CSBG-DCL-2022-24 COVID and Safety Net Initiative Selected Sites FY 2022

Community Services Block Grant

Dear Colleague Letter

DCL#: CSBG-DCL-2022-24

DATE: April 7, 2022

TO: CSBG Network

SUBJECT: Sites Selected for the COVID and Safety Net Innovation Initiative

ATTACHMENT(S): N/A

Dear Colleagues,

In February 2022, the Office of Family Assistance (OFA) and the Office of Community Services (OCS) at the Administration for Children and Families (ACF), announced six sites selected to participate in the COVID and Safety Net Innovation (CASI) Technical Assistance (TA) initiative.

Through the CASI initiative, Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) eligible entities (often referred to as Community Action Agencies or Community Action Programs) in partnership with state or local Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) programs will receive TA to develop strategic action plans. These plans will focus on innovative and responsive strategies to support low-income families—unemployed, underemployed, employed and those pursuing education/training opportunities—particularly in light of the safety net challenges exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The COVID-19 pandemic has uncovered challenges in the American safety net while, at the same time, sparking ingenuity and innovation in how federal, state, and local programs support the aspirations of vulnerable individuals and families. The CASI initiative is designed to support TANF and CSBG partnerships as they build upon current work to map out approaches to safety net innovation.

Over the next several months, the CASI sites will receive tailored TA to help them build a strategic action plan to strengthen their CAA and TANF partnerships.

The CASI sites and their objectives are:

• Enrichment Services Program and Muscogee County Division of Children and Family Services (Georgia)
  • CASI Objective: Establish coordinated service delivery for families through collaboration between the two agencies.
• Community Action Marin and Marin County Health and Human Services (California)
  • CASI Objective: Expand capacity during COVID and into economic recovery to support mental health services, homelessness prevention, and safety net support.
• Maricopa County Human Services Department and Arizona Department of Economic Security (Arizona)
  • CASI Objective: Create a pilot program focused on creating a long-term case management model to include wrap around services and a robust referral process.
• Northeast Iowa Community Action Corporation and Iowa Department of Human Services (Iowa)
  • CASI Objective: Establish a local advisory group of CSBG, TANF and Iowa Workforce Development stakeholders to develop specific strategies to improve communication and delivery of services to families.
• Hampton Roads Community Action Program and Virginia Department of Social Services (Virginia)
  • CASI Objective: Strengthen service delivery, system performance and reporting of outcomes for impacted families.
• Southeastern North Dakota Community Action Agency, Agassiz Valley Human Service Zone, Cass County Human Service Zone, RSR Human Service Zone, and Job Service ND (North Dakota)
  • CASI Objective: Identify families that are receiving services across the agencies and create a guiding action plan for collaboration.

We expect these partnerships will provide useful collaborations that will inform the field and prove valuable to the entire TANF community and CSBG network, helping to spur further safety net innovation.

Thank you for your attention to these matters.

/s/
Charisse Johnson
Director, Division of Community Assistance
Office of Community Services

/s/
Lisa Washington-Thomas
Director of the Division of Self-Sufficiency Technical Assistance
Office of Family Assistance