Homeowner Assistance Fund

The American Rescue Plan provided $280 million to help homeowners who are behind on their mortgage payments or utilities. Through its Save the Dream program, the Ohio Housing Finance Agency (OHFA) has spent 68% of its total allotment as of 11/22/2023. Click here to see detailed expenditures. 

REMAINING:

$89,962,379.00

Childcare

The American Rescue Plan Act issued three streams of federal funding to states through the Child Care and Development Fund which include Supplemental Discretionary, Stabilization, and Mandatory/Matching funds. The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS) created the Child Care Stabilization Sub-Grants for these efforts. Click here to see detailed expenditures. Last updated 4/2/2024.

TOTAL:

$1,298,889,384.00

REMAINING:

$4,328,065.00

Head Start

Head Start is a federal program that supports the school readiness of low-income children from birth to age five by providing programs and learning in language, literacy, and social and emotional development. The American Rescue Plan Act included $1 billion for Head Start, of which Ohio is set to receive almost $40 million. Ohio Head Start providers receive funding directly from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Click here to see detailed expenditures through 4/2/2024.

TOTAL:

$40,195,604.10

REMAINING:

$3,680,630.51

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) 

The American Rescue Plan provided supplemental federal funding to states through the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) to be used for existing allowable uses under IDEA, including supporting the provision of special education and related services for children with disabilities and their families. IDEA funding is split into three categories: Grants to States, Preschool, and Infants & Toddlers. Click here to see detailed expenditures through 4/5/2024.

REMAINING:

$7,399,775.00

Elementary & Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ESSER)

The Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ESSER) is the second-largest funding pot awarded to Ohio through ARPA, with the State Fiscal Recovery Fund being the largest. ESSER provided $4.5 billion in funding to Ohio public elementary and secondary schools to address learning loss, return to safe in-person instruction, address needs arising from COVID, provide mental health supports, implement after-school and summer learning programs, and more. ESSER funds do not have a "supplement, not supplant" guardrail. Ohio also received $29 million to specifically address learning loss and provide wrap-around services to Homeless Children and Youth (ESSER-HCY). ODE testified before the House Finance Subcommittee on ARPA to discuss ESSER on 3/31/2023. Click here to see detailed expenditures through 3/27/2024.

TOTAL:

$4,475,243,513.00

REMAINING:

$1,639,047,437.00

Emergency Assistance to Nonpublic Schools (EANS)

Emergency Assistance to Nonpublic Schools (EANS), part of the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Fund (GEER), made more than $150 million in federal funding available to 147 Ohio nonpublic schools. ODE contracted with Educational Service Centers to distribute funding, administer the program, and provide technical assistance. Click here to see detailed expenditures through 8/22/2023.

TOTAL:

$155,190,488.00

REMAINING:

$6,803,370.00

Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund 

The Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund III (HEERF III), authorized for a third time in the American Rescue Plan Act, provided $39.6 billion to institutions of higher education (IHEs) across the country to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and provide emergency financial aid grants to students. Across all HEERF III programs, Ohio IHEs have received more than $1 billion. Funding was distributed directly from the U.S. Department of Education to Ohio institutions. Existing funding must be spent by 6/30/2023, with one-year extensions available. Click here to see detailed expenditures through 4/2/2024. Recent data from the U.S. Department of Education show that 356,004 students from 198 different institutions received more than $587 million in emergency financial aid from HEERF funds, averaging $1,650 in emergency aid per student.

REMAINING:

$12,198,895.75

Allocation

A distribution of funds or an expenditure limit established for an organizational unit or function. 

Appropriation

The designation of money for a government expenditure; the amount of money designated for a particular purpose. 

ARPA

The American Rescue Plan Act was signed into law on March 11, 2021 to provide funding for state, local, and tribal governments. The United States Department of Treasury is responsible for dispersing the funds.

Controlling Board/CB

The Controlling Board is a mechanism used to adjust the state budget. Per Section 127.12 of the Ohio Revised Code, the Controlling Board consists of seven members: the Director of the Office of Budget and Management or an employee of the Office of Budget and Management designated by the Director, the Chair or Vice Chair of the Senate and House Finance Committees, a majority member appointed from both the Senate and the House, and a minority member appointed from both the Senate and the House.

CRF

Coronavirus Relief Fund – Authorized by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, CRF provided state and select local governments across the country with flexible funding to respond to the COVID-19 emergency. Local governments with populations greater than 500,000 received direct payments from the U.S. Department of Treasury. For all other local governments, states were required to transfer 45% of that state’s CRF allocation to local governments with populations of 500,000 or less. Nationwide allocations, FAQs, and guidance available on Treasury’s website. 

Expenditure

The execution of a previously approved or passed allocation in which government funds are spent on goods and services or distributed to programs and entities.

Final Rule

Click here for a link to the final rule. As ARPA was being developed, there was interim guidance on what the funds could or could not be used for. On January 6, 2022, DOT released the Final Rule for ARPA with guidance on what the funds can and cannot be used for. The funds CAN be used for response to the public health emergency, provide premium pay to essential workers, replace revenue lost due to the pandemic, invest in water, sewer, and broadband infrastructure.

FY

Fiscal Year – a one-year period used by the government for financial reporting and budgeting that may not coincide with the calendar year.

HAF

Homeowner Assistance Fund – Section 3206 of the American Rescue Plan Act established the HAF. The United States Department of Treasury released guidance regarding this fund and indicated it was established to,

“mitigate financial hardships associated with the coronavirus pandemic by providing funds to eligible entities for the purpose of preventing homeowner mortgage delinquencies, defaults, foreclosures, loss of utilities or home energy services, and displacements of homeowners experiencing financial hardship after January 21, 2020, through qualified expenses related to mortgages and housing.” 

LFRF

Local Fiscal Recovery Fund – part of the American Rescue Plan Act delivering money to local governments across the country to aid recovery from the COVID-19 public health emergency.

Line Item

A line item is a unique number identifying a specific use for funds at the state level across state budgets, state legislation, and Controlling Board allocations. Line items can be used to search for allocations at the state level and to search for expenditures within a specific line item. Most Ohio line items can be found in the Catalog of Budget Line Items. 

NEU

Non-entitlement units are local governments typically serving populations of less than 50,000.

SFRF

State Fiscal Recovery Fund – part of the American Rescue Plan Act providing state governments across the country with resources to aid recovery from the COVID-19 public health emergency.