Key Points
- The Community Services Block Grant is a federally funded block grant that provides funds to states, territories, and tribes to administer support services that alleviate the causes and conditions of poverty in under-resourced communities.
- States receive funds according to a statutory formula. In turn, states fund a network of local eligible entities with 90 percent of their Community Services Block Grant grant award.
- Local eligible entities include:
- State-designated nonprofit Community Action Agencies
- Selected local governments
- Migrant and seasonal farm worker organizations
- State or federally recognized tribes or associated tribal organizations
- Local entities provide services and activities addressing employment, education, income and asset building services, housing, nutrition, emergency services, and/or healthcare based on community needs assessments conducted by the local entities.
- Grants are made annually according to a statutory formula and an accepted state or tribal plan.
- The Community Services Block Grant does not provide direct grants to individuals or ineligible organizations.
FIM Opportunities
States, tribes, territories, and approximately 1,000 local Community Action Agencies provide Community Services Block Grant-funded services and activities, including housing, nutrition, utility, and transportation assistance; employment, education, and other income and asset-building services; crisis and emergency services; and community asset building initiatives, among other things.
The eligible entity within each local community conducts a community needs assessment – this is where the agency decides what is done with the limited amount of resources. This process presents an opportunity to engage in strategies like Food is Medicine if it is consistent with the needs identified.
