Cumberland County, Pennsylvania

Recovery Plan

State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds

(SLFRF)

2021 Report

Submitted: August 31, 2021
Cumberland County Recovery Plan Page 1

Contents

Executive Summary......................................................................................................................... 2

Uses of SLFRF Funds........................................................................................................................ 3

Actual Use of Funds .................................................................................................................... 3

Intended Use of Funds................................................................................................................ 3

Coordination with other COVID-19 Recovery Investments........................................................ 4

Community Engagement ................................................................................................................ 5

Cumberland County SLFRF Investment Principles.......................................................................... 6

Grassroots input, grassroots impact........................................................................................... 6

Right resources, right purpose, right recipient........................................................................... 6

Local labor first, fair labor always............................................................................................... 7

Data driven decision making....................................................................................................... 7

Sustainable investments that have long term positive impacts................................................. 7

Recovery Plan Goals, Objectives and Projects................................................................................ 7

Goal 1: Improve the physical and mental health of County residents directly and indirectly 

impacted by Covid-19. ................................................................................................................ 8

Goal 2: Revitalize Cumberland County communities negatively impacted by Covid-19. ......... 8

Goal 3: Restore and deliver government services impeded, delayed, or cancelled by the Covid19 pandemic................................................................................................................................ 8

Table of Expenses by Category ....................................................................................................... 8

Project Inventory ............................................................................................................................ 8

Ineligible Activities: Tax Offset Provision........................................................................................ 9

 
Cumberland County Recovery Plan Page 2

Executive Summary 

Cumberland County is a Class 3 county in Southcentral Pennsylvania with a population of 

approximately 260,000. The County has experienced rapid growth in the past decade and as a 

result, the County has experienced an increase in demand for services. The Covid-19 pandemic 

has had a significant negative impact on the residents of the County. There has been a spike in 

mental health issues and a lack of capacity in the County’s human service’s network to adequately 

address the spike as a result of Covid. The County is also home to 5 higher education institutions 

that are struggling due to declining enrollment compounded by the pandemic. Much like the 

rest of the country, all sectors of the economy have been impacted by the pandemic and as a 

result, many small businesses especially in the service sector are struggling to recover. 

Since the passage of the American Rescue Plan Act, the County has been working to 

comprehensively identify needs and develop a method to allocate funds. The County’s 

investment strategy will be evidence/fact based to ensure that projects that will have a positive 

long-term impact to assist residents, including the most vulnerable populations, to recover from 

the impacts of the pandemic.

This inaugural recovery plan describes the County’s initial goals and objectives for using State and 

Local Fiscal Recovery Funds (SLFRF) funds in our community. The plan also describes the 

additional outreach strategies the County will employ to further identify needs and prioritize 

project investments. Investment principles guided in this plan will guide future outreach efforts 

and project selection efforts. Future Recovery Plans will include the County’s final spending plan, 

associated justification, and applicable performance measures. 

Cumberland County Recovery Plan process.
Cumberland County Recovery Plan Page 3

Uses of SLFRF Funds 

Actual Use of Funds

Cumberland County has not obligated or spent SLFRF funds as of the date of this report. Future 

reports will detail actual usage of funds in compliance with SLFRF standards.

Intended Use of Funds

Cumberland County has conducted initial community engagement activities that have led to 

preliminary identification of community needs. While projects have not been identified to 

address these preliminary needs, the County is able to classify the various needs into categories 

of potential spending that are consistent with the SLFRF guidance as noted below.

 Public Health (EC1): The health of County residents, especially for certain at-risk

populations, has been significantly impacted by Covid-19. The County intends to develop 

programs that recoup costs of responding to the pandemic while addressing our 

residents’ short-term physical and mental health needs as well as assisting our residents 

with longer term recovery from Covid-19 impacts. The innovative programs in 

development will allow us to improve public health while also lessening the negative 

economic impacts and providing services to disproportionately impacted communities.

