CSBG AT 2020-04 Submission of FY 2019 Annual Report

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 Annual Report, as approved by OMB (Control No. 0970-0492; Expiration Date — February 28, 2023).

PURPOSE: To notify states of the Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) Annual Report submission for Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 including the extended deadline. States must submit the CSBG Annual Report by July 17, 2020 using the approved online CSBG format through the Administration for Children and Families’ (ACF) On-Line Data Collection (OLDC) system.

BACKGROUND:

Per CSBG Act Section 678E, Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) state grantees are required to submit an annual report to the Office of Community Services (OCS). In Fiscal Year (FY) 2016, OCS implemented the CSBG Annual Report designed to complete the CSBG Performance Management Framework. The Performance Management Framework includes: 1) organizational standards for local CSBG eligible entities, 2) accountability measures for states and OCS, and 3) the Results Oriented Management and Accountability Next Generation (ROMA NG).

The CSBG Annual Report provides general oversight and accountability at local, state, and federal levels of the CSBG Network to improve performance, track results from year-to-year, and assure accountability for critical activities and outcomes at each level of the CSBG Network. States will report directly to OCS through the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) GrantSolutions Center of Excellence, On-Line Data Collection System (OLDC), accessible via GrantSolutions.gov .

For further details, review Information Memorandum (IM) 152, CSBG Annual Report.

SUBMISSION CONTENT AND REQUIREMENTS:

Submission Content

The deadline for all grantees to submit their FY 2019 CSBG Annual Report is March 31 of each year. However, due to the unique circumstances related to the finalization of FY 2018 CSBG Annual Report data and FY 2019 system and SmartForm testing, the complete FY 2019 CSBG Annual Report is due July 17, 2020. A complete FY 2019 Annual Report includes:

• Module 1: State Administration;

• Module 2: Agency Expenditures, Capacity, and Resources;

• Module 3: Community Level; and

• Module 4: Individual and Family Level.

FY2019 Eligible Entities List

As this year’s Annual Report submission is for FY2019 data, the Eligible Entities listed are from the FY2019 State Plan — not the CSBG Eligible Entity Master List. Therefore FY 2019 data should be for those eligible entities that received CSBG funding from October 1, 2018 — September 30, 2019.

Module 1

As noted in CSBG Dear Colleague 2020-17 Annual Report - OMB Approval and Updated Timeline, for FY2019, OCS did not make updates to Module 1 based on the most recent OMB-approved version (i. e. CSBG Annual Report Version 2). Given the short timeframe and the additional activities related to the CSBG Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, OCS postponed the updates to allow us more time to provide training and technical assistance (T/TA), and give states more time to familiarize themselves with the new version.

Module 3 — Continued Quality Assurance

In 2018, OCS announced a staged implementation for Module 3, in which the first year of submissions (FY 2018 reporting period) would be considered part of a quality assurance year^[3] . After receipt and review of its first round of submissions, OCS noted significant variation in the range of activities, timelines, and understanding of community-level activities. To provide more in-depth guidance, OCS released CSBG Dear Colleague 2020-14 Community-Level Transformation (Module 3) Guidance. Refer to this guidance before submitting community-level initiatives to OCS.

TRAINING, TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND SUPPORT:

Annual Report Review

OCS will review the FY 2019 CSBG Annual Report starting July 20, 2020 and anticipates completing its initial feedback by September 17, 2020 to meet our federal accountability measure target .

Webinars

OCS held the following two webinars:

FY2019 Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) Annual Report Part 1: SmartForms and XMLs Refresher — June 2, 2020 at 3:15pm ET — a refresher to the CSBG Network about completing the FY2019 Modules 2 — 4 SmartForms and XMLs. The National Association for State Community Services Programs (NASCSP) facilitated the webinar. To view the webinar, click here .

FY2019 CSBG Annual Report Part 2: Submitting into OLDC — June 9, 2020 at 3:15pm ET — a refresher to the CSBG Network about submitting the CSBG Annual Report into OLDC. To view the webinar, click here .

If you have any questions regarding the webinars, please contact your Federal CSBG Program Specialist.

OLDC Access and Support

OCS encourages all states to review OLDC access information, and ensure correct assignments for all staff for the annual report submission process. Please keep in mind, each state should have at least one individual assigned as the Grant Administrator. OCS does not require the Authorized Official to certify the CSBG Annual Report; therefore, the Grant Administrator is able to submit.

To request OLDC access for CSBG staff, or to make changes to an existing account, please complete the OLDC Access Form. An individual who already has access to OLDC for another program (e.g., LIHEAP), must still submit an official request to add CSBG to their account. (The individual will use one username and password to login to OLDC, and then may select from the menu of programs included in his/her account.)

If you have questions regarding OLDC system access and/or submissions, please send an email to Niki Frazier and Monique Alcantara in the Division of Community Assistance.

We ask that you copy CSBGStates@acf.hhs.gov in all correspondence to OCS.

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