Virginia Receives Award for ROMA Collaboration 
On July 19th the Virginia CSBG Office along with VACAP received the National ROMA
 Partnership award for our work to promote and support the implementation of ROMA. 
Working hand in hand with the Virginia Community Action Partnership and local community action programs across the Commonwealth, the Virginia CSBG Office has led the nation in developing stronger performance outcomes for community action. Virginia piloted a new training and technical assistance approach to greatly expand the number of ROMA-certified leaders in the state. The highly effective model is now being replicated across the country. In two years, Virginia increased from having two ROMA-certified trainer to having 5 trainers and 28 certified-implementers located at each Community Action Agency in Virginia.  It is remarkable to see the growth in the number of ROMA professionals in Virginia in the past two years, and it is quite an honor for this accomplishment to be recognized nationally!
Important: Organizational Standards Webinar
There will be an important Organizational Standards Webinar on Wednesday, August 9th at 10am. During this webinar we will discuss the National OCS Snapshot, where Virginia currently stands in regards to meeting the standards and next steps to ensure we improve as a state for the next reporting period. 

Please join us on this important webinar: 


Dial:  +1 (669) 224-3412
Access Code: 994-671-621
Application Taskforce Update 
The Application Taskforce is currently working in the following three smaller workgroups:
  • Group 1 - ROMA Next Generation/ Annual Report 
  • Group 2 - Community Action Plan/ State Plan
  • Group 3 - Current Application Assessment 
These three groups are looking at our current application and are developing new documents as well as looking at eliminating some of the current documents all in hopes of making the new application meet ROMA Next Generation Standards while also making it more concise and easier to complete. The taskforce will meet in person in early September to finalize the new documents. A network wide comment period will occur in October with the final application documents being released by early December. 
2017-2018 CSBG Reporter Budget Entry 
The 2017-2018 Budget Module has been added to CSBG Reporter. Starting now you can go in and enter your 2017-2018 CSBG and TANF budgets. Once you enter your new budget, CSBG Staff will approve it in the system and you will be able to do a budget modification and add your carryover into each line item as necessary. Once that is complete you will be able to submit invoices. To change program years there will be a drop down box in the upper right hand corner you can select 2016-2017 or 2017-2018, ensure you are invoicing and entering the budget in the correct program year. 

For questions on this please don't hesitate to email [email protected]. 
August & September At A Glance 

 

  • August 4 - Final 2016-2017 Invoices Due in CSBG Reporter
  • August 9, 10am - Organizational Standards Webinar
  • August 15 -  4th Quarter Reports Due 
  • August 29-September 1 - Community Action Partnership Conference, Philadelphia 
  • September 6 - Application Taskforce In Person Meeting
  • September 8 - 5 CAP Regional Training Strategic Planning Session 
  • September 28, 10am - Website Webinar  
STOP Inc. Unveils New Technology Bus
STOP unveiled their new Technology bus on 
Friday, June 23rd.  The new Technology Bus will
provide elementary to high school students with a mobile technology and training system that creates opportunities for inclusion in the computer programming industry. The bus will travel through STOP's service area and will provide students onboard code building processes, mentorship and engagement. Some of the programs provided include: Computer Programming, Software Design, Gaming and Robotics, Computer Maintenance and Repair. 
Resources for Community Action 
Self-Sufficiency Research Clearinghouse 
The Self-Sufficiency Research Clearinghouse (SSRC) is an ever growing virtual portal of research on low-income and TANF families and an online hub for professional networking among researchers, policymakers and practitioners who serve these populations.

In April, 2017 an article was released by Karen Walker which discussed poverty in rural America. Many Virginia agencies serve rural areas within the state. Rural poverty is widespread across the country and specifically in the south, between 2010-2014 22 percent of all people who lived in rural southern areas were in poverty. Walker discusses several statistics surrounding rural poverty and touches on challenges and tactics to decreasing and eliminating poverty in rural areas. The article full article can be found on the Self-Sufficiency Research Clearinghouse website. 
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