Billions of dollars in federal recovery funds are currently flowing into states and cities, and present unprecedented opportunities to recover from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, to rebuild the economy, and to purposefully address systemic inequities.
Cities and states are looking for information that can be used to guide them in how to best use the COVID-19 relief and recovery resources in a way that balances immediate needs with the desire to be transformative and address root causes of disparities.
“As we have been talking to groups across the nation, it has become clear that there is considerable hesitation to commit to a plan to spend these funds, because recipients fear making missteps that they have seen in previous crisis events,” says Japera Hemming, Ph.D., co-lead of the Aligning in Crisis work at the Georgia Health Policy Center. “We have been working to demystify this massive opportunity and to demonstrate pathways and tools to effectively use these funds. Our principles help provide guardrails to develop strategies that can help fund recipients center equity, resilience, and systems transformation.”
As part of its Aligning in Crisis work, the Georgia Health Policy Center, in partnership with George Washington University and with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, identified four principles that government agencies and local fiscal intermediaries, like local wellness funds and health-oriented community collaboratives, can use to guide planning for use of COVID-19 recovery funds.
These four principles for a resilient and equitable recovery include that
- Aligning sectors and efforts is critical to advance health and equity.
- A coordinated strategy guides the work and investments.
- Intermediary organizations are ready and able to assist.
- Community leadership drives lasting change.
To move these principles into action, the Georgia Health Policy Center developed some practical questions that will help community leaders apply each of the principles when planning for how to use the COVID-19 recovery funds.
Additionally, the Georgia Health Policy Center has been exploring innovations from around the country to find examples of how recovery funds can be best applied to address population health and equity. These examples highlight innovations by the four guiding principles for a resilient and equitable recovery.
Read the full briefs:
Implementing Four Principles for a Resilient, Equitable Recovery