summaries of and links to new federal laws and legislation, federal agency guidance, state government resources, local government actions, as well as other tools and resources to help policymakers who are looking for evidence-based solutions to protect their most vulnerable residents.

American Rescue Plan (ARP)

American Rescue Plan
President Biden signed the American Rescue Plan (ARP) on March 11, 2021. This $1.9 trillion economic recovery package includes $350 billion for local, state, and tribal governments.  The ARP offers a historic opportunity for local, state, and tribal governments to invest in pandemic recovery efforts that will accelerate long-term economic mobility, close racial gaps and improve the way these governments make decisions over time.

The Biden Administration has signaled that it wants state and local governments to use all the tools available to make better decisions and maximize the impact from their $350 billion in American Rescue Plan (ARP) funds. The Administration has provided significant flexibility, as well as the guidance and tools necessary to invest in what works through ground-breaking executive orders, memorandum, interim guidance on fiscal recovery fund use, as well as compliance and reporting guidance. Tools such as data-systems that can provide disaggregated data and evidence-based intervention clearinghouses such as the Economic Mobility Catalog can help state and local policymakers invest their funds in a way that will create healthy, thriving, equitable communities.

Program State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund (SLFRF) Interim Guidance: Data and Evidence Infrastructure Provisions

On May 10, 2021, the U.S. Treasury Department issued its Interim ARP Guidance for State and Local Government Fiscal Recovery Funds which specifically authorized local, state, and tribal governments to invest the $350 billion described above to build and strengthen their data and evidence infrastructures. Results for America (RFA) issued recommendations to the U.S. Treasury Department on March 22, 2021, including several which were ultimately included in Treasury’s May 10th interim guidance.

This guidance is exciting because it could help cities and states to make significant progress toward meeting the criteria in Results for America’s What Works Cities Certification and Invest in What Works State Standard of Excellence.  This RFA Summary describes how.

Compliance and Reporting Guidance: Evidence-Based Solutions Provisions

The U.S. Treasury Department issued Compliance and Reporting Guidance on June 17th that reinforces the drive to maximize the impact of these investments using data and focusing on equity.  It defines evidence of effectiveness for the first time in a federal recovery package and encourages local, state, and tribal governments to invest their $350 billion in ARP funds in evidence-based solutions. It also requires these governments to track outcomes on key investments that will advance economic mobility, such as evidence-based tutoring programs, sectoral job training programs, home visiting programs, and more. It promotes data-driven practices to get better results by:

  • Requiring local, state and tribal governments to identify whether they are investing in evidence-based interventions and/or conducting rigorous evaluations of their projects;
  • Defining evidence of effectiveness in a federal recovery package for the first time. The guidance  encourages local, state, and tribal government leaders to invest their ARP funds in solutions backed by strong, moderate or preliminary evidence.
    • Results for America’s Economic Mobility Catalog can help these leaders identify the most evidence-based economic mobility interventions in the country and understand how cities have recently implemented them.
  • Encouraging community engagement and inclusion of diverse feedback from constituents, community based organizations, and the communities themselves in planning efforts;
  • Promoting equitable outcomes by measuring progress for historically underserved groups;
  • Encouraging the use of evidence clearinghouses and learning agendas, as well as disaggregated data;
  • Building evidence by asking state and local governments focused on the same set of outcomes to participate in national evaluations; and
  • Requiring output and outcomes measures, as well as reporting of data on the number of children and families benefiting from evidence-based tutoring programs, sectoral job training programs, home visiting programs, and more.

This evidence-based, results-driven guidance will support and incentivize state, local and tribal governments to improve the impact of their investment of $350 billion in American Rescue Plan (ARP) funds, while also improving their long-term decision making capacity.

RFA has identified 5 key provisions in the ARPA guidance that state and local governments should leverage to advance economic recovery, economic mobility, and racial equity by building the capacity for planning, data collection and analysis, policy development, and technology use, among others. This will enable leaders to better track results and build capacity to sustain outcomes over time.  Results for America’s Economic Mobility Catalog provides examples of programs that state and local governments can invest in using ARPA dollars.

Results for America ARP Fact Sheets and Resources:

Federal Agency ARP Factsheets and Resources:

 

Other COVID-19 Recovery Packages 

American Jobs Plan

On April 12, 2021, the White House released state-by-state fact sheets on the proposed, urgent investments needed in each state that will be funded by the American Jobs Plan.

American Families Plan

On April 28, 2021, the White House released a fact sheet on the proposed American Families plan that makes an investment in our kids, our families, and our economic future, including evidence-based initiatives such as universal pre-K, home visiting, and higher-education student supports.

Past Federal Stimulus Packages:

Federal Agency COVID-19 Resources

White House Declarations, Guidance and Executive Orders

State Government Resources

Local Government Resources

Nonprofit Resources

Additional Resources

Media Resources

 

Results for America will be updating these resources regularly. We encourage you to send our team additional resources and leading or promising practices and policies that you and/or others in federal, state and local government have developed that could help other policymakers respond to this crisis.

 

The information above has been updated as of June 21, 2021:

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