 This week’s edition of the Office of Recovery Newsletter features a program that can help increase public safety, an overview of federal funding resources available to Kansas Non-Entitlement Units (NEUs) and important information regarding the Kansas Emergency Rental Assistance (KERA) program. Our Community Impact profile goes in depth about the Kansas “Stepping Up” Technical Assistance Center, which helps counties reduce the prevalence of people with serious mental illness in jails. This week’s program spotlight contains important information regarding funding allocations to Kansas communities as the deadline to accept or decline American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds is July 26, 2021. For the latest informational resources available to Kansans, see the “Updates to Services and Support” section of this newsletter.
For the most up-to-date information, please visit the Office of Recovery website at:
COVID.ks.gov
Increasing Public Safety using Federal Relief Funds
The Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services (KDADS) has partnered with The Council of State Governments Justice Center to help counties reduce the prevalence of people with serious mental illness in jails through the Kansas “Stepping Up” Technical Assistance (TA) Center.
The Kansas “Stepping Up” TA Center offers counties virtual and in-person technical assistance to develop locally informed, data-driven solutions for their communities.
Participating counties receive:
- Connections with sites across Kansas and nationally to facilitate peer learning and provide concrete examples of successful strategies and policies
- Access to national experts and a central information bank on best practices
- Guidance on the high-impact strategies and policies that achieve lasting results
Counties will receive this assistance via written resources, trainings and consistent one-on-one outreach and support. Through the Stepping Up Initiative, participating counties have successfully reduced the number of people with serious mental illness in local jails with programs like co-responder positions with police departments, mental health staff in jails, specialty courts and diversion programs for those that access behavioral health services, and other crisis services. Counties are welcome to join the center at any time.
Additionally, the Kansas “Stepping Up” TA Center is offering a variety of upcoming events, including a series of peer-to-peer connection hours. These online sessions will provide a way for counties to collaborate on topics related to current projects, policy implementation and process improvements and data collection, among others. These recurring meetings are held on the last Thursday of each month and can be joined here. Additionally, all counties are encouraged to participate in a three-part virtual training opportunity. The first training of this series will be on July 27, 2021, and will involve an in-depth discussion on the Stepping Up framework. Register for the training session here.
According to the U.S. Department of the Treasury, ARPA Local Fiscal Recovery Fund (LFRF) dollars may be eligible to implement these “Stepping Up” strategies and other programs related to public safety (see FAQ 2.19).
To learn more about technical assistance opportunities, email KansasSteppingUp@csg.org or join the Kansas “Stepping Up” mailing list. You can also watch a webinar on the “Stepping Up” TA Center here. For further information, please reference the available one-pager found here
 Federal Funding Resources for Kansas Non-Entitlement Units (NEUs)
The Kansas Office of Recovery (RO) is encouraging non-entitlement units of local government (“NEUs”, which are defined as cities with populations less than 50,000) in Kansas to act now to accept or decline their allocations under the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA).
To facilitate the receipt, spending, monitoring and reporting of federal awards under ARPA for NEUs, the RO established an application portal for communities to provide the key data and signed agreements as required by the federal guidance. Your community can choose to accept or decline funds via the application portal, but action must be taken by the deadline of Monday, July 26, 2021. Initial payments will be issued by 7/31/21 to NEUs that meet the application deadline.
A direct link to the application has been distributed to each community’s contact. If you have not received portal instructions or if you have any questions, please reach out to the RO via the Contact Us form or by calling (785) 368-8507. A complete list of NEUs that will receive ARPA funds can be found here.
Future notifications specific to the ARPA allocations for NEUs from the State of Kansas (SOK), as well as notifications of new guidance and resources, will be sent to the RO’s listserv. It is important that at least one person responsible for city finances remain subscribed to our listserv. To add or remove subscribers, use the Contact Us form at the top of the Office of Recovery website and select the category for contact information updates.
The Kansas Emergency Rental Assistance (KERA) Program is administered by the Kansas Housing Resources Corporation (KHRC) and provides rent, utility and internet assistance to households financially impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. As of July 15, 2021, KHRC has issued nearly $16 million to roughly 2,800 households as part of the KERA program. Landlords and tenants can apply via a joint online process, and approved applicants are eligible for up to 12 months of assistance.
To learn more and apply online, click here. Additionally, more information for tenants regarding KERA can be found here, and information for landlords is here.
American Rescue Plan Act
- The latest version of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on ARPA can be found here. FAQs will be updated frequently, with edits highlighted in the RO newsletter.
- Local Governments and State Agencies can find a checklist to use before spending ARPA funds here. This content was developed by the RO in partnership with CliftonLarsonAllen.
For the latest on how 2020 COVID Relief Funds are spent, please visit the Investment Dashboard for the previous month's updates.
For additional support in spending and reporting federal relief funds, please consider attending a webinar or Q&A session hosted by the RO. Upcoming sessions include:
Grant Implementation: Next Steps
Attend this presentation by the Office of Recovery technical assistance advisors to learn how to conduct a risk assessment and set up the internal controls needed to meet Federal program requirements.
This webinar will take place Wednesday, July 28 at 11 AM CT. You can register for this webinar here: Webinar Registration. To access recordings of past webinars, follow this link to our website: https://covid.ks.gov/webinar-materials/
Office of Recovery Q&A Sessions
Join us for an opportunity to ask the Office of Recovery questions about applying for funds, guidance from Treasury, upcoming deadlines, and other topics. These sessions will be held every Thursday at 1 PM CT. You can join any session by clicking here: Join Q&A Session
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