Beneficiaries

Impact on Child Support Incentives (Federal Match) Program run by the Child Support Enforcement Division, within the Department of Revenue, currently services in excess of 200,000 child-support cases. (Completed June 2011)

Over 200,000

Congregate Meals Grant helps provide fresh meals on a statewide basis through a network of 23 community based local Area Agencies on Aging (AAAs), which provide a wide range of services to elders and their families. (Completed December 2010)

13,969

Medicaid Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) allows Massachusetts to avoid what would have been even deeper cuts throughout state government. A large portion of these dollars went toward the maintenance of the MassHealth program to preserve critical medical services to over 1.2 million recipients. (Completed October 2011)

Over 1,200,000

Home Delivered Nutrition Services helps elders with nutritional needs to become or remain healthy, independent, and active in their communities. (Completed December 2010)

4,228

Vocational Rehabilitation Services - ARRA funds are used by the Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission to support a number of projects designed to assist individuals with disabilities. (Completed December 2011)

3,037

Supplemental Assistance Nutrition Program handled an unprecedented 30% increase in enrollment in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as Food Stamps). Beginning in April 2009, benefit amounts rose by 18% due to federal stimulus funding (resulting in a sizable monthly increase for most families). (Completed December 2010).

770,000

Infants and Families with Disabilities (IDEA) benefits infants and toddlers through age 3 who have or are at risk for developmental delays. (Completed September 2010)

8,082

Community Development Block Grant for infrastructure improvements and public housing modernization awarded to provide services to the most vulnerable in our communities, and to create jobs through the expansion and retention of businesses.

2,355

Tax Credit Assistance Program supports Low Income Housing Tax Credit Projects that were stalled due to unfavorable financial market conditions. (Completed March 2012)

2,493

Community Services Block Grants provided assistance to local communities, working through a network of 24 Action Agencies to reduce poverty, revitalize low income communities, and empower low income families and individuals to become fully self-sufficient. 
 

63,812

Weatherization Assistance Program aims to increase the energy efficiency of dwellings occupied by low income persons, reduce their total home energy expenses, and improve their overall health and safety. The program targets particularly vulnerable people such as the elderly, the disabled and low income families with children.
 

45,804

Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program provides services to individuals or families who are homeless or in danger of becoming homeless, including re-housing assistance, eviction prevention services, and subsidies to help families and individuals move out of shelters and motels.

8,053

Federal Additional Unemployment Compensation has allowed over 660,000 individuals from across the Commonwealth to receive an additional $25 per
week benefit compensation as a result of the Recovery Act. (Completed December 2010)
 

663,773

19,250

Wagner-Peyser Act Employment Services benefits employed and unemployed workers seeking to upgrade their skills and obtain jobs, and provides customized services to clients with special needs, including veterans, individuals with disabilities, and unemployment claimants likely to exhaust their benefits. (Completed September 2011)

161,202

Race to the Top - Massachusetts received the top score on its application for funds from the US Department of Education's Race to the Top competition. The initiatives in Massachusetts' application were driven by the core belief that the persistent variation in student outcomes stems from both discrepancies in the quality of curriculum and instruction, and unrelated out-of-school circumstances that can affect a student's ability to learn. Each element in our proposal is designed to reduce this variation by focusing on improving the quality of teaching and learning each student receives and on providing students and families with the health and human service supports they require.
Overall, we aim to achieve four objectives:

1. Attract, develop, and retain an effective, academically capable, diverse, and culturally competent educator workforce to ensure every student is taught by a great teacher and every school and district is led by a great leader

2. Provide curricular and instructional resources to provide every educator with the tools necessary to promote and support student achievement

3. Concentrate great instruction and supports for educators, students, and families in our lowest performing schools to create the conditions needed for improved student achievement

4. Increase dramatically the number of students who graduate from high school ready for college and career

These objectives have garnered widespread support: 276 school districts signed on to Massachusetts' Race to the Top proposal (70 percent of the 393 districts eligible to sign). These school districts represent 1,375 schools, 74 percent of K-12 public school enrollment, and 88 percent of students in poverty.
 

