GSA to Build Evidence on Advancing Equitable Outcomes through the American Rescue Plan

October 20, 2022

GSA Awards Multi-Year Evaluation Contract on Equity and the American Rescue Plan

WASHINGTON (DC)  — Today, U.S. General Services Administration announced it has awarded a multi-year contract to the American Institutes for Research (AIR) to examine the role of the American Rescue Plan (ARP) in advancing equitable outcomes across a range of federal, state, and locally implemented programs. The Office of Evaluation Sciences (OES) will support the contract in partnership with the Office of Management and Budget’s Evidence Team, the ARP Implementation Team, and other agency partners. In addition, OES will complement this study by conducting rapid, rigorous evaluations of up to ten additional ARP programs.

“Since his first day in office, President Biden has prioritized advancing equity and economic opportunity across his administration, including through the implementation of the American Rescue Plan,” said Amb. Susan Rice, White House Domestic Policy Advisor. “This new evaluation will create a critical roadmap to ensure that the work of the Biden-Harris administration continues to provide effective and equitable benefits to the American people.”

President Biden signed the historic $1.9 trillion ARP on March 11, 2021, to help families, workers, communities, and small business owners recover from the public health and economic impact of COVID-19 – major components of which were designed to respond to the disproportionate negative impacts of the pandemic on underserved individuals and communities.

“The American Rescue Plan was the administration’s first opportunity to advance equity through the implementation of major legislation. To date, ARP has helped power a historically equitable recovery,” said Gene Sperling, White House Senior Advisor and ARP Implementation Coordinator. “The Biden-Harris administration released the ARP Equity Report to highlight the work done to advance equity through ARP implementation and to generate feedback and analysis on the way forward. The national evaluation provides us with an opportunity to rigorously examine what worked and apply those lessons alongside our state and local partners to continue to deliver an equitable recovery both now and in the future.” 

The ARP National Evaluation is a multi-year study that will provide a systematic look at the contributions of selected ARP-funded programs toward achieving equitable outcomes to inform program design and delivery across the federal government. The ARP National Evaluation is funded as part of a portfolio of investments managed by GSA’s Technology Transformation Services, and builds on GSA’s commitment to make government service delivery more inclusive.  

“The new evaluations will be essential for understanding the role of ARP programs and supported interventions in improving outcomes for historically underserved populations,” said Andrea M. O’Neal, GSA’s Senior Advisor for Equity. “GSA’s evaluations will measure whether ARP-funded interventions are working as intended and GSA will share any lessons learned.”

The ARP National Evaluation is informed by the recently released ARP Equity Report and associated ARP Equity Learning Agenda with the goal of building evidence on equitable implementation from ARP-funded programs. It is also designed to support the President’s Management Agenda Learning Agenda by helping to foster a more equitable, effective, and accountable government.

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About GSA: GSA provides centralized procurement and shared services for the federal government, managing a nationwide real estate portfolio of nearly 370 million rentable square feet, overseeing approximately $75 billion in annual contracts, and delivering technology services that serve millions of people across dozens of federal agencies. GSA’s mission is to deliver the best customer experience and value in real estate, acquisition, and technology services to the government and the American people. For more information, visit GSA.gov and follow us at @USGSA