The ACSI survey provides eligible entities with an opportunity to offer constructive feedback to OCS and their respective State Lead CSBG Agency. In 2015, CAA's across Virginia had a chance to complete the first ACSI survey. We received the results of that survey in early 2016 and have been working over the past several months to address the one area that the Virginia State Office scored below average on which was the Development of the State Plan. This year we developed the 2-year State Plan several months in advance and had several comment periods for the network to provide feedback and input for our State Plan. In the next few weeks the 2017 ACSI survey will be released. We encourage each agency to complete the survey when released. We use the results of this survey to guide our training and technical assistance efforts. 

 

• April 14th - 10am- Application Taskforce Kickoff Call
• April 20th- 21st - VACAP Membership Meeting
• April 26th- 10am - ROMA Webinar
• May 1 - CSBG Application Due
• May 1 - NAP Application Due
• May 16-17 - Virginia Volunteerism and Service Conference 
• May 29 - Memorial Day - State Offices Closed

As many of you are aware with the ROMA Next Generation changes comes the needed changes to application documents. We are starting an Application Taskforce to help us develop our new application documents for the 2018 Application. This taskforce will meet over the summer with a goal of completing the new documents by November 2017. If you are interested in joining the taskforce please email Abby at [email protected] by Wednesday, April 12th. Our kickoff call will be on April 14th at 10am. 

The CSBG Training Survey was created by the Training and Technical Assistance taskforce in order to help assess the current needs of the network.  The survey is to be completed by all Executive Directors, ROMA Implementers, Program Directors, Program Managers and other senior staff.

The purpose of this survey is to:

You can find the survey at:  https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/csbgtaskforce  The survey needs to be completed by Wednesday, April 19, 2017.

If you would like to be part of the training and technical assistance taskforce, please contact Kia at [email protected]. 

The ROMA Implementer's in Virginia met as a large group at the January VACAP meeting. During that meeting a Job Description was drafted. It was determined that the ROMA Implementer  would ensure that the agency is adhering to the Results Oriented Management and Accountability (ROMA) process. This guarantees that agency practices are efficient, effective and meeting standards required for operation. Over the past few months the Implementer's have been working in small groups to develop short and long term goals as well as work plans for the group. The large group will reconvene in June at the VACAP meeting to finalize the job description and start strategic planning as a peer group. 

Three agencies in Virginia have signed on with EmpowOR,  EmpowOR by CSST Software takes the latest in technology and security in combination with an understanding of how community action agencies and other multi-service organizations operate and use software.  With EmpowOR you get comprehensive training and support from people who 'speak your language'-staff with extensive programmatic and reporting experience-and the kind of deep technical expertise that is only available with an experienced software development company.

TAP, People, Inc., and Appalachian Community Action have all signed on with EmpowOR and will begin using the software over the summer. If you are interested in making the switch please reach out to [email protected] and we can connect you. 

Lobbying in Community Action

 

Since the announcement of potential funding cuts the topic of lobbying has come up across the state.  In 2011 CAPLAW published a fact sheet on lobbying specific to Community Action. Make sure to take some time to refresh your staff using the fact sheet, there are also some tips on using social media for advocating. Just remember to  avoid using any federal funds including CSBG Funds for lobbying purposes!