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Ad hoc committee votes to encumber remaining ARPA funds for Braid Foundation’s YouthConnect program
Summary
The Shelby County Racial Equity Ad Hoc Committee voted Nov. 14 to recommend amending an existing ARPA contract to add roughly $450,000 to the Braid Foundation’s YouthConnect program; the recommendation will be included in a Dec. 11 committee resolution for encumbrance.
The Shelby County Racial Equity Ad Hoc Committee on Nov. 14 voted to recommend that roughly $450,000 in remaining ARPA funds be added to the existing contract with the Braid Foundation to support YouthConnect, a youth mental-health counseling program.
Dr. Earl Fisher, senior pastor at Abyssinian Baptist Church, moved the recommendation; Joselle Booker of the MNBC Continuum seconded. Committee roll call recorded affirmative votes by participants present, and Chair Edmund Ford Jr. declared, “the ayes have it.” The committee directed staff to place the recommendation on the Dec. 11 committee agenda so the funds can be encumbered before the Dec. 31 deadline.
Sandy Bromley, director of the Shelby County Division of Community Services, told the committee the county had committed about $550,000 of a $1,000,000 ARPA allocation and the remaining $450,000 could be added to the contract with the Braid Foundation to expand YouthConnect services. Bromley said the amendment would be processed as a contract amendment under the existing ARPA award and staff will provide exact figures and contract language to the committee ahead of the December meeting.
The action is administrative (amendment and encumbrance of federal ARPA funds) rather than a new ordinance or grant award; committee members asked that staff be prepared with program and demographic metrics when the item comes to the December committee for final encumbrance.
What’s next: the committee’s recommendation will be incorporated into a Dec. 11 committee resolution to encumber funds. Staff said the timeline must be met so unspent ARPA dollars are not returned to the federal government.
