New Castle County Uses SimpliGov to Process Emergency Federal Grant Funds

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act brought tremendous opportunity, but also a daunting challenge. Like many other counties across the country, New Castle County was awarded nine figures’ worth of federal aid to address pandemic-induced problems across a broad assortment of policy areas, including health equity, food insecurity, emergency response, and education. New Castle County had never encountered compliance requirements of the magnitude mandated by the CARES Act. Prior to this legislation, the largest grant it had ever administered was around $20 million. Now, the county was looking at distributing more than 10 times that amount.

• Manage distribution of a grant 10 times larger than any it had ever implemented
• Process had to adhere to voluminous CARES Act grant requirements
• Federal guidance underwent major changes on a frequent basis
• Reimbursements had to be tracked well after initial grant award

• Customizable fields helped tailor digital application forms for a wide variety of unique services
• A variety of internal departments, citizens, and CBOs could complete and submit applications remotely from any device
• Workflow automation streamlined and recorded extensive correspondence between finance, legal, and applicants in evaluation of complex submissions
• “Certification letters” automatically generated and delivered to approved applicants
• Dashboard enabled internal managers and external auditors to easily retrieve all correspondence, documentation, and budget information for each grant award

• $322.8 million distributed to the community over a two-year period
• More than 1,000 grants issued to internal agencies and residents
• Partnership with the state resulted in delivery of critical emergency services during the pandemic
• County passed rigorous federal government audit