June 2, 2021 | Issue 61
2021-2022 CSBG/TANF Contract
We want to thank you for the quick turnaround on getting your CSBG/TANF contracts signed and returned to our office. Also, thank you for submitting your CAP plans on time. All of this has allowed us to get the required documents to procurement in a timely manner for execution of the contracts.
2019-2020 Annual Report data submitted to OCS 
Fiscal Year 2019-2020 data has been successfully submitted to Federal OCS. The data that was submitted is the data from the 4th quarter reports that were submitted by your agency in August, 2020. The data from the prior year is typically due annually in March, however, this year due to COVID they extended the due date to June 30th. We want to thank everyone for responding to questions and making corrections to 4th quarter report data as needed over the past several months.

We expect feedback from federal OCS in the fall, at that time we may have additional questions for agencies. We spent time over the past several months making data corrections, we hope to receive fewer data clarification questions this year.
Federal OCS DCL-2021-02 - Taking Action on Racial Equity
The Office of Community Services within the Administration for Children and Families recently published a Dear Colleague Letter addressing the action they are taking on Racial Equity. Below is an excerpt from the Dear Colleague Letter:

"ACF will pursue a robust approach to advancing equity across our programs and processes, with a focus on people of color and others who have been historically underserved, marginalized, and adversely affected by persistent poverty and inequality. This will include careful reviews of our policies, messaging, grant-making, procurement, human resources, and other processes, leading to thoughtful planning and action. Additionally, we value ongoing learning opportunities to understand the harm the Federal government has caused to historically underserved, marginalized communities, as well as the positive role the Federal government has played."

Read the full DCL here.
Supplemental monitoring and reporting update
CSBG Supplemental Funds Monitoring is underway. Most documents have been reviewed and all agencies should have received a request to submit client files if CSBG Supplemental Funds were used on services. Monitoring letters with any findings, concerns or recommendations will be sent to Board Chairs and Executive Directors by June 30, 2021

For supplemental funds reporting, we are awaiting the SmartForms which will be used to compile the data on any services provided with CSBG Supplemental Funds from May 1, 2020- June 30, 2020. Once we receive these SmartForms we will be asking for any data you have collected for that time frame. If you provided services using supplemental funds prior to June 30, 2020 be prepared to fill out the supplemental reporting form when it is available. The forms are due to Federal OCS by June 30, 2021, which will require a quick turnaround.
Community Action Updates
Upcoming Events
  • June 18 - State Offices Closed
  • June 8-21 - VACAP Conference (see full schedule below)
A new face on the CSBG Team - Welcome Erika!
The CSBG team is happy to announce we have a new part time team member who joined VA CSBG Team in May!

Erika grew up in the Pinelands of rural New Jersey with her mother, younger sister, and various critters around the house. In 2018, she graduated from Stockton University with a BS in Health Science which focused on Nutrition and Public Health, and promptly escaped New Jersey, landing in Richmond almost 2 years ago. Her two cats, Nala and Appa, may guest star occasionally during video calls.

Erika is looking forward to assisting the CSBG office and agencies in ROMA planning, training content management and development, and other various data and technology tasks.
VACAP June Conference
Sessions are being added weekly to the VACAP June Conference Agenda, currently the following sessions are scheduled:

June 8 @ 10:00 am - 11:30 am - Data Collection and Evaluation
June 8 @ 2:00 pm - 3:30 pm - CSBG Office Roundtable
June 10 @ 9:00 am - 1:00 pm - VACAP Board Meeting
June 10 @ 2:30 pm - 3:30 pm - Fiscal Peer Group
June 15 @ 9:00 am - 10:30 am - VACAP Head Start Meeting
June 16 @ 9:00 am - 10:30 am - Agency Board Peer Group Meeting (only for board members)
June 17 @ 9:30am - 11:30 am - ROMA Peer Group
June 21 @ 10:00 am - 11:30 am - Human Resources Peer Group


Be on the look out for additional sessions being scheduled on the VACAP Website!
Community Action Resources
2021 Aspen Forum on Children and Families: Our Momentum is Now
On June 7 and 8, from 2:00 - 5:00pm ET, Ascend at the Aspen Institute will host the third bi-annual Aspen Forum on Children and Families. This virtual convening will highlight responsive, holistic, and family-centered solutions to reduce disparities and increase the social and economic mobility of families.

The Agenda has recently been released for the two-day forum. We encourage you to view the agenda and sign up if interested.
Raising the Low-Income Voice: Case Studies in Democratic Selection Procedures - updated in 2021
CAPLAW has published a series of case studies that address the various ways that CAAs are meeting the CSBG Act’s requirement that the low-income sector of the tripartite board be selected in accordance with “democratic selection procedures." These case studies were extensively updated in 2021 to reflect how the featured CAAs adapted their existing democratic selection processes during the COVID-19 pandemic to retain maximum feasible participation while ensuring effective and safe governance practices.

To download the new case studies visit the CAPLAW website. Remember as a CAA you are members of CAPLAW and can access their resources for free.
New Equity Dashboards Now Available in Virginia
We are excited to have new equity dashboards available in the Commonwealth. The Equity in Action dashboard is a snapshot of the progress made in Virginia on COVID-19 response and recovery programs and other initiatives to advance the equitable distribution of resources and services. The Equity at a Glance dashboard is an assessment of social determinants of health and other factors contributing to health equity. Future additions to the dashboards will include criminal justice metrics and workforce diversity. You can use the navigation buttons at the top of the page to access the dashboard and information for each topic area. The dashboards include text captions for charts and tables. You can access the underlying data by clicking on the links in the Data and Documentation section. The equity in action dashboard has data by locality. The equity at a glance dashboard asks you to select Virginia View or Locality View to access statewide or locality data.

Here are the links to the two Virginia Equity Dashboards:

Virginia Community Services Block Grant Office