Organizational Standards: IM 138 Released

As many of you have seen, IM 138 was released by the U.S. Office of Community Services (OCS) which provides guidance and responsibilities for the establishment of Organizational Standards for the CSBG Network. These Standards reflect more than two years of work led by the Community Action Partnership. The goal of the Standards is to establish a set of good management practices that every Community Action Agency should meet to demonstrate adequate organizational capacity while delivering services to low-income persons. The 58 Standards are divided into three thematic areas: 1) Maximum Feasible Participation, 2) Vision and Direction, and 3) Operations and Accountability. Together, these areas represent minimum threshold requirements that will ensure the CSBG Network can continue to improve the lives of those we serve.

Some key items to note include:

• State CSBG lead agencies (Office of Community Assistance/OCA) are responsible for establishing and communicating expectations for organizational standards to eligible entities across a State, assessing the status of Standards among all of the eligible entities annually, and reporting to OCS on the Standards in the CSBG Annual Report
• In cases where the eligible entity may be able to meet the Standard in a reasonable time frame contingent on some targeted technical assistance, the State and entity may develop a technical assistance plan to target  training and technical assistance resources and outline a time frame for the entity to meet the Standard(s)
• OCS and States do not have the authority under the CSBG Act to bypass the process described in CSBG IM 116 in order to re-compete CSBG funding based on failure to meet Organizational Standards
• States must integrate the Standards into their State Plan beginning in FY 2016, which is due to OCS on September 2, 2015

While the IM 138 includes a large number of Standards, many agencies throughout Ohio’s CAA network are already implementing many of them. For others, your state T&TA provider, OCATO, can help. Below are some free resources to get you started on Standards with which you are less familiar. For further assistance, contact Josh Summer.

IM 138 Resources:

• GeneralStandards Information
• StrategicPlanning, Board Training, ROMA support
• Free Online RiskAssessment Tool
• FreeCommunity Needs Assessment Tool
• Online ResourceDatabase
• Management andGovernance Resources

2015 Winter Legislative Conference #WLC2015

Last week, the Ohio Association of Community Action Agencies (OACAA) hosted the 2015 Winter Legislative Conference in Columbus, Ohio. Nearly 300 Community Action professionals, partners and legislators joined the OACAA board and staff to discuss, learn and inspire each other. New and innovative approaches were pursued as the Community Action Network continued to do what they do best—help people and change lives.

The conference kicked off with visits with state legislators and agencies discussed their progress, ideas, and successes while advocating for their community’s low-income population. That evening, we were joined by several cabinet members, representatives, senators and legislative aides at the Legislative Reception and discussions continued regarding our network’s programs and initiatives to alleviate poverty across Ohio.

Thursday morning began with breakfast and speaker Denise Harlow, chief executive officer of Community Action Partnership, who discussed the newly released Community Action Standards. The Standards were coordinated by the Partnership over a three-year period along with 50 individuals connected to CSBG funding. Following breakfast, five breakout tracks commenced which included Leadership, Fiscal/Human Resources, Family Development, Public Relations, and Weatherization.

During lunch, OACAA was honored to host Governor John Kasich as the keynote speaker during which he released a preview of the next state budget proposal. Included in the preview was the initiative to expand child care assistance to families and individuals at up to 300 percent of the poverty level as opposed to the current 200 percent limit. In addition, Kasich aims to coordinate state services to eliminate barriers to low-income people to increase their successful transition to self-sufficiency.  Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services Director Cynthia Dungey and Office of Human Services Innovations Director Douglas Lumpkin followed the Governor’s speech with additional details.

The conference wrapped up on Friday with a discussion among members and OACAA executive director Philip E. Cole, as well as a federal policy update from speaker David Bradley. Mr. Bradley, co-founder and executive director of National Community Action Foundation, discussed NCAF’s work toward the federal reauthorization of CSBG, which he expects to accomplish in 2015.

Photos from the conference can be viewed on our new Flickr photo feed: OACAA Flickr. OACAA would like to thank all of those throughout Ohio’s 88 counties who participated in this year’s conference. All attendees, speakers, workshop presenters, staff and members of board of trustees played a vital role in the success of the conference. We are excited to begin working on the 2015 OACAA Summer Conference and look forward to seeing you there! Stay up to date with more details for the next conference and other activities by subscribing to our blog.