Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) Communities of Practice (COP)

The Office of Community Services (OCS) within the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) will support a funding opportunity for six (6) three-year cooperative agreements for the Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) Communities of Practice (CoP).Six CoPs will be established to provide training and technical assistance (TTA). These CoPs will include CSBG-funded states, territories, and tribes, and CSBG state associations and eligible entities. The specialized TTA must: account for regional, state, city, county, tribal, and community characteristics (i.e., jurisdictional levels, demographic categories, socioeconomic tiers, community resources, etc.); be based on evidence-informed TTA models specific to the assigned CoPs; and include scalable approaches that states, territories, state associations, tribes, and CSBG-eligible entities can implement to support individuals and families with low incomes as they progress towards economic security.The six award recipients will be required to provide their respective grouping of CSBG states, territories, tribes, state associations, and eligible entities with capacity-building that creates scalable, evidence-informed interventions that improve earned income, employment stability, and asset development for families with low incomes through coordinated service delivery and systems alignment.TTA developed under these CoPs will advance community-level strategies that prevent and reduce barriers to attaining economic mobility; education and workforce development; transportation; and access to safe and stable housing, including support for the A Home for Every Child administrative priority. Each CoP is expected to invest in partnerships to support data-driven decision-making and infrastructure that strengthens service delivery, enhances reporting and compliance, and reduces opportunities for fraud, waste, and abuse across the Network. Eligibility: As prescribed by Section 678A(c)(2) of the CSBG Act, as amended (42 U.S.C. 9913(c)(2)), eligible applicants are CSBG-eligible entities, or statewide or local organizations or associations, with demonstrated expertise in providing training to individuals and organizations on methods of effectively addressing the needs of families and communities with low incomes. Applications from individuals (including sole proprietorships) and foreign entities are not eligible and will be disqualified from the merit review and funding under this funding opportunity. Faith-based and community organizations that meet the eligibility requirements are eligible for awards under this funding opportunity. Award ceiling: 725,000 CFDA: 93.569