 Negative Economic Impacts (EC 2): Cumberland County is the fastest growing county in 

Pennsylvania as reported in initial 2020 Decennial Census results. The County’s 

prosperous growth has been temporarily stunted by Covid-19. If the County is to continue 

its beneficial future growth, the impacts of Covid-19 must be fully mitigated. Institutions 

of higher education, non-profit organizations, and businesses, the key drivers of the 

County economy, were hardest hit by the pandemic. The County plans to use SLFRF

funding to help these key economic drivers recover from Covid-19 that will in turn, 

provide the necessary goods and services to our residents that are needed for personal 

pandemic recovery.

 Services to Disproportionately Impacted Communities (EC 3): While Cumberland County 

has enjoyed prosperous growth, many of our communities have been disproportionately 

impacted by the pandemic. Initial outreach conducted through our county departments 

and nonprofit partners has revealed that Covid 19 had greater impacts on communities 

challenged by food insecurity, lower incomes, lower educational attainment, inconsistent 

access to food, housing uncertainty, and lack of reliable transportation. Additional 

outreach activities will assist the County in better defining these communities and their 

specific needs. SLFRF spending plans will help to meet residents short term needs while 

establishing sustainable, longer term community improvement plans that will make our 

communities resilient to future pandemics and economic uncertainty. 

 Premium Pay (EC 4): Throughout Cumberland County essential workers served on the 

front line of Covid-19 response by helping to make sure our residents remained safe while 

received necessary, life-sustaining goods and services. The County is evaluating the need 

and associated cost of providing premium pay to essential county employees as well as 

essential workers in local government, nonprofit, and private sector. The decision to 
Cumberland County Recovery Plan Page 4

invest in premium pay will be considered in the context of the other needs identified 

through continued community outreach.

 Water, sewer, and broadband infrastructure (EC 5): Covid-19 had minimal impacts on 

sewer and water infrastructure in Cumberland County aside from the temporary stay at 

home order that anecdotally resulted in higher waste flows and water usage. Water and 

sewer infrastructure is provided by municipal governments and not county government. 

Municipalities in the County have planned for and financed investments in such 

infrastructure. Municipalities receiving SLFRF funding may choose to use that funding to 

address revenue losses by infrastructure authorities or undertake capital projects that

could free up local revenues to provide government services that address pandemic 

impacts. As such the County currently does not intend to invest considerable SLFRF 

funding in water and sewer and infrastructure. Regional municipal sewer and water 

infrastructure projects with substantial community wide benefit may be considered for 

county support in the context of other competing priorities.

Nearly 96% of Cumberland County is covered by broadband, a key factor that helped 

County residents successfully weather the Covid-19 storm. Given this high level of 

existing coverage and other state and federal programs aimed at closing remaining 

coverage gaps, the County does not intend to spend considerable SLFRF funding on 

broadband access. County assistance requested by municipalities for regional broadband 

projects may be considered in the context of other competing community priorities. 

Municipalities experiencing coverage deficiencies may use their SLFRF funding for local 

broadband purposes. 

 Revenue Replacement (EC 6): Cumberland County’s Finance Department has analyzed 

its Covid-19 revenue loss in accordance with Department of Treasury SLFRF guidance. The 

2020 calculation has revealed significant revenue loss which in turn has impacted the 

County’s ability to deliver important county services. The County expects significant 

spending in this category to provide the important services to our community that have 

been delayed, suspended, or permanently discontinued as a result of Covid-19. 

Restoration of Covid-19 impacted county servicesthrough revenue replacement spending

will address needs identified in the other eligible SLRF spending categories. 

Coordination with other COVID-19 Recovery Investments

Cumberland County has received other funds to assist in the recovery from COVID-19. As the 

County plan takes shape for SLFRF funds, the County will be coordinating its projects to ensure 

equity and to maximize leveraging outcomes with other funding both past and present. Some of 

those funds that the County plans to consider as SLFRF projects are selected are as follows:

• Municipal SLFRF Investments

• Emergency Rental Assistance

• Covid-19 Hospitality Industry Recovery Program 

• Library and School District Broadband Needs and Investments.
Cumberland County Recovery Plan Page 5

Community Engagement 

Cumberland County has conducted initial community engagement activities including meetings 

with over 40 county departments that provide services to the County’s 260,000 residents. 

