Westmoreland to launch human service grant program

Westmoreland commissioners said Tuesday the county will award $3 million in grants to help fund mental health and other human services programs in 2023.

The grant program will be paid for with a portion of the county’s $105.4 million in federal American Rescue Plan funds.

“We decided early on we wanted to put some money into mental health and human services. This is a way to capture that,” Commissioner Doug Chew said.

Commissioners are slowly spending down the county’s covid relief funds, having allocated nearly $56 million to various projects, including purchases to upgrade technology, reconstruction of the underground courthouse parking garage and removal of blight in a handful of local communities.

American Rescue Plan funds also have been set aside to create a workforce development program at local schools, water and sewer upgrades and a $4.4 million grant approved this year to the county food bank.

Meghan McCandless, the county’s finance director, said the up-to-date American Rescue Plan funding totals includes money commissioners are expected to earmark this week to pay the annual subsidies to outside government agencies in 2023, such as the airport authority and community college.

Commissioners said details still are being finalized for the human services grant program.

“All three of us (commissioners) want mental health to be a priority, and we had to figure out the best way to use this money. We didn’t want to write a blank check,” Commissioner Gina Cerilli Thrasher said.

Commissioners on Thursday are expected to award a $90,000 contract to the Community Foundation of Westmoreland County to administer the grant program. That agency will create an application process and evaluate requests for funding, commissioners said.

McCrae Martino, executive director of the Community Foundation, could not be reached Tuesday for comment.

Chew said grants could be doled out by June.

Commissioners awarded more than $7.4 million, including a $5 million gift to Excela Health, in 2020 and 2021 in grants to nonprofit agencies from the county’s first allotment of federal covid-relief funds as part of Westmoreland’s $31.5 million CARES Act allocation.

Officials said the latest round of grants will focus on social services.

“Mental health is a primary area, but any program that falls under human services, we will look at,” said Commissioner Sean Kertes.