OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — While Douglas County has received more than $100 million from the federal government over half of that, about $65 million, hasn’t been spent yet.
That's because commissioners have prioritized building a mental health facility. Right now, the choice is often jail or the Douglas County Health Center, which serves as a senior living facility.
“That we have a mental health facility that is not embedded within our Douglas County nursing home where people reside and call it home,” said County Commissioner Mary Ann Borgeson.
The price tag on the facility is unclear but could be around $50 million dollars. Mental health was one of two priorities the county wanted to spend the money on along with paying bills and replacing county infrastructure.
But also every commissioner got $2.5 million to pick projects that were close to them.
“Each commissioner knows their district the best,” said Borgeson.
With that money, the county has helped start restaurant and small business assistance programs, spent money for food, medical care and will provide money to help revitalize the old Yates school building.
As for the City of Omaha, more than $20 million went to affordable housing, $10 million went to public parks and nearly $10 million is going to premium pay for city workers.
But they also helped out local nonprofits, which includes more than $500,000 to Completely Kids. That money will aid children in its afternoon school program with food and mental health services.
“All these things disproportionately impact kids of color and that’s the group of kids that Completely Kids serves, so we want to make sure we’re ready to address that and help fill in those gaps,” said Ann Lawless, chief programs officer at Completely Kids.
More money from Omaha went to violence prevention non-profit, YouTurn.
“We are looking at getting into the middle schools,” said YouTurn Executive Director Teresa Negron.
The group already works out of Omaha high schools and will use the pot of money to bring an evidence-based curriculum to Omaha middle schools.
“The conflict is going to be there, but (what) we hope to do is teach conflict resolution without resorting to any type of violence at all,” said Negron.
Sarpy County got $65 million. So far, they've spent it on the construction of their new jail and for sewer lines to grow the county. They're voting Tuesday to spend about $10 million more ARPA money.
For a full overview of the Omaha ARPA plan: cityofomaha.org/images/pdf/2022_City_of_Omaha_Recovery_Plan.pdf
For a full overview of what Douglas County has spent ARPA dollars on: douglascounty-ne.gov/covid-19-informations/arpa/douglas-county-awards
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