Promoting Equitable Outcomes

El Paso County is a vibrant community comprised of various demographics While the overall intent of the response, recovery, resiliency plan is intended to be holistic in nature and support regional recovery, there is an acknowledgement that certain households, small businesses and non-profits were disproportionately impacted by the pandemic An internal committee made up of several department representatives, along with the Board of County Commissioners, reviewed the eligibility guidelines for ARPA funding and analyzed those alongside the needs of our community to identify several populations who may benefit from ARPA allocations including:

Small businesses impacted / disproportionate impacted by the pandemic - including minority- / veteran- / womenowned businesses

Children and youth

People experiencing homelessness

People experiencing behavioral health, mental health, or substance use difficulties

Populations with low access to food / food insecurity

Low to moderate income households

Individuals / small businesses / non-profits operating in or serving those who reside within a qualified census tract

Programs and grant opportunities were designed with these populations in mind and take into account the disproportionate impact they experienced Examples of ways equitable outcomes were woven into project identification and implementation include:

Assigning additional preference points to those individuals / small businesses / non-profits operating in or serving those who reside within a qualified census tract or who meet the Treasury definition of disproportionately impacted

Designing communication and outreach efforts to include specifically targeted populations

Supporting local non-profits who cater specifically to the identified populations above

Focusing infrastructure projects in rural and typically underserved areas of unincorporated El Paso County

Demographic information is collected where appropriate. Realizing that some of the most vulnerable members of our community may see providing personal details as a barrier to services, we are collecting demographics on a volunteer basis and not refusing services to those who are unable / unwilling to provide it.

Projects with specific strategies for promoting equitable outcomes will be described in the project inventory.