In March 2021, Congress passed the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), providing $1.9 trillion to states, counties, and local jurisdictions for COVID-19 relief.
Overall, Kansas received $39.3 million in funding; the City of Lawrence received $1,641,383 through the HOME-ARP Act. Douglas County has received $23.7 million through the ARP State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF). The county immediately identified these funding sources as key sources for financing the capital development of supportive housing in the city and county.
The community had been experiencing a gap in the supply of supportive housing to meet the need seen locally. In September 2021, Douglas County contracted with CSH to review local data on supportive housing needs to plan for how much housing to build and understand what populations to prioritize for new developments.
This report presents findings that project the scale of need for supportive housing for populations experiencing homelessness and at-risk of experiencing homelessness in Douglas County. The findings offer projections based on local data and input from stakeholders across
the county on how much supportive housing is needed. Further, the report models financing for the supportive housing – specifically projecting how much capital, operating, and support services funding is needed to meet the local need.