Short-Term American Rescue Plan Act Funding for California’s Home and Community Based Services

Short-Term American Rescue Plan Act Funding for California’s Home and Community Based Services

Adam Parker, MA, MPP, Northeastern University

Hanna Hamilton, MPH, MPP

Policy Brief 2024-4

September, 2024

On March 11, 2021, President Biden signed the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA), allocating unprecedented funding for Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) efforts in California.  This funding opened new avenues of training and support for the state’s overworked and underpaid caregivers, a population primarily made up of women and people of color, who are critical in supporting our state’s older adults and disabled people. Originally planned as the first stage of a more ambitious effort to direct resources to the “care economy,” much of the ARPA funding has now been spent, and the programs supported either shuttered or drastically curtailed.

This policy brief is adapted from work undertaken by the Community to Community Impact Engine (C2C) at Northeastern University on behalf of Caring Across Generations, a national nonprofit organization that advocates for policy solutions to support the nation’s caregivers.  The complete report, “Navigating Care: Short-term American Rescue Plan Act funding for California’s Home and Community Based Services highlights the need for long-term sustainability” is available on the Caring Across Generations website.