Pontiac, Michigan – Oakland County has allocated more than $27 million of its initial share of the American Rescue Plan (ARP) to address acute needs of residents and businesses. County Executive Dave Coulter and the Board of Commissioners will infuse $16 million of those funds into post-pandemic mental health resources and services. In addition, the remaining allotment will support workforce development, small business recovery, and legal aid for residents experiencing crisis housing and utility needs related to COVID-19.

“I’m so pleased that the Oakland County Board of Commissioners took swift and unanimous action on my administration’s proposals for continued COVID-relief funding through the American Rescue Plan. Despite encouraging numbers on the COVID-19 front, with declining case numbers and increasing vaccination rates, there still are acute needs that need to be addressed as we emerge from the pandemic,” Coulter said. “So, the millions that will be set aside for mental health treatment, workforce initiatives, housing assistance and services for businesses will go a long way to ensuring that our residents and businesses recover from this public health crisis.”

The Oakland County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved the Coulter administration’s recommendation for use of the ARP funds Wednesday night.

“These funds will address a handful of our immediate needs to improve our public and mental health, assist the most vulnerable, help workers secure good-paying jobs and accelerate our economic recovery,” Board Chairman David T. Woodward (D-Royal Oak) said. “Working closely with Executive Coulter, this is just one of the many bold steps Oakland County continues to take to guarantee we all come out of this pandemic stronger than we were before it began.”

Ten million dollars in ARP funds will establish the Oakland Together Mental Health and Wellbeing Non-profit Grant Program to offer grants to non-profit organizations delivering mental or behavioral health services and associated support services with a goal of increasing the capacity of these organizations to meet the growing demand for their services.

The county will designate another $4 million for the Oakland Together Mental Health and Wellbeing Emergency Room Services Grant Program to support health care providers experiencing an increase in patients visiting emergency rooms seeking mental or behavioral health care.

Next, $2 million will go toward the Oakland Together Mental Health and Wellbeing School Partnership Grant Program to increase availability of mental and behavioral services in Oakland County public schools. Program funding may be utilized for a one-to-one matching grant with Oakland County school districts to assist with costs associated with expanding access to behavioral health professionals, including social workers, psychologists or psychiatrists, and behavior analysts. Program funding may also be utilized to support Oakland County Youth Assistance and other initiatives that support mental and behavioral health and overall wellbeing of at-risk students.

Oakland County is utilizing more than $9.6 million of ARP funds to support small businesses and residents getting back to work, $6.6 million of which is committed to the Oakland Together Skilled & Educated Workforce Program. Here are the program details:

• More than $2.8 million to fund the Oakland80 Career Navigators project, which will fund between six and a dozen career navigators who will embed in communities throughout Oakland County to help individuals understand their skills and the potential education and training paths to gain access to high-quality in-demand jobs.
• More than $1 million to build on a partnership with Oakland Livingston Human Services Agency (OLHSA) to deploy three success coaches in support of the Oakland County Business Resource Network which helps businesses and their employees address issues related to workforce retention.
• $1.5 million to assist individuals facing financial barriers to accessing career credential and higher education programs.
• $1.2 million to provide an equitable recovery-related childcare for disproportionately impacted individuals and families seeking a return to work.

Oakland County is committing $3 million for the acute needs of Oakland County businesses impacted by the pandemic. The $2.5 million Oakland Together Small Business Recovery and Resilience Business Professional Services Assistance Grant Program will assist businesses and non-profits facing economic challenges due to COVID-19 obtain professional support services. Another $500,000 will enable Oakland County’s Economic Development Department to obtain the services of business community navigators to provide counseling and technical assistance to businesses and organizations in obtaining federal, state, and local relief resources.

Finally, Oakland County’s Neighborhood Housing and Development Division will leverage $2 million to work with qualified legal aid and assistance organizations such as Legal Aid & Defender Association, Lakeshore Legal Aid, and Oakland County Mediation Center Legal Aid, to help residents experiencing crisis housing needs related to the pandemic, including eviction, foreclosure, and rent and utility bills, among other issues.

Additional information on how to apply for grants will be forthcoming in the weeks ahead.

Congress has allocated more than $244 million of ARP funds to Oakland County of which it has received the first disbursement of $122 million. The ARP established the following high-level categories for authorized use of state and local governments to use the funds:

• Supporting public health expenditures
• Address negative economic impacts caused by the public health emergency
• Replace lost public sector revenue
• Provide premium pay for essential workers
• Invest in water, sewer, and broadband infrastructure

County Executive Coulter established the COVID-19 Economic Recovery Task Force on April 15 to gather information and make recommendations in the development of a strategic framework for the expenditure of Oakland County’s ARP Funds. Thirty-one volunteers representing broad cross-section of community stakeholders, including representatives of the education, non-profit, local government, construction, restaurants, labor, health care and business sectors have issued recommendations to address immediate community needs and economic challenges posed by the pandemic. Coulter and his administration will continue to consult with the COVID-19 Economic Recovery Task Force to make additional recommendations to make long-term transformational investments in the county.

