R.I. names new COVID-19 stimulus director
RHODE ISLAND s Department of Administration named Dorothy Z. Pascale as the new director of its Pandemic Recovery Office on Monday. The office oversees policy, coordination and compliance regarding the disbursement of federal stimulus funding. / PBN FILE PHOTO/ARTISTIC IMAGES
PROVIDENCE – The R.I. Department of Administration has hired a new director to oversee the state’s disbursement of federal COVID-19 stimulus funds.
Dorothy Z. Pascale, chief of the Office of Internal Audit for the past eight years, began serving as the director of the Pandemic Recovery Office on Monday. She will be charged with overseeing the $1.1 billion in federal stimulus funding that is heading to the state per passage of the American Rescue Plan.
PROVIDENCE A tally to date of the federal rental assistance that went out the door during the COVID pandemic in Rhode Island shows that 75% went to female-led households, a figure that advocates say reflects the disproportionate job losses and childcare obligations borne by women during the crisis.
And it’s a trend that has played out not just in Rhode Island, but nationally and worldwide, that highlights disparities that existed long before COVID-19.
“It is not surprising that a large percentage of women received rental assistance funds. As you know, women have been impacted more negatively by the economic downturn caused by COVID-19,” said Brenda Clement, director of HousingWorks RI at Roger Williams University.