CSBG AT 2017-02 ACSI Survey for CSBG Eligible Entities

Publication Date: June 9, 2017

Current as of: June 18, 2019

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Administration for Children and Families
Office of Community Services
Division of State Assistance
330 C Street, SW, 5th Floor
Washington, D.C. 20201
www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ocs/programs/csbg

Community Services Block Grant
Action Transmittal

Re: Transmittal No. CSBG-AT-2017-02

Date: June 9, 2017

TO: COMMUNITY SERVICE BLOCK GRANT (CSBG) STATE GRANTEES

GUIDANCE
INTENDED FOR: X STATES
                               TRIBES/TRIBAL ORGANIZATIONS
                               TERRITORIES
                           X  ELIGIBLE ENTITIES
                           X CSBG TRAINING AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE GRANTEES

SUBJECT: American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) Survey for CSBG Eligible Entities

RELATED REFERENCES: Section 678E of the CSBG Act, Title VI, Subtitle B, of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981, Public Law 97-35, as amended; Human Services Amendments of 1994, P.L.103-252; the FY 1996 CSBG Appropriation Legislation, P.L.104-134; CFR Title 45, Part 96; Coats Human Services Reauthorization Act of 1998, P. L. 105-285, Department of Health and Human Services Block Grant Regulations and Current Poverty Income Guidelines; ACF’s CSBG Model State Plan, as approved by OMB (Control No. 0970-0382; Expiration Date — July 31, 2018), CSBG Information Memorandum No. 151.

PURPOSE: To notify CSBG State Grantees, eligible entities and training and technical assistance grantees that the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) Survey for CSBG Eligible Entities will be made available online on Monday, June 12, 2017 and will remain open through July 14, 2017. And to provide information on key actions for CSBG State Grantees, eligible entities and training and technical assistance grantees.

BACKGROUND: State CSBG grantees are required to submit an annual report to OCS as cited with the CSBG Act Section 678E. In 2015, OCS began the process of surveying the eligible entities and the data obtained from that survey was used by the states to develop their 2017 State Plans, and to make operational improvements, as appropriate. OCS used the survey data to develop CSBG IM #151 Training and Technical Assistance Strategy, published earlier this year.

As part of our ongoing effort to assess and improve performance across the Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) Network, the Office of Community Services (OCS) is once again seeking feedback through the American Customer Survey Index (ACSI) survey from CSBG eligible entities.

The upcoming survey is intended to build on the 2015 survey. It provides eligible entities with an opportunity to offer constructive feedback to their CSBG State Lead Agency. Participation from the eligible entities, while voluntary, is critical for OCS and the States to understand how well the States, as part of the CSBG network, are delivering services to local entities and to continue to drive improvements in major areas detailed in the State Accountability Measures.

OCS will not use the results of this survey for policy or funding decisions in CSBG. Instead, OCS and the States will use the survey results to learn about performance in several areas addressed in the State Accountability Measures, established to promote efficient and responsive operations at the state level. States will be expected to use the survey information to identify areas for improvement to be reported in their 2018 CSBG State Plan. This effort aligns with OCS’ revised performance management framework and its shared oversight and monitoring responsibilities.

CFI Group, an independent third-party research group, is administering the survey. Responses provided by the eligible entities will remain anonymous and neither the CSBG State Lead Agency nor OCS will see their individual responses. CFI Group will provide aggregated survey data to OCS and the CSBG Lead Agencies in August. It is expected that the states will share the data with their local agencies.

ACTION: Response to this survey by CSBG eligible entities is very important. Nationwide participation is particularly critical because the survey of eligible entities is designed to provide feedback on a state-by-state basis. This means that we need to have a statistically significant response rate from each State in the survey. This will allow CFI to provide customized feedback to each CSBG State Lead Agency, a critical feature of the ACSI survey.

Key actions are outlined below.

Actions for State CSBG Lead Agencies — Please distribute this Action Transmittal to all CSBG eligible entities within your State and encourage participation by eligible entities.

Actions for CSBG Technical Assistance Providers — Please distribute this Action Transmittal to your contact lists and encourage participation by CSBG eligible entities.
Actions for CSBG Eligible Entities — Please complete the survey according to the instructions provided below. Please note that the survey will go to executive directors in each eligible entity and should not be transferred to other parties.

We expect the survey will be made available online on Monday, June 12, 2017 and will remain open through July 14, 2017. Eligible entities will receive official notification via email from the CFI Group on behalf of OCS with the email address of: noreply-cfigroup@qualtrics-survey.com. Completing the survey should take no more than 30 minutes of your time. Please be on the lookout for it. Some of you may need to look in your spam files.

FUTURE SURVEY: On another note, OCS intends to conduct a survey of the states about how well OCS is meeting the Federal Accountability Measures in the next several months. We will keep the network informed as the details are worked out.

We are striving to be a high performing network — one that sets challenging goals, listens to its customers, measures its progress, and uses those measures to improve performance. How well we perform is an important measure of success for the entire CSBG Network. We value your feedback and look forward to your participation in the upcoming ACSI survey. Should you have any questions please contact your assigned CSBG Program Specialist or email CSBG Inquiries for States: CSBGStates@acf.hhs.gov.

Seth Hassett
Director, Division of Community Assistance
Office of Community Services