ICYMI: This Week's American Rescue Plan Highlights

This week, the Biden Administration announced progress implementing the American Rescue Plan (ARP), getting relief out to families in need across the country quickly through programs at the Department of Education, the Department of Agriculture and the Department of the Interior.

Department of Education

Today, The Department of Education announced plans to distribute $800 million in funding from the American Rescue Plan for states to support students experiencing homelessness. Today's announcement received praise from Members of Congress from both sides of the aisle.

The Department also took a series of steps this week to help states and districts access the $122 billion dollars in ARP Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds to support the safe reopening of K-12 schools and address equity gaps exacerbated by the pandemic.

Department of Agriculture

And this week, as part of the Administration's commitment to address child food insecurity, the Department of Agriculture issued a broad range of flexibilities that will allow schools and childcare institutions to serve healthy meals for free to all kids in the upcoming 2021-2022 school year.

Roughly 30 million kids participate in school meals programs, and we know that for lots of kids, school meals are the healthiest meals they consume all day.

Due to supply chain issues during the pandemic, USDA is giving schools added resources to maintain the nutrition standards of the school meal programs – including a strong emphasis on providing fruits and vegetables, milk, and whole grains.

Department of the Interior

The Bureau of Indian Affairs announced their plan to disburse $850 million in ARP funds for Bureau of Indian Education-funded K-12 schools and Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCUs).

This much-needed financial support will help Tribal communities recover more quickly from the pandemic's wide-ranging impact on BIE students and their families, as well as on teachers, administrators and staff in our K-12 schools and at the TCUs."