Pontiac, Michigan – Shaped by a vision for post-pandemic recovery, Oakland County Executive Dave Coulter submitted a balanced three-year budget recommendation to the Board of Commissioners (BOC) today. Among his administration’s new proposals are investing further into cyber security, creating a countywide Incident Management Team, launching a Conviction Integrity Unit in the Prosecutor’s Office, and supporting existing programs such as Health 360, Oakland 80, and the Clean Slate initiative.

“The collaboration between this administration and the Board of Commissioners to swiftly address the pandemic by allocating the funds needed during the early days of testing and tracing all the way through vaccinating our residents has been remarkable,” Coulter said. “Although nearly 70 percent of our residents are vaccinated and it seems as though the worst of the pandemic is behind us, the budget that I present to you today is still greatly influenced by the global health crisis that hit our county on in March 2020.”

The pandemic highlighted the critical need to plan for disasters. Currently, an Incident Management Team, which can instantly respond to emergency situations like natural disasters, fires, hazardous material spills, or even a pandemic is run through a group of fire departments in the county. Coulter’s budget recommendation will bring the management of that Incident Management Team under the umbrella of the county’s Emergency Management Division, creating a countywide resource for all communities.

Coulter’s recommended budget also includes investing in upgrades to the county’s computer systems that enhance protection of county technology systems and the data of residents.

Coulter and Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald announced a key criminal justice reform last week proposing the creation of the Conviction Integrity Unit in the Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office to make certain that people who may have been wrongly convicted get the chance to have their cases investigated by a team dedicated to ensuring they receive the justice that has eluded them. The Oakland County Prosecutor’s office has a running list of people who are looking for investigations into their convictions.

The budget recommendation includes funding for an environmental sustainability officer which the BOC has already authorized. The individual who fills this position will help develop the county’s environmental sustainability plan with a goal of net zero greenhouse gas emissions on the county campus by 2030.

Coulter’s budget supports programs he launched early in his administration to boost Oakland County’s economic future. They include:

• The expansion of Health 360 to include behavioral and mental health services, a critical need that became even more urgent during the COVID-19 pandemic. Health 360 is Oakland County’s partnership with Honor Community Health and the Oakland Livingston Human Services Agency (OLHSA) that provides quality and affordable health and dental care to the county’s most vulnerable residents. It also delivers wraparound resources for residents who need help in other areas, such as food and rent assistance programs, navigating how to get low-cost insurance, and referrals to other resources throughout the county.
• Support of Oakland 80, which calls for 80 percent of Oakland County adult residents to get a college degree or training certificate by 2030, has several programs in the works to help connect students with higher education opportunities and, ultimately, good paying jobs.
• Ensuring the continued success of the Clean Slate Initiative, which provides help for residents who want to take advantage of the state’s new expungement laws. In the first two months of the program, nearly 1,200 people applied for help to get their records expunged so they can get back into the workforce without having to worry about being turned away for past mistakes. The first court hearings on those expungement applications begin in August. This initiative will continue to pay off for both residents, who need a second chance and a good-paying job, and businesses, which are desperate for workers.

Coulter’s budget recommendation highlighted Oakland County’s resolve to remain fiscally responsible including maintaining a healthy fund balance and retaining the county’s AAA bond rating. Departing from past practices, the county executive continues to move away from using fund balance to balance the budget. As the budget is aligned into structural balance, he has committed to utilizing fund balance only to protect county programs and services during times of economic downturn or emergency or for one-time investments that have long-term return on investment for residents of Oakland County.

To balance the cost of implementing a salary study begun under the previous administration to attract and retain county employees in a competitive job market and ensure the budget addresses all known spending needs to support county services, the county executive administration asked for a seven to 10 percent cost reduction in workforce costs across county departments. The cost reductions will be achieved over three years by eliminating vacant positions, reducing positions over time through attrition as employees depart through the voluntary early separation incentive program, and identifying other operational efficiencies.

Coulter’s budget recommendation is balanced at $482.1 million in General Fund/General Purpose spending for fiscal 2022, $483.5 million for fiscal 2023, and $492.9 million for fiscal 2024. The total budget for all funds includes $965.5 million for fiscal 2022, $959.0 million for fiscal 2023, and $973.5 million for fiscal 2024.

With the exception of limited funds to address direct county costs related to the COVID-19 pandemic, spending to support recovery from the pandemic and long-term transformational investments in the county from Oakland County’s $244 million share of the American Rescue Plan will be separate from the main budget process, based on the recommendations of the COVID-19 Economic Recovery Task Force reconvened by Coulter in April and in collaboration with the Board of Commissioners.

Coulter’s administration will formally present the budget recommendation to the Board of Commissioners on July 22. Click here to view the budget recommendation.