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93.569 COMMUNITY SERVICES BLOCK GRANT

FEDERAL AGENCY

ADMINISTRATION FOR CHILDREN AND FAMILIES, DEPARTMENT OF
HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

AUTHORIZATION

Community Opportunities, Accountability, Training, and
Educational Services Act of 1998, Title II, Section 201 and Sections
671-thru 679; Public Laws 97-35, 103-252, Public Laws 106-554 and 98-502.

OBJECTIVES

To provide assistance to States and local communities,
working through a network of community action agencies and other
neighborhood-based organizations, for the reduction of poverty, the
revitalization of low-income communities, and the empowerment of
low-income families and individuals in rural and urban areas to become
fully self-sufficient (particularly families who are attempting to
transition off a State program carried out under part A of title IV of the
Social Security Act) and (1) To provide services and activities having a
measurable and potential major impact on causes of poverty in the
community or those areas of the community where poverty is a particularly
acute problem; (2) to provide activities designed to assist low-income
participants, including the elderly poor, to: (a) secure and retain
meaningful employment; (b) attain an adequate education; (c) make better
use of available income; (d) obtain and maintain adequate housing and a
suitable living environment; (e) obtain emergency assistance through loans
or grants to meet immediate and urgent individual and family needs,
including health services, nutritious food, housing, and
employment-related assistance; (f) remove obstacles and solve problems
which block the achievement of self-sufficiency; (g) achieve greater
participation in the affairs of the community; and (h) make more effective
use of other related programs; (3) to provide on an emergency basis for
the provision of such supplies and services, nutritious foodstuffs, and
related services, as may be necessary to counteract conditions of
starvation and malnutrition among the poor; and (4) to coordinate and
establish linkages between governmental and other social services programs
to assure the effective delivery of such services to low-income
individuals.

TYPES OF ASSISTANCE

Formula Grants.

USES AND USE RESTRICTIONS

(1) States receive block grants to ameliorate the causes of
poverty in communities. The block grant approach gives the States
flexibility to tailor their programs to the particular services needs in
their communities. (2) States are required to use at least 90 percent of
their allocations for grants to "eligible entities" as defined in the
Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) Act, as amended; this includes
primarily locally-based community action agencies and/or organizations
that serve seasonal or migrant farm workers. (2) No more than the greater
of $55,000 or 5 percent of each State's allocation may be used for
administrative expenses at the State level.

ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS

Applicant Eligibility

The Secretary is authorized to make grants to States. This
includes each of the 50 States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth
of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and the
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. The Secretary also provides
assistance directly to the governing body of an Indian Tribe or Tribal
organization upon application by the tribe. Only State-recognized tribes,
as evidenced by a statement to that effect by the Governor, or tribes
formally recognized by the Secretary of the Interior, under the procedure
for such recognition in 25 CFR 54, are eligible to receive direct grants.

Beneficiary Eligibility

States make grants to qualified locally-based nonprofit
community antipoverty agencies and other eligible entities which provide
services to low-income individuals and families. The official poverty
line, as established by the Secretary of Health and Human Services, is
used as a criterion of eligibility in the Community Services Block Grant
program. When a State determines that it serves the objectives of the
block grant, it may revise the income limit, not to exceed 125 percent of
the official poverty line.

Credentials/Documentation

None.

APPLICATION AND AWARD PROCESS

Preapplication Coordination

This program is excluded from coverage under E.O. 12372.

Application Procedure

Each State desiring to receive an allotment for a fiscal
year is required to submit an application to the Secretary of Health and
Human Services (HHS). Each application must contain assurances by the
appropriate State designee that the State will comply with Section 676 of
the Community Services Block Grant Act and also meet conditions enumerated
in Sections 678(B-D). The State is required to hold at least one
legislative hearing every three years in conjunction with the development
of the State Plan (Section 676(a)(3). States are also required to conducts
public hearings on the proposed use and distribution of funds to be
provided under the Act. The latter sets forth the general purpose for
which funds will be used, restrictions on administrative expenses,
eligible recipients, board requirements for community action agencies and
other nonprofit organizations, fiscal control, monitoring, and Federal
investigation provisions, coordination between antipoverty programs in
each community and certain prohibitions on political activities. The Chief
Executive Officer of each State is also required to designate a lead
agency to prepare and submit a plan to the Secretary of HHS describing how
the State will carry out the assurances in Section 676. This program is
excluded from coverage under 45 CFR, Part 1050.

Award Procedure

HHS determines the amount of funds to be allocated as block
grants to each State in accordance with the formula set forth in the
Community Services Block Grant Act. The Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) has the authority to apportion to the HHS through the course of a
year the Congressional appropriation for block grants. Consistent with
OMB's apportionment of funds, HHS will assign allotments to the States
through individual awards or a series of awards, normally on a quarterly
basis.

