After two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, Tarrant County wants to focus on getting back to normal.
The county is now asking for suggestions on how to use the county's ARPA funds to help with recovery.
"These are focused on things like alleviating food insecurity, increasing access to youth services, (and) enhancing access to services for the aging population," says Kristen Camareno, assistant county administrator. "An example might be a program that provides preventative health options to help reduce health disparities in certain communities, a program that readies staff with the tools they need to increase the healthcare workforce in Tarrant County."
The county will accept proposals beginning Monday and only from nonprofits, local governments and quasi-governmental agencies.
"We are looking for organizations who have a track record of providing these types of services," says Camareno. "This is a very, very complex funding source."
The county will be dividing up $35.5 million in ARPA funds for these projects.
Applications will be accepted through May 16th, after which they will be evaluated.
"We're hoping to have all of the decisions made by the end of June," says Camarena. That allows time for scoring and evaluation and presentation to the Commissioner's Court for final approval."
If entities can chip in some money of their own, that would greatly help their cause.
"Our evaluation criteria encourages that by awarding additional points for matching funds that that agency can contribute to the project," Camarena says.
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