CED DCL Office of Community Services Restructuring

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Administration for Children and Families
Office of Community Services
Division of Community Discretionary and Demonstration Programs
330 C Street, SW, 5th Floor
Mail Room 5425
Washington, D.C. 20201
www.acf.hhs.gov/ocs/programs/ced

Community Economic Development (CED),
Community Economic Development — Healthy Food Financing Initiative (CED-HFFI),
and Rural Community Development

Dear Colleague Letter

Re: Office of Community Services Restructuring

Date: September 27, 2016

Dear Colleagues:

The Office of Community Services (OCS) is responsible for administering programs that provide essential services and support to individuals and families with low-incomes and the communities in which they live. To meet this responsibility and provide high quality services to states, territories, tribes, and discretionary grantees, it is critical that the management and administration of OCS programs are always improving. The expectations and work load of OCS programs have changed over time and a different structure is needed to maintain the integrity and impact of our programs. More specifically, both the Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) and Social Services Block Grant (SSBG) have undergone significant changes in volume of oversight and complexity in the last several years. Additionally, since 2009, the Director of the Division of Community Discretionary Programs (DCDP) has served as the Acting Director of the Division of Community Demonstration Programs (DCDEP).

To ensure efficient and effective management of OCS programs, the Office of the Director (OD) requested and received approval from the Acting Assistant Secretary of the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) to restructure OCS Divisions. Per this approval, OCS will separate the Division of State Assistance (DSA) into two divisions, the Division of Community Assistance (DCA) and the Division of Social Services (DSS). Under this structure DCA will be responsible for CSBG and DSS will be responsible for SSBG. OCS also received approval to consolidate DCDP and DCDEP into one division, the Division of Community Discretionary and Demonstration Programs (DCDDP). Under this structure DCDDP will be responsible for the Assets for Independence (AFI), Community Economic Development (CED), and Rural Community Development (RCD) programs.

As such, the OCS Divisions will be structured as follows, effective October 1, 2016. Business practices for grantees will remain generally unchanged.

Discretionary Grant Recipients

• Program Specialist and Grants Management Specialist assignments — Your assigned Program Specialist and Grant Management Specialist contact information will not change as a result of this restructuring. You can view your Program Specialist assignment and contact your Program Specialist through GrantSolutions (www.grantsolutions.gov ).
• Technical assistance to grantees — OCS will continue to provide programmatic support and technical assistance to grantees as provided prior to the restructuring. There will be no changes to existing grant awards or program operations.
• Information and reporting — Grantees will continue to access information, correspond, and submit Performance Progress Reports (PPRs) and SF-425 via GrantSolutions (www.grantsolutions.gov ).

Thank you for your attention and OCS looks forward to continuing to provide high quality services to CED and RCD grantees.