Your Quick Guide to Securing ARP Funding for Your Health GIS Strategies

Welcome to this first blog in a series focused on helping health organizations secure funding for their strategic health geographic information system (GIS) initiatives. In this installment, I would like to bring attention to and connect you to some of the significant funding resources available now. In future installments, I will provide uses cases and real-world examples from forward-thinking health organizations who are leveraging federal funding to achieve their objectives.

Federal relief funding for pandemic recovery provides health departments with a massive opportunity to invest in and advance the use of technology. During the COVID-19 response, GIS, in particular, was the technology that allowed health professionals to innovate and adapt at an amazing pace. This same technology can and does support health departments as they work to respond to new challenges, improve access to care, and enhance quality of life.

So, with the considerable influx of funds available to support public health, human services, and health care organization needs through the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARP), are you getting yours? I hope so because there is something for every health organization to support their GIS investment.

To understand the available funding, let’s group the opportunities into three distinct buckets:

1. Direct funding− These monies are, as titled, directly allocated to all state and local governments for a variety of health and non-health-related functions.  
2. Funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)− These health-focused funds are awarded through the various agencies and offices of U.S. HHS.
3. Funding from Non-Health Related Agencies− Several national U.S. agencies not formally related to health are supporting health initiatives through their ARP funds.

Below are some specifics for each of the above funding buckets and tips on how to align your programs to take advantage of each allocation.

Bucket 1: Your Guide to the Direct Funding

One of the largest allocations of ARP dollars are the State and Local Fiscal Recovery funds in the amount of $362 billion. This substantial infusion of money is already earmarked for every state and county in the country and is meant to provide relief related to the “consequences of the pandemic” (lots of flexibility here) and support work that will continue and improve COVID-19 response and recovery in an equitable way (more on that in an upcoming blog). That support can be provided by non-governmental organizations since the government is allowed to pass funds. This seems like a perfect opportunity to work collaboratively to address cross-cutting needs. According to the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the funding objectives for this bucket of money are to:

• Support urgent COVID-19 response efforts to continue to decrease spread of the virus and bring the pandemic under control.
• Replace lost revenue for eligible state, local, territorial and Tribal governments to strengthen support for vital public services and help retain jobs.
• Support immediate economic stabilization for households and businesses.
• Address systemic public health and economic challenges that have contributed to the unequal impact of the pandemic.

Here are some of the funding conditions/specifics for direct funding:

• Must commit to spending funds by 12/31/2024 – so you have lots of time.
• Money must be spent by 12/31/2026.
• Funds can be used retroactively to cover investments/needs from March 2020 forward.
• Larger jurisdictions will be required to submit interim reports related to their funded initiatives.
• To request funds, use the portal on the U.S. Department of the Treasury website.

Tips for investigating and pursuing direct funding:

• See the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) article on what the COVID-19 stimulus bill means for states. This site provides a nice overview. Be sure to scroll down to the grey boxed section to read more detail within the following sections:
  • Direct Economic Stimulus Funding to States, Territories, Local and Tribal Governments. If you purchased GIS software or services (like those needed to create and configure COVID-19 dashboards) for pandemic response, you can apply funds to cover those costs.
  • Health Provisions. Monies in this section cover GIS activities like modernizing infrastructure for various COVID-19 needs like health data surveillance and site selection as a part of expanding services.
  • Human Services. Funds here support expansion of services to the most vulnerable including but not limited to issues of child welfare, domestic violence, aging and disability, and home energy needs. GIS can support this need by identifying areas of highest need and tracking interventions and outcomes.
  • Technology/Health Care/Biomedical. A key area of funding in this category is related to broadening tele-health capabilities. GIS supports the expansion of tele-health by pinpointing areas of low access to care/services, analyzing most likely services needed by geography, and reviewing local contextual conditions that would either support or act as a barrier to tele-health (e.g. broadband availability).

While the last 3 subsections above overlap with funding buckets 2 and 3 below, they are nicely summarized on this NCSL page.   

• The National Association of Counties (NACo) does a great job of breaking down the ARP funding as well. Learn more from their interactive website. Use this site to dive into the funding area of interest (such as State Fiscal Recovery Funds, Local Fiscal Recovery Funds or Coronavirus Capital Projects). You’ll get quick information on funding goals and requirements as well ask links to requests.

Bucket 2: Your Guide to the Funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Many of you are well aware of the direct funding available above, which is great. What I’m not hearing people talk about, is the infusion of funding that’s going into existing health programs. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has received billions of dollars over prior funding levels to support and advance the programs of its various agencies and offices. This funding will make it to local health departments via grants. This means, to access this bucket of money, you must apply – it is not guaranteed. A few examples include investment in the CDC to improve the national data surveillance and analytics infrastructure ($8 billion), tracking vaccines and infections among Tribes as well as strengthening the IT and telehealth infrastructure of the Indian Health Service ($5.5 billion), supporting the ongoing pandemic-related work of community health centers via the HHS Secretary (7.6 billion), and stepping up efforts through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to pandemic related mental health and substance use disorders ($425 million). This is just the tip of the iceberg, and, of course, these monies can then be provided as grants to supporting public health and health care organizations.

