CSBG AT 2019-02 American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) Survey for CSBG Eligible Entities

AT#: CSBG-AT-2019-02

DATE: May 7, 2019

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

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 State Plan, as approved by OMB (Control No. 0970-0382; Expiration Date — June 30, 2021), 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 Thursday, May 9, 2019 and will remain open through June 4, 2019. To provide information on key actions for CSBG state grantees, eligible entities, and training and technical assistance grantees.

BACKGROUND: The Office of Community Services (OCS) requires state CSBG grantees to submit an annual report to OCS as cited with the CSBG Act Section 678E. Since 2015, OCS has implemented the process of surveying the eligible entities and the data obtained from the surveys are used by the states to develop their state plans, and to make operational improvements, as appropriate. OCS used the initial 2015 survey data to develop CSBG IM #151 Training and Technical Assistance Strategy, published in 2017.

As part of our ongoing effort to assess and improve performance across the CSBG Network, OCS is once again seeking feedback through the ACSI survey from CSBG eligible entities.

ACTION: OCS is encouraging nationwide participation of the survey because it is critical to providing feedback on a state-by-state basis. We need to have a statistically significant response rate from each state in the survey as this will allow CFI to provide customized feedback to each State CSBG Lead Agency, a critical feature of the ACSI survey.

Key actions to maximize survey participation.

• Actions for State CSBG Lead Agencies — Distribute this Action Transmittal to all CSBG eligible entities within your state and encourage participation by eligible entities.
• Actions for CSBG Technical Assistance Providers — Distribute this Action Transmittal to your contact lists and encourage participation by CSBG eligible entities.
• Actions for CSBG Eligible Entities — 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 to all eligible entities on Thursday, May 9, 2019 and will remain open through Tuesday, June 4, 2019. The eligible entities will receive official notification via email from the CFI Group on behalf of OCS with the email address of: noreply@invite.cfigroup.com. The subject line will read: Office of Community Services Survey of CSBG Eligible Entities. Completing the survey should take less than 20 minutes. Please encourage your local agencies to be on the lookout for the survey, to check their spam files, if necessary, and to complete the survey as soon as possible.

We expect that the states will receive their ACSI reports in mid-July 2019, in time to use for their CSBG State Plan due on September 1, 2019.

NEXT GRANTEE SURVEY: OCS intends to conduct a survey of the states about how well OCS is meeting the Federal Accountability Measures later in the year. We will keep the network informed as the details are worked out.

Should you have any questions please contact Roneika Carr at 202-401-4595 or at Roneika.Carr@acf.hhs.gov .

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

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