By: Jose Carranza
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (UATV) – 14 Justices of the Peace in the Washington County Quorum Court worked with 50.5 million dollars in relief funds during the pandemic.
Washington County had received 4.5 million dollars from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act along with a total of 46 million dollars from the American Rescue Plan made in 2 installments. So far, over 3 million dollars have gone into a general fund from the CARES act and most of the first installment of ARPA was going towards the County Jail.
Justice of the Peace Patrick Deakins explained that the hesitancy to use the funds comes from dispersing them correctly and without any issues.
“If those funds were to be misused, or even used in good intention but later found out that they don’t meet the requirements of the American Rescue Plan, the county will be on the hook to replace those funds,” said Deakins.
During the pandemic, the county jail faced accommodating the health crisis with no extra support from the courthouse. Deakins said the funding going towards the jail is to incentivize working during the pandemic, especially during the Great Resignation. The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics said that a record number of 4.4 million people quit their jobs in September 2020.
“We’ve used some of those funds to enhance those salaries and those compensation packages, performance type incentives to stay,” said Deakins
Despite criticism for the hesitancy, Deakins said the county will provide help, they just need to figure out how to effectively and efficiently do so.
Located in the Springdale Center for Nonprofits is the Marshallese Education Initiative. The group kept the Marshallese community informed and during the pandemic, assisted those struggling to make their rent payments. Marcina Langrine and Trina Jude Marty of MEI worked with Washington County to help the Marshallese community complete their applications
“We got contracted through Washington county basically to be service providers and our main purpose is to basically help translate the application in Marshallese,” said Langrine.
The $7.1 Million dollars from the Consolidated Appropriations Act helped establish the Emergency Rental Assistance grant for Washington County. The grant allowed residents in Washington County to apply for assistance online. When the eviction moratorium ended on August 26, Langrine said the Marshallese community rushed to receive assistance.
“What was 30 calls went to 50, 70 calls in one day. We had lines outside our office,” said Langrine.
Langrine said she had been working with the Marshallese community since December of 2020 when MEI was provided funds through an Emergency Solutions Grant to combat homelessness. Marty said she began assisting the Marshallese community with their rent relief applications when they became available in September.
Both Langrine and Marty said that getting funds to the community was not difficult for them. According to Langrine and Marty, the issue came when the community waited to ask for assistance too late. When the eviction moratorium was lifted, Langrine said court summons came after 3 days of an eviction notice, and by that point, neither Langrine nor Marty could help stop the eviction.
Langrine and Marty claimed that the issue had been resolved and that they can resume their normal operations of making reports and checking up on families.
“It’s actually slow down a bit,” said Marty, “and a bit is really good from where it was before.”
Langrine and Marty credited their unique relationship to why they’ve helped so many in their community. According to Langrine and Marty, when guidelines would exclude some from one grant, the other would fulfill their needs.
“Some of the other places that are helping with rental assistance don’t have what we are able to do,” said Langrine.