Students and educators in 276 school districts

Students and educators in 327 districts

12 schools that have been awarded "turnaround grants"

State Fiscal Stabilization Fund - Education Stabilization Fund monies were expended to maintain the fiscal stability of the K-12 and public higher education systems and provide continued support to teachers, administrators, and staff members in school districts and also at our community colleges, state universities, and the University of Massachusetts campuses. In addition, funds were spent (in accordance with guidance issued by the U.S. Department of Education) to address infrastructure needs at these institutions. Most importantly, these funds were expended to maintain and enhance students' access to high-quality educational opportunities in K-12 schools and at our public institutions of higher education. (Completed December 2011)

Students and educators at all levels statewide - K-12, state universities and community colleges and the University of Massachusetts

Title I, Part A funding improves teaching and learning for students most at risk of failing to meet State academic achievement standards. Grants were awarded to 258 districts that serve 202,166 students who are directly eligible to receive Title I services. Massachusetts has received an additional $163 million in two types of Title I funding to supplement the $243 million that the state received in 2009, an increase of 67%.

Students and educators in
258 districts

Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act (IDEA), Part B Pre-School Grants Since the start of the year, grants were awarded to 179 districts that serve 9,000 children who are eligible to receive special education services.

Students and educators in 179 school districts

Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act (IDEA), Part B Grants to States support the provision of special education services to children with disabilities. Grants were awarded to 389 districts that serve approximately 165,000 students who are eligible to receive special education services. (Completed December 2011)

Students and educators in
389 districts

Child Care Development Fund (CCDF) assistance benefits youth who received the summer learning vouchers, their parents who retained work as
a result of having these vouchers, and the staff members who were employed because their programs received these vouchers. (Completed September 2011)

47,635

USDA Child Nutrition Recovery Act serves 114 schools in 31 districts, serving a total enrollment of approximately 60,000 students. These funds were used to purchase new food service equipment for the schools. (Completed December 2010)

Students and educators in
31 districts

USDA Child Nutrition Programs - Elementary and Secondary Education grants were awarded to four local community food banks that serve approximately 750 local food pantries and soup kitchens throughout the state. (Completed March 2011)

4 community food banks, serving 750 food pantries

ARRA transportation projects are improving the roadways, transit systems, pedestrian/bike and ferry facilities, throughout each of the Commonwealth's 14 counties. The highway projects include 95 roadway and bridge improvement projects. Improving the transportation system of the Commonwealth impacts the daily lives of our citizens as well as providing the essential infrastructure for commerce. Sixty-seven transportation projects have been completed as of December 31, 2011.

Community-wide

USFS Native Species Ecological Restoration Grant benefits residents of Worcester and Berkshire counties in Massachusetts by detecting and eradicating the destructive Asian Long-horned Beetle and other invasive insect species that destroy trees and other vegetation. (Completed December 2011)

Residents of Worcester and Berkshire counties

State Energy Program aims to provide leadership to maximize the benefits of energy efficiency and renewable energy in Massachusetts. The Department of Energy Resources is working to substantially increase solar energy resources in state facilities, as well as to reduce energy waste and increase renewable energy projects across the Commonwealth. This program includes $8 million in rebates for over 100 private solar projects.

Community-wide

Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grants will advance clean energy technology and energy efficiency goals at the community level. This will include both funding to assist with energy efficiency projects and to provide technical assistance to municipalities.

Community-wide

The Leaking Underground Storage Tank program will provide Massachusetts with funds for the remediation of known storage tanks buried underground that are or have been compromised and are leaking petroleum into the environment. Leaking tanks pose threats to drinking water and surface water in the immediate area of the tank as well as to the larger surrounding environment as pollution spreads. Communities affected by this grant include Dorchester, Grafton, Holyoke, Lawrence, Malden, Mattapan, Middlefield, Rehoboth, Shutesbury and Wrentham.

Community-wide