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The Office of Community Services (OCS) is a division of the US Executive Branch under the
The Office of Community Services (OCS) is a division of the US Executive Branch under the Administration for Children and Families
The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) is a division of the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). It is headed by the Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services for Children and Families. It has a $49 billi ...
within the Department of Health and Human Services
The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is a cabinet-level executive branch department of the U.S. federal government created to protect the health of all Americans and providing essential human services. Its motto is " ...
. It is the direct successor of the Office of Economic Opportunity
The Office of Economic Opportunity was the agency responsible for administering most of the War on Poverty programs created as part of United States President Lyndon B. Johnson's Great Society legislative agenda. It was established in 1964 as an i ...
, an independent agency created in 1964.
OCS administers six programs which provide funding for community development and poverty alleviation for private and public agencies:
* The Assets for Independence program, which provides matching contributions to Individual Development Accounts for those eligible for the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF ) is a federal assistance program of the United States. It began on July 1, 1997, and succeeded the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program, providing cash assistance to indigent Ame ...
program. The program was funded at $18.9 for the 2016 fiscal year. Participants in the program's first year saw a median increase in saving of $657, a drop in experiences of economic hardship by 34%, and a 39% drop in the use of payday loans
A payday loan (also called a payday advance, salary loan, payroll loan, small dollar loan, short term, or cash advance loan) is a short-term unsecured loan, often characterized by high interest rates.
The term "payday" in payday loan refers to ...
.
* The Community Economic Development Program, which provides funding for non-profits with the principle goal of supporting low-income housing
Subsidized housing is government sponsored economic assistance aimed towards alleviating housing costs and expenses for impoverished people with low to moderate incomes. In the United States, subsidized housing is often called "affordable housi ...
or community economic development Community economic development (CED) is a field of study that actively elicits community involvement when working with government, and private sectors to build strong communities, industries, and markets. It includes collaborative and participatory ...
. The program was funded at $19.75 million for the 2017 fiscal year. This program includes separate funding as part of the Healthy Food Financing Initiative, a partnership between the Department of Health and Human Services, the Treasury Department, and the Department of Agriculture to increase access healthy food.
* The Community Services Block Grant
The Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) provides federal funding for Community Action Agencies (CAAs) and other programs that seek to address poverty at the community level. Like other block grants, CSBG funds are allocated to the states and oth ...
, which was created in 1981 in a consolidation of over 200 government programs, and provides funding directly to states to distribute. The program was funded at $715 million in the 2016 fiscal year.
* The Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program
The Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP, pronounced "lie" "heap") is a United States federal social services program first established in 1981 and funded annually through Congressional appropriations. The mission of LIHEAP is to as ...
, which "provides grants to states to fund fuel payment assistance and home energy efficiency improvements for low-income households." The program was funded at $3.39 billion in the 2016 fiscal year.
* The Rural Community Development Program which provides funding for water management
Water resources are natural resources of water that are potentially useful for humans, for example as a source of drinking water supply or irrigation water. 97% of the water on the Earth is salt water and only three percent is fresh water; slightl ...
and wastewater treatment
Wastewater treatment is a process used to remove contaminants from wastewater and convert it into an effluent that can be returned to the water cycle. Once returned to the water cycle, the effluent creates an acceptable impact on the environme ...
. The program was funded at $7.45 million in the 2016 fiscal year.
* The Social Services Block Grant
Social Services Block Grant (SSBG) funds are to enable each state in the United States to furnish social services best suited to meet the needs of the individuals residing within the state. Such services may be, but are not limited to: daycare for ...
, used to support a wide range of activities. , the most highly supported of which were child care
Child care, otherwise known as day care, is the care and supervision of a child or multiple children at a time, whose ages range from two weeks of age to 18 years. Although most parents spend a significant amount of time caring for their child(r ...
, foster care
Foster care is a system in which a minor has been placed into a ward, group home (residential child care community, treatment center, etc.), or private home of a state-certified caregiver, referred to as a "foster parent" or with a family mem ...
, and services for the disabled
Service and supports for people with disabilities are those government or other institutional services and supports specifically provided to enable people who have disabilities to participate in society and community life. Some such services and ...
. The grant is authorized by Title XX of the Social Security Act
The Social Security Act of 1935 is a law enacted by the 74th United States Congress and signed into law by US President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The law created the Social Security program as well as insurance against unemployment. The law was pa ...
, and funding is allocated according to population. The program was funded at $1.6 billion for the 2016 fiscal year.
See also
*Poverty in the United States
In the United States, poverty has both social and political implications. In 2020, there were 37.2 million people in poverty. Some of the many causes include income inequality, inflation, unemployment, debt traps and poor education.Western, B ...
* Poverty reduction
Poverty reduction, poverty relief, or poverty alleviation, is a set of measures, both economic and humanitarian, that are intended to permanently lift people out of poverty.
Measures, like those promoted by Henry George in his economics clas ...
References
External links
* {{United States Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Children and Families programs