Data Stories

Federal agencies have distributed most of the pandemic funding through grants, direct payments, and loans. However, the agencies have also signed contracts to buy goods and services related to the pandemic.

Many people found themselves underemployed or unemployed during the pandemic. For example, in April, 2020, unemployment was 14.7%, impacting 23 million people. To address these issues, many state and local governments used funding from the State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund (SLFRF) to create or expand programs that provided job training and connected people to potential job opportunities.

Many state and local governments have used money from the State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund (SLFRF) to expand the number of beds in shelters and support services, and create new programs to address the growing problem of homelessness. Read on to see how two states, two counties, and two cities are using these funds to address the challenges people experiencing homelessness face.

State and local governments are using money from the State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund (SLFRF) to experiment with new pilot programs that tackle issues arising from the pandemic. Here are examples of pilot programs from Connecticut and Iowa, Milwaukee and Orange counties, and San José and Washington, D.C. as described in the recipients’ SLFRF Recovery Plans submitted to the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

We’ve added even more data to our website and it comes with stories about how the money is being spent. Our new data series will highlight the stories of how more than 30,000 recipients -- state, local, territorial and Tribal governments – are spending money received from the $350 billion State and Local Fiscal Recovery Fund (SLFRF).

The Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF) provides funding to state, local and Tribal governments to address the impacts of COVID-19. We explore some common themes.

Prime recipients receive money directly from the federal government. They may then pay some of the money they received to other entities for goods or services. These entities are sub-recipients.

Stress and isolation occurring during the pandemic intensified concerns about the public’s mental health. A report from the Government Accountability Office in December 2021 noted higher rates of anxiety and depression in adults. The report also noted that children, adolescents, health care workers, and certain racial or ethnic populations may be at a higher risk of behavioral health issues.

As pandemic legislation was passed, starting with the CARES Act in March 2020, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) assigned a code to identify each of the six laws. These codes, known as Disaster Emergency Fund Codes (DEFC), are used to track the spending funded under each legislation. Many of the codes were further refined through the description of the code, as "Emergency" or "Non-emergency."

More than 100,000 Americans died from drug overdoses from April 2020 to April 2021 according to estimates from the Center for Disease Control. Most of the deaths, nearly 75%, were the result of opioids. To address this crisis, the Department of Health and Human Services is providing a total of $3.15 billion to states for prevention and treatment services.