Will County grants staff outlines housing, childcare and opioid funding updates
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Summary
Samantha, a community development staff member, briefed the Will County Finance Committee on multiple grant programs — including an ERA closeout, a new home‑repair award for six homes, childcare grants funded by cannabis tax revenue, and a $1.5 million sheriff’s camera grant — and answered follow‑up data requests.
Samantha, a community development division staff member, told the Will County Finance Committee that the county will open applications in April for capital grants managed through its CDBG, HOME and ESG programs and that technical workshops are scheduled in March. She said the county’s application and reporting software (Amplifund, branded UniGrants) now manages about 302 grants and supports weekly grantee office hours.
Samantha said the county won a home repair and accessibility grant to reestablish a scaled “Safe at Home” program, targeting six houses (one for roof rehabilitation and five for full accessibility rehabilitation) with a planned spring launch and two homeowners already identified. Committee members asked for a list of the six award recipients and for ways to expand access; Samantha agreed to provide more detailed recipient information.
On housing stabilization, Samantha said the county closed out its federal Emergency Rental Assistance program after receiving $16,000,000 and submitting a final closeout report last month. She described a smaller, ongoing county program funded from the county’s cannabis retail allocation that offers eviction remediation and housing supports, and said county staff expect to continue seeking funding during budget discussions because demand remains high.
Samantha addressed administrative costs tied to the ERA program after committee members raised concern that administrative expenses appeared large. She said an earlier contractor administered the program and expended more than $700,000 in administrative fees; after bringing operations in‑house the county entered an agreement with the Will County Center for Community Concerns, which charged about $90,000 for day‑to‑day payment processing while county internal costs (staff and fringe) totaled roughly $200,000. Samantha said future administrative costs would likely be lower if the county continues local management rather than relying on large outside contractors.
On other grant lines, Samantha said two Rebuild Illinois capital appropriations remain (about $1,000,000 total), with $790,000 repurposed to the VAC relocation and an additional $500,000 expected through an upcoming appropriation. She also described cannabis‑retailer-occupation‑tax-funded childcare provider grants: over two years the county awarded 48 childcare grants (26 the first year, 25 the second, with one award declined due to FOIA/reporting concerns), with awards up to $10,000; Samantha said roughly $400,000 has been provided to local day‑care providers and that 60% of awarded childcare funds went to centers in or adjacent to R3 zoning areas.
Samantha said the community revitalization grant program funded 14 awards; about 70% of that appropriation remains, with $197,000 obligated so far and a $15,000 per-award ceiling. She previewed a community mental health board presentation for the committee next week, noting this cycle’s requests totaled about $9.2 million against a planned $4.0 million appropriation.
On opioid settlement funding, Samantha said the county expects roughly $7,000,000 annually from settlement distributions; the county has obligated $596,000 across seven awards so far (award amounts range from $25,000 to $250,000) and about 57% of that appropriation is already spent in active projects. She also reported that the Manhattan Police Department conducted department‑wide Narcan training with assistance from Will County Health Department staff.
Samantha closed by noting the sheriff’s office secured a $1,500,000 camera grant to replace 185 in‑car squad cameras, to provide storage for body‑camera footage, and to offset training and conference travel for the new camera system. Committee members thanked Samantha and requested additional district‑level breakdowns of childcare and ERA assistance; Samantha agreed to provide per‑district and per‑year figures at follow up.
The committee did not take action on any grant awards during the meeting; staff committed to return with requested recipient lists and allocations at future meetings.