Tips for investigating and pursuing funding from US HHS:

• I’ve found that the best way to figure out how much is available and the intended use of the money is to use the website for the ARP Act. There is a nice summary tab that makes for quick navigation (especially if you do a Ctrl+F search on terms like ‘health’ or ‘public health.’) Once you locate a section of interest, toggle over to the Text tab, navigate to the appropriate section and review all the relevant specifics of the law. To get you started, here are some of the sections I found that are focused on health.
  • Title II: COMMITTEE ON HEALTH, EDUCATION, LABOR AND PENSIONS
    • Subtitle C: Human Services and Community Supports
    • Subtitle D: Public Health
    • Subtitle E: Testing
    • Subtitle F: Public Health Workforce
    • Subtitle G: Public Health Investments
    • Subtitle H: Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder
    • Subtitle I:   Exchange Grant Program (relates to technology modernization)
  • Title IX: COMMITTEE ON FINANCE
    • Subtitle J: Medicaid
    • Subtitle K: Children’s Health Insurance Program
    • Subtitle L: Medicare
  • Title XI: COMMITTEE ON INDIAN AFFAIRS
• To find the grant opportunities that U.S. HHS agencies and offices are funding, you can visit www.grants.gov and search the system. It’s worthwhile to note that even the regular grant opportunities you’re accustomed to are likely hyper-funded as a part of pandemic response and rebuilding. If your interest is specific to coronavirus, please see this HHS site with guidance and information. Furthermore, you can review all of the various COVID-19 awards available, including those related to ARP here. There are many COVID relief programs to tap into (such as CARES). Don’t limit yourself.
• As you prepare your grant applications, you should ensure that equity is a key theme in your work and innovation/technology/infrastructure is addressed. GIS offers powerful capabilities in both areas. If you would like help in building GIS into your grant proposal, please contact your account manager. We’d be happy to assist.

Bucket 3: Your Guide to the Funding from Non-Health Related Agencies

I’m sure it will come as no surprise to those reading this blog that health is a part of everything we do to support our communities. Many government organizations, for example, operationalize this through the ‘health in all policies’ effort. With this approach, it makes perfect sense that there would be funding opportunities available for the work of the health community that come from organizations not generally considered to be health centric. Funding under this bucket will also be allocated via grants, and you must apply to take advantage. For example, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is funding food security programs and modernization of the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program. The Department of Housing and Urban Development has $10.75 billion to devote to housing and homeless assistance and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has billions to spend on bridging the digital divide with expanded broadband, a critical foundation for the expansion of tele-health programs. Funding for health is all around us.

Tips for investigating and pursuing funding from non-health related agencies:

• As with the U.S. HHS funding, I would use the website for the ARP Act in the same way, searching for key terms in health to find the funding opportunities. Again, here’s a head start.
  • Title I: COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE, NUTRITION, AND FORESTRY
    • Subtitle A: Agriculture (nutrition, rural health needs)
    • Subtitle B: Nutrition (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, SNAP)
  • Title III: COMMITTEE ON BANKING, HOUSING, AND URBAN AFFAIRS
    • Subtitle B: Housing Provisions
  • Title VI: COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENT AND PUBLIC WORKS (for health outcomes disparities from pollution and the COVID-19 pandemic)
  • Title VIII: COMMITTEE ON VETERANS’ AFFAIRS
  • Title IX: COMMITTEE ON FINANCE
    • Subtitle F: Preserving Health Benefits for Workers
• For work in this area, your GIS strategy may include conducting community health needs assessments, planning services for hard to reach people and places, and literally designing new community resources (like using ArcGIS Urban in expanding housing for people experiencing homelessness).

I personally am encouraged by the national recognition that the health industry needs additional support to be able to address the critical issues of individuals and populations across our country. The ARP Act of 2021 is a good start. If you haven’t already, please explore the significant funding opportunities before you. As the world recognized, through the prevalent COVID-19 dashboards from organizations such as John Hopkins University, GIS needs to be a part of your modernization strategy to address future challenges.  If you’re not sure where to start, we would be happy to partner with you to navigate funding criteria, prepare proposals and support your location strategy. By the way, funding requests are favored when they involve collaboration with nonprofits and/or private companies like Esri.

A few more broad resources:

• This document from the association of State and Territorial Health Officials offers a health-specific guide to funding opportunities available from HHS and non-health specific agencies. They do a nice job of linking to the opportunities, showing eligibility criteria and relevant dates.
• The American Hospital Association has reviewed the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 and determined the provisions that will specifically affect hospitals and health systems. If that applies to you, take a look here.

My next blogs in this series will share some specifics about how ARP-funded health GIS implementations can help you meet various health and equity goals. I’ll even share some examples of what others are doing with their funding to give you some ideas.

In the meantime, go get yours!