Lindsay Poe Rousseau, the chief financial officer of Sedgwick County, said it feels karmic that federal coronavirus relief money may be what helps the county ride out federal grant cuts.
“It worked out that they were able to give us that revenue replacement, and now we’re actually able to use those funds to help support these services that are now being ended by the federal government,” Poe Rousseau said.
Sedgwick County is just one of the countless communities feeling the trickle down effects of budget slashing at the federal level.
The county typically receives between $10 million and $12 million dollars in federal grants annually. Those grants, which come from federal programs but may make their way through state agencies, primarily go to support public health and safety operations.
As of last week, there have been impacts to four grants totaling at least $1.5 million. Staff are still waiting on final totals from one impacted grant. Those grants have either been partially reduced or entirely reclaimed by their granting agency.
Earlier this month, the Sedgwick County Commission unanimously approved authorizing the proposed staff response: When staff learn of a grant that’s been terminated, Sedgwick County will continue to fund the program the grant supported for 60 days. After that point, any impacted staff will receive 30 days pay and two months of health insurance as part of a reduction in force package.
To pay for this, the county plans to pull from the last of its pandemic-related federal support funds. As part of the American Rescue Plan, the county received $32 million as revenue replacement for money it spent on sheriff’s salaries during the pandemic. About $2 million to $3 million of that money remains.
It’s all part of the ripple effect of changing priorities from the Trump Administration, which has led federal departments to renege on billions of dollars in grant funding in recent weeks.
One of the biggest changes comes from the Health and Human Services Department, which announced in late March that it would reclaim $11.4 billion in pandemic-era funds. Some of those funds were given directly to health organizations while others were directed to state health departments to distribute to local governments and programs.
The flow of dollars from one agency to the next has meant news of the funding’s disappearance has been slow moving. Poe Rousseau said that was the case for at least two grants the county receives.
The first was funding for a ComCare pilot program that focused on treating young people experiencing their first episode of psychosis. Describing the program in an update to the county commission this month, Deputy County Manager Tim Kaufman said that “science says that if you treat that first episode intensely, you’re going to have better outcomes over the lifetime.”
ComCare applied for and received a $331,000 grant from the Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services. That funding allowed ComCare to hire four staff members and launch the pilot in July 2024. The grant funds were supposed to last until June. About $116,000 was left when the state notified the county on March 26 that expenditures from the grant needed to end on March 24 — two days prior to the notice.
“The notification was made that the grant funding was going away. It's being clawed back,” Kaufman told the commissioners.
Poe Rousseau said that by the time the county received the news, “we had incurred a full payroll worth of cost for that grant, with no way to get any revenue back.”
That grant was operated as a reimbursement, meaning the county spent money on the program and then was paid back by the KDADS. When ComCare learned that there would be no reimbursements, it decided to use some of its own revenue to fund the remainder of the pilot program and staff positions that came with it.
“When this all shakes out, one of the things ComCare will have to do is take a step back and see what programs can they continue to offer, at what level, if now you’re trying to maintain all of these programs with that revenue source,” Poe Rousseau said.
Another grant, to help augment the cost of the county’s immunization program, was cut off at the same time as the ComCare grant. The grant was one-time money that the federal government directed to states during the pandemic. The state, through the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, sent the money out to county health departments to use to shore up their vaccine efforts.
Sedgwick County used the money it received for staff pay and on software that allowed it to better manage its vaccine stock. About $75,000 was left in that grant. Since it was a one-time award scheduled to end in September, Poe Rousseau said there’s been less of an impact.
She’s not sure that the same will be true for a third grant that was reduced. Sedgwick County relies on an annual grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration to fund its Healthy Babies program.
The program provides education and support to expectant and new parents. The program offers prenatal home visits, classes and resources to parents for free. It's grant-funded through the HRSA’s Healthy Start program, which works to reduce infant mortality and boost maternal health.
Sedgwick County learned that grant was part of a swath of funding reductions at HRSA and that the $1.1 million it had planned to use to fund the program this year was being reduced to $500,000.
“They’re having to scramble to figure out how are we going to pay for that program at the same level,” Poe Rousseau said. “It’s not like the community need goes away.”
She said staff members are still working to figure out “whether the dollar reduction translates to a service cut in terms of a contract, or the amount of diapers and formula, or if that translates into employees.” She said she knows it will have a big impact either way.
Poe Rousseau said that all staff really have at the moment is uncertainty. The situation changes daily. She learned last Thursday that a grant the county received from Wichita for accessible transit options for seniors and disabled residents was also federally funded and likely reduced or eliminated.
She said on one hand she understands the federal government’s position.
County staff are doing their best to adapt to the changing grant picture as they prepare next year’s budget. They’re reviewing each grant and giving it a rating of high, medium or low risk. That rating is based on how likely the grant is to be cut off and how likely it is that the work it’s funding can be taken up by another community entity.
“This hurts not to be in a position to help,” Poe Rousseau said. “It’s a real morale killer, regardless, not just that you’re maybe losing a job or losing a service, but what is this going to do to our community.”