Deadlines

The application deadline for States and Indian Tribes and
Tribal Organizations is September 1 of each fiscal year.

Range of Approval/Disapproval Time

Not applicable.

Appeals

Funds may be withheld from any State which does not utilize
its allotment substantially in accordance with the provisions of the
Community Services Block Grant Act and the assurances provided in its
application. This may be done only after adequate notice and an
opportunity for a hearing is conducted within the affected State.

Renewals

Not applicable.

ASSISTANCE CONSIDERATIONS

Formula and Matching Requirements

Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981, Public Law 97-35
as amended by the Human Services Amendments of 1998, Public Law 105-285,
Section 674 authorizes the Secretary to use one and one-half of one
percent of the amount appropriated to be reserved for corrective action,
training, technical assistance, planning, evaluation, and data collection
activities related to programs or projects carried out under this
subtitle. Such activities may be carried out through grants, contracts, or
cooperative agreements with eligible entities or with organizations or
associations whose membership is composed of eligible entities or agencies
that administer programs for eligible entities. One-half of one percent of
the amount appropriated is apportioned on the basis of need among Guam,
American Samoa, the Virgin Islands, the Northern and Mariana Islands. Of
the remaining amount each State, (excluding the above, but including the
District of Columbia and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico) is allotted an
amount which bears the same ratio as the amount received by the State for
fiscal year 1981 under Section 221 of the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964
bore to the total amount received by all States for fiscal year 1981 under
Section 221. However, if the appropriation exceeds $345,000,000 after the
amount necessary for purposes of discretionary funding under 680 and the
one-half of one percent set aside for territories and insular areas under
section 675(A) are determined, no State receives less than one-half of one
percent of the amount appropriated. This program has no matching
requirements.

Length and Time Phasing of Assistance

Entitlement amounts are for a specific fiscal year and the
grant funds allotted to the State will be awarded in accordance with
apportionment of funds from the Office of Management and Budget. Amounts
unobligated by the State at the end of a fiscal year remain available for
obligation during the succeeding fiscal year.

POST ASSISTANCE REQUIREMENTS

Reports

States must prepare and submit to the Secretary an Annual
Report on the measured performance of the State and the eligible entities
in the State. Reports shall include an accounting of the expenditure of
funds received under the CSBG Program, including administrative costs
incurred by the State and eligible entities and funds spent on direct
delivery of local services, information on the number of and
characteristics of clients served and a summary description of the
training and technical assistance offered by the State. The Annual Report
is due on March 31 each year. States are required to submit annual
financial status reports, SF-269A's, 90 days after the end the fiscal
year, i.e., December 30, each year.

Audits

In accordance with the provisions of OMB Circular No. A-133
(Revised June 27, 2003)," Audits of States, Local Governments and
Non-Profit Organizations," Non-Federal entities that expend $300,000
($500,000 for fiscal years ending after December 31, 2003) or more in a
year in Federal awards shall have a single or program-specific audit
conducted for that year in accordance with the provisions of this part.
Non-Federal entities that expend less than $300,000 ($500,000 for fiscal
years ending after December 31, 2003) a year in Federal awards are exempt
from Federal audit requirements for that year, except as noted in section
.215(a), but records must be available for review or audit by appropriate
officials of the Federal agency, pass-through entity, and General
Accounting Office (GAO).

Records

States are required to keep records sufficient to permit
preparation of the required reports and to permit tracing of funds to a
level of expenditure adequate to insure that funds have not been spent
unlawfully.

FINANCIAL INFORMATION

Account Identification

75-1504-0-1-506.

Obligations

(Grants and Contracts) FY 05 $636,789,000; FY 06
$630,425,000; and FY 07 est $0.

Range and Average of Financial Assistance

82 count 6,195,271; 75 count 6,399,249.

PROGRAM ACCOMPLISHMENTS

A total of 231 grants were awarded in fiscal year 2005. It
is anticipated that 227 grants will be awarded in fiscal year 2006.

REGULATIONS, GUIDELINES, AND LITERATURE

45 CFR 16, 45 CFR 74 and 45 CFR 96.

INFORMATION CONTACTS

Regional or Local Office

Not applicable.

Headquarters Office

Division of State Assistance, Office of Community Services,
Administration for Children and Families, Department of Health and Human
Services, 370 L'Enfant Promenade, SW., Washington, DC 20447. Telephone:
(202) 401-9343.

Web Site Address

http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/ocs

RELATED PROGRAMS

93.568, Low-Income Home Energy Assistance; 93.600, Head
Start; 93.045, Special Programs for the Aging_Title III, Part C_Nutrition
Services.

EXAMPLES OF FUNDED PROJECTS

Not applicable.

CRITERIA FOR SELECTING PROPOSALS

Not applicable.

General Services Administration
Office of Chief Acquisition
Officer
Regulatory and Federal Assistance Division (VIR)