Previous outreach efforts conducted in 2020 under the CARES Act programs provided the County

with insight into Covid-19’s impacts on our nonprofit organizations, businesses, and municipal 

governments. The County needs to build upon those preliminary outreach efforts and transfer 

our focus from response to recovery activities. Over the course of the next 6-12 months, 

Cumberland County plans to meet with the following groups to discuss needs and prospective 

projects that will lead to a sustainable, long-term recovery from Covid-19 for Cumberland County:

 Non-Profits: A focus group meeting was conducted as well as individual outreach to nonprofits in Cumberland County that provide or assist with human focused services to 

County residents. These meetings have been focused on gather needs in the eligible 

expenditure categories. Future meetings will contact a broader cross-section of nonprofit organizations to gain a holistic perspective of community need that will inform 

development of project prioritization and selection.

 Businesses: A meeting with the county economic development corporation was 

conducted to gather a broad understanding of needs for the business community. As 

noted in this report, considerable outreach has already been made to the severely 

impacted hospitality and tourism related businesses in the County. The County will be 

conducting additional outreach to businesses through a survey and meetings with the 

Chambers of Commerce.

 County Government: Focus groups were conducted with all County departments and 

elected officials. The initial list of project needs provided insight into the deep need of 

County services in our communities. Revenue loses severely hampered the County’s 

ability to provide services to our communities at required levels. Future meetings with 

County departments will align County programs with needs expressed to develop specific 

projects that best address the impacts of Covid-19 in our communities. 

 Municipalities: The County has informally met with our municipal government partners 

to discuss respective SLFRF spending plans. To date, municipalities have not identified 

projects supported by SLFRF funds. Additional County outreach will be structured to 

gather input and discuss how County and local SLFRF be coordinated to address broader, 

regional projects in the County that are consistent with SLFRF funding guidelines. 

 Residents: As the County begins to identify needs and priorities, the County intends to 

conduct surveys and other outreach with the public and residents in the County to discuss 

those needs and gather input on the strategies to invest funds to address the needs. The 

Recovery Plan and progress reports will be posted on the County website to keep 

residents informed. 
Cumberland County Recovery Plan Page 6

Cumberland County SLFRF Investment Principles 

The SLFRF identifies the key issues listed below that must be considered by grantees as they 

develop Recovery Plans and associated project investments:

 Promoting equitable outcomes

 Labor practices

 Use of evidence

These issues are not new to Cumberland County. Cumberland County routinely receives federal, 

state, nonprofit, and private funding to execute a variety of programs with defined community 

impacts. As stewards of public tax dollars, Cumberland County has a responsibility to its residents 

and partner organizations to ensure that such funding is transparently invested in our 

communities to maximize impact. 

Cumberland County has developed the following Investment Principles that address the issues 

identified in the SLFRF guidance and will guide the identification, prioritization, selection, and 

execution of all projects using SLFRF funding. These institutionalized principles will be followed 

by all County departments and partner organizations that receive County SLFRF resources. 

Grassroots input, grassroots impact

Understanding residents’ problems and needs can only be accomplished by engaging them 

where they are at; in the communities they live in, the schools they attend, the businesses they 

solicit, and the commercial establishments where they receive goods and services. Through the 

community engagement plan identified in this plan, the County will actively reach out to our 

communities and the associated services providers to gain a sound understanding of the needs 

created by Covid-19. Likewise, those same communities will be instrumental in developing the 

solutions and projects that will work best to advance short- and long-term recovery efforts. After 

projects are implemented, the local contact networks developed during the outreach phase will 

provide important and dynamic information on the success of projects and initiatives while 

offering opportunities for adjustment to respond to changing conditions.

Right resources, right purpose, right recipient. 

Equality has to do with giving everyone the exact same resources, whereas equity involves 

distributing resources based on the needs of the recipients. The County is committed to 

equitable outcomes as a regular practice of the functions of county government. The County is 

using the data collected over time regarding pandemic impacts on neighborhoods and 

underserved or disadvantaged populations to assist in prioritizing projects for funding. The 

County intends to both use quantitative data as well as qualitative data gathered from the 

community engagement process to establish targets and measure success. 

