Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) Training and Technical Assistance (T/TA) Organizational Standards Center of Excellence (COE)

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The Office of Community Services (OCS) within the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) announces that funds will be available for a cooperative agreement for the Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) Organizational Standards Center of Excellence (COE). This cooperative agreement will support an enhanced ongoing State, regional and national training and technical assistance (T/TA) strategy for meeting organizational standards, State Accountability Measures, and other CSBG Performance Management Framework efforts. The Organizational Standards COE will continue to develop and coordinate projects in partnership with State CSBG Lead Agencies, local CSBG-eligible entities, and regional and national partners, including the Regional Performance and Innovation Consortium (RPIC). The Organizational Standards COE will continue to focus on increasing accountability and performance management by assisting State CSBG Lead Agencies, State Community Action Agency (CAA) Associations, and local CSBG-eligible entities in meeting high organizational performance standards in the areas of consumer input and involvement, community engagement, community assessment, organizational leadership, board governance, strategic planning, human resource management, financial operations and oversight, and data and analysis. The COE will also focus on State Accountability Measures that address efficiency and effectiveness characteristics such as timeliness of the distribution of funds, grantee monitoring, data collection, analysis, and reporting. Two prior cooperative agreements supported by OCS funded the development and initial implementation of organizational standards. Through this cooperative agreement, OCS will implement the next phase of the Organizational Standards COE to ensure that all State CSBG Lead Agencies and local CSBG-eligible entities are able to meet high-quality organizational standards and State Accountability Measures and have the capacity to provide high-quality services to low-income individuals and communities. The COE will also work in connection with the CSBG Training and Technical Assistance (T/TA) Program: Regional Performance and Innovation Consortium (RPIC), funding opportunity number HHS-2016-ACF-OCS-ET-1128, to help strengthen relationships and T/TA efforts among and between CSBG Lead Agencies, State CAA Associations and RPICs, CSBG-eligible entities, and national T/TA providers. By helping to ensure close coordination and implementation of T/TA, the COE will support an enhanced ongoing state, regional and national T/TA strategy for meeting CSBG Performance Management Framework efforts as well as regionally- focused initiatives, including facilitating the development of state-specific technical assistance plans to assure high quality services for low income people and communities.

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