Ada County

Recovery Plan 

State and Local Fiscal Recovery 

Funds

August 31, 2021 Report
Ada County, Idaho 2021 Recovery Plan Performance Report 1

Ada County, Idaho

2021 Recovery Plan

Contents

GENERAL OVERVIEW..........................................................................................................................2

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

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

Promoting equitable outcomes.................................................................................................................5

Community Engagement ...........................................................................................................................6

Labor Practices...........................................................................................................................................7

Use of Evidence..........................................................................................................................................7

Table of Expenses by Expenditure Category .............................................................................................7

Project Inventory ...............................................................................................................................7

Project List .................................................................................................................................................7

Performance Report ..................................................................................................................................7
Ada County, Idaho 2021 Recovery Plan Performance Report 2

GENERAL OVERVIEW

Executive Summary 

Idaho's first confirmed COVID-19 case was reported on 3/13/20 in Ada County (County). On 

3/24/20, Central District Health (CDH) confirmed community transmission.

Central District Health (idaho.gov)

Per the April 1, 2020 Census, the County’s population is 494,967 and as reported on August 22, 

2021 only 50.95% of the County’s eligible population has been fully vaccinated. 

Ada County, ID COVID-19 Vaccine Tracker | dailycomet.com

The table below shows the COVID-19 health impact on the County as of August 23, 2021:

Central District Health (idaho.gov)

Ada County is the largest of the 44 counties in Idaho and provides many public facing services 

through the following departments and offices: 

The County employs over 2,000 people and maintained varying levels of service without laying 

off staff during the heightened stages of the pandemic in 2020. Each department followed 

overall County directions as well as modified their own operational procedures to keep the 

public and staff safe as seen in the following excerpts from the August 2021 department survey:

- “. . . Clinicians learned to do telehealth remote appointments and put forms online. Staff began doing remote 

and hybrid appointments for probation visits and groups. Our teacher (programs) held classes outside. 

Probation officers met outside with youth and families. Medical and detention staff began rigorous quarantine 

and testing for youth coming into the facility. The detention kitchen was closed off to keep staff separate and 

detention officers picked up food/trays/snacks. Most court hearings were virtual, so detention officers set up 

and staffed rooms for youth to attend court virtually. Virtual visitations between detained youth and families 

were facilitated.”

- “Staffing plans for station brown outs, contingent standards of care, alternate responses to Covid patients, 

understaffing due to quarantine and/or isolation, managed a vaccine clinic for all first responders in Ada 

County.”
Ada County, Idaho 2021 Recovery Plan Performance Report 3

- “Installed intercom boxes, provided remote working abilities, PPE additions, stopped accepting cash, social 

distancing from customers”

- “. . . Our detention staff, including our medical staff, was on the frontline for quarantining and testing youth as 

they entered the facility. All divisions worked hard to maintain contacts with and provide services to youth and 

families.”

- “All the messaging coming from the county, including images, graphics, and content for the website had to be 

created and posted quickly. Additionally, reporters from around the region and elsewhere had numerous 

questions about mask protocols etc. That meant that all other work had to be set aside. In the realm of 

government public information, things like a pandemic are huge.”

Although the County still faces COVID-19 health and safety risks, it has returned to face-to-face 

services with precautions established by CDH. People are coming back for marriage license, 

court assistance, driver’s license, building permits, business tax exemption, homeowners’

exemption, medical assistance, property assessment appeal, correctional commitments, 

volunteer board and protection orders. 

In addition, County staff help people pay citations, trash bills, taxes, court fees, juvenile court 

services as well as indigent service payments. People come to get copies of damage claim 

forms, court records, death certificates, divorce decrees, legal notices, marriage license and 

public records requests, for jury duty and utilize other parts of the county for recreation such as 

floating the Boise River and larger gatherings and events at Expo Idaho.

Use of Funds

The County received an initial American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) award of $46,771,314.50 on 

June 14, 2021. In July, the County established a Grant Administration position to ensure 

compliance and to facilitate internal and external project development and implementation. 

The following process was developed to select the most beneficial use of ARPA funding:

Phase 1: Provide stakeholder outreach and education, provide technical assistance during 

proposal development, and establish deadlines.

Phase 2: Develop a project evaluation, prioritization, approval process and establish a 

funding plan to respond to the pandemic and economic recovery.

Phase 3: Set reporting measures and outcomes, finalize terms and conditions, and enter 

into agreements and contracts.

Phase 4: Implement projects, gather data, and evaluate recovery efforts.
Ada County, Idaho 2021 Recovery Plan Performance Report 4

In Phase 2, the following key principles from the U.S. Treasury will be utilized to guide the 

project selection process: 

• to ensure projects are not used for ineligible purposes, 

• to setup a swift and effective implementation, 

• to maintain robust documentation and compliance regime, 

• to promote equitable delivery of government benefits, and 

• to maintain transparency and public accountability.