The following activities will guide the County’s equitable consideration of SLFRF projects and 

programs:

 Evaluation of underserved, marginalized, and adversely impacted communities in the 

County. 
Cumberland County Recovery Plan Page 7

 Outreach efforts conducted through a variety of media to ensure that all residents have 

input in the process, are aware of outcomes, and have access to selected projects and 

programs.

 Simplification of program administrative requirements to broaden and streamline access 

to SLFRF-funded programs and initiatives.

 Performance based programs that ensure intended outcomes are achieved through 

ongoing monitoring, evaluation, and alteration as needed.

Local labor first, fair labor always.

The County has a long history of following all applicable fair labor practices for internal projects 

as well as community projects that must follow state and federal requirements. All opportunities 

to bid on infrastructure projects or compete for SLFRF resources will be conducted in a fair and 

open way with public advertising and criteria-based award selections. Prevailing wage 

requirements will be a component of all applicable projects. Local labor will be specifically 

solicited and encouraged to bid on all projects, especially minority, women, and veteran owned 

businesses.

Data driven decision making.

All projects will be evaluated and prioritized based upon criteria and data that will show evidence 

of need related to the Covid-19 pandemic. It is the intent of the County to establish project 

criteria and regularly evaluate return on investment related to the County’s goals and the goals 

of the SLFRF program. The County has assigned a consultant manager that will assist the County

in tracking outcomes and making recommendations for adjustments to projects to improve 

outcome achievement. Detailed evidence information will be developed for applicable projects 

and included in future project inventories as they are developed.

Sustainable investments that have long term positive impacts.

Collectively, Cumberland County and its constituent municipalities will receive over $80 million 

in SLFRF. This extraordinary level of funding must be strategically invested to not only recover 

from Covid-19 but to establish sustainable initiatives that will help to secure the County’s longterm quality of life. Every project funded through SLFRF will be evaluated to make sure that its 

identified benefits address a pressing need and can continue after SLFRF is exhausted. 

Recovery Plan Goals, Objectives and Projects 

From the outreach completed to date the County has developed the following draft goals and 

objectives for SLFRF resource investment. As the community outreach process continues, 

projects will be identified that correspond to specific goals and objectives. More detail on those 

projects will be provided in future SLFRF compliance reports. The County will continue to refine 

and improve these goals and objectives over the next several months as our outreach and 

prioritization process continues. Later in 2021, the County will adopt the goals and objectives 

and identify the projects that it intends to fund to help the recovery effort.
Cumberland County Recovery Plan Page 8

Goal 1: Improve the physical and mental health of County residents directly and indirectly 

impacted by Covid-19.

• Objective 1 –Stabilize and increase overall mental health professional capacity.

• Objective 2 – Divert people from prison by providing community mental health rapid 

response teams that support police in the communities

• Objective 3 -- Add Resources to the Step Up Program to support people with mental 

health issues to be prepared for and be successful in prison release.

Goal 2: Revitalize Cumberland County communities negatively impacted by Covid-19.

• Objective 1 – Provide housing assistance to ensure individuals can afford and have access 

to adequate, safe housing.

• Objective 2 – Connect jobs, services, and neighborhoods with improved transportation 

options.

• Objective 3 – Enhance the natural resources that form the quality-of-life foundation for 

Cumberland County communities. 

• Objective 4 – Train and deploy a skilled workforce to address gaps in critical infrastructure 

and other priority employment sectors.

• Objective 5 – Provide support for job training and assistance in finding jobs

Goal 3: Restore and deliver government services impeded, delayed, or cancelled by the 

Covid-19 pandemic.

• Objective 1 – Pursue capital improvements to County buildings that enhance accessibility 

and safety of residents seeking County services.

• Objective 2 – Upgrade County information technology infrastructure to provide residents 

broader, safer access to County services

• Objective 3 –Supplement the County workforce to provide expanded services to residents 

recovering from Covid-19 impacts.

Table of Expenses by Category 

At this time, the County has no expenditures of funds to report.

Project Inventory 

This will be developed over the coming months as additional input is gathered from the 

stakeholders and public.
Cumberland County Recovery Plan Page 9

Ineligible Activities: Tax Offset Provision 

At this time, the County has nothing to report in this area.