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IfA <br />�vEl? <br />Office of the <br />.> INDIAN RIVER COUNTY <br />* * ADMINISTRATOR <br />Jason E. Brown, County Administrator <br />Michael C. Zito, Assistant County Administrator <br />MEMORANDUM <br />TO: Members of the Board <br />of County Commissioners <br />FROM: Jason E. Brown <br />County Administrator <br />DATE: November 8, 2021 <br />SUBJECT: CARES Act and ARP Funded Community Support Programs - <br />Recommended Sunset Date <br />Background <br />The County received funding from the Federal Government through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and <br />Economic Security (CARES) Act in 2020 and the American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act in 2021 for <br />responding to COVID-19 and its impact on the community. A significant portion of CARES Act dollars <br />($9.6 million) was allocated to community support programs and economic development programs ($2.6 <br />million). These programs provided assistance to numerous county residents and small businesses. Some <br />services were provided by community partners (e.g. United Way of Indian River County, Treasure Coast <br />Food Bank), while others were administered by County staff. The vast majority of these programs were <br />wrapped up by September 30th of this year, and earlier in some cases. Funding agreements with our <br />community partners terminated on September 3e as well. This was true for our agreements with other <br />governmental entities (e.g. cities, School District) for the most part, with limited exceptions, such as an <br />extension with Fellsmere to December 1'to allow for completion of their broadband study. <br />Since the CARES Act was received in 2020, many of the community support programs were aimed at <br />some of the impacts of the early phases of COVID-19, such as small business assistance to help with <br />recovery from business closures and general consumption decreases as a result of the pandemic. By the <br />time that the County received our initial ARP allocation in May of 2021, we had shifted the focus of <br />most of the community support programs to more of the current and anticipated lingering effects of <br />COVID-19. For instance, much of the United Way funding has been allocated to support mental health <br />services. Likewise, the County has funded the SHARP Program, which is a supplement to the long- <br />running SHIP Program to address the worsening of housing affordability for many residents of the <br />20 <br />