On Tuesday, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle announced the launch of a new website — arpa.cookcountyil.gov — to show how Cook County’s $1 billion in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds are being spent. The new site explains how ARPA works, displays dashboards, spotlights programs made possible through ARPA and serves as a one-stop-shop for ARPA reports and information.  “This new website serves as an important tool to ensure transparency and encourage public input,” President Preckwinkle said. “We have developed a plethora of new programs with measurable outcomes that can now be tracked through these public dashboards.” The Biden Administration announced ARPA in 2021 “to change the course of the pandemic…[and] build a bridge towards economic recovery and invest in racial justice.” In addition to providing support for the national vaccination program, financial relief payments to families, rental assistance and several other programs, ARPA distributed more than $360 billion in emergency funding for state, local, territorial and tribal governments. Cook County programs already making significant community impact with ARPA include the Cook County Promise initiative, which currently serves as the largest Guaranteed Income pilot in the nation, abolishing medical debt and placing money directly into communities for violence prevention purposes. For more information visit arpa.cookcountyil.gov.