Through an initial assessment of internal departments and external partners, the County 

obligated $4,454,334 to support Public Health services:

- $2,954,334 to support Central District Health and $1,500,000 to support the County’s 

Indigent Services efforts to recover from, continue to respond to, and to protect the residents 

and staff from continued negative COVID-19 impacts. 

In addition the County calculated a revenue loss of $2,058,799 between calendar years 2020 

and 2019 and will add to general fund to support on-going services. 

Along with the ARPA funding, the County also received both Emergency Rental Assistance 

grants (ERA1 and ERA2) and contracts with the Boise City Ada County Housing Authority to 

address homelessness and housing issues caused by COVID-19. Other cities within the County 

have also contracted with the Housing Authority to standardize service delivery. The partners 

have been working together to identify ways to streamline processes but maintain the needed 

detail to account for financial and programmatic data as separate entities. 
Ada County, Idaho 2021 Recovery Plan Performance Report 5

For the remaining ARPA funding, the County is currently in Phase 1 of the Implementation Plan. 

Additional projects are pending proposal submittal and project selection and will be provided

during quarterly reports and annual Recovery Plan updates for the following categories: 

• Public Health

• Negative economic impacts

• Services to disproportionately impacted communities

• Premium Pay

• Water, sewer, and broadband infrastructure

• Administration

Promoting equitable outcomes 

As COVID-19 mitigation and infrastructure projects are identified, 2019 data will be used as a 

baseline year to set performance indicators and compare changes to 2020 and identify any 

potential rebounding in 2021 and beyond. 

Examples of the data and source follow: Ada County, ID | Data USA

For projects tracking unemployment insurance claims and employment in industry sectors:
Ada County, Idaho 2021 Recovery Plan Performance Report 6

Each project will go through a SMART goal process to determine if it is specific enough, 

measurable, attainable, relevant, and timely before a contract or agreement is executed. This 

will ensure appropriate performance indicators and outcome goals are identified. 

Community Engagement 

Ada County scheduled two opportunities to submit proposals for the first U.S. Treasury 

allocation. In addition, a third and fourth opportunity have been scheduled to prepare for the 

second Treasury’s distribution slated for June 2022. 

The initial opportunity scheduled for September 1, 2021 is to identify the County’s existing 

COVID-19 and infrastructure needs. The second call for proposals is slated for December 1,

2021 and is open to external partners as well as County departments as a coordinated effort to 

further strengthen the access and delivery of services. 

The third and fourth opportunities are in March and June 2022 to align with the second 

distribution and are opened to both external partners and internal departments. 

In addition to the State, Cities and CDH coordination and outreach efforts to respond to COVID19, the County created the following landing page to track the ARPA recovery funds. 

Departments and external partners will be provided the link to incorporate into their public 

information sources as part of the funding agreements and contracts. This will allow the 

stakeholders and public to easily access reports and see the progress. 

https://adacounty.id.gov/clerk/budget-finance/arpa/
Ada County, Idaho 2021 Recovery Plan Performance Report 7

Labor Practices 

Ada County is in the project identification process and will identify workforce practices 

once infrastructure projects are identified. 

Use of Evidence 

Ada County is in the project identification process and will identify evidence-based 

interventions as projects are approved.

Table of Expenses by Expenditure Category

As of August 31, 2021, Ada County has not expended any funds. 

Project Inventory 

Project List

As of August 31, 2021, Ada County has not started project implementation, but will utilize 

the following from the Treasury:

Project [Identification Number]: [Project Name]

Funding amount: [Funding amount]

Project Expenditure Category: [Category number, Category Name]

Project overview

• A description of the project that includes an overview of the main activities of the project, 

the approximate timeline, primary delivery mechanisms and partners, if applicable, and 

intended outcomes. 

• Link to the website of the project if available 

• How project contributes to addressing climate change (for infrastructure projects under 

EC 5)

Use of Evidence

• Briefly describe the goals of the project, and whether SLFRF funds are being used for 

evidence-based interventions, the evidence base for the interventions, and/or if projects 

are being evaluated through rigorous program evaluations that are designed to build 

evidence. If a recipient is conducting a program evaluation in lieu of reporting the amount 

of spending on evidence-based interventions, they must describe the evaluation design

(see Reporting Guidance for additional details that should be included). 

• Identify the dollar amount of the total project spending that is allocated towards 

evidence-based interventions for each project in the Public Health (EC 1), Negative 

Economic Impacts (EC 2), and Services to Disproportionately Impacted Communities 

(EC 3) Expenditure Categories.

Performance Report

As of August 31, 2021, Ada County has not identified key performance indicators, but 

intends to identify these as part of each project agreement/contract with internal 

departments and external contractors.