Measuring the Impact of CSBG Dollars Alone

Discussion Guide

See White Paper, Third Iteration, Section Five

Thank you for volunteering to assist us in finding a workable approach and path forward for updating CSBG reporting. If possible, we ask that you participate in both committee webinars as the discussion on the second webinar will build on the discussion that took place during the first webinar.

Describing the Functional Use of CSBG Dollars

Currently Section E of the CSBG Information System Survey (IS) requests an accounting of all CSBG dollars expended by eligible entities. These dollars are reported in the below nine categories of services, which are taken from the CSBG Act.

·  Employment

·  Education

·  Income Management

·  Housing

·  Emergency Services

·  Nutrition

·  Linkages with Other Programs

·  Self-Sufficiency

·  Health

Discussion Questions

1.  How can we better define what is included in “Emergency Services”?

Some possible detailed categories: Disaster Relief, Personal Family Emergency, Maintenance of Stability

2.  How can we better define what constitutes services for “Self-Sufficiency”?

Some possible detailed categories: Case Management, bundled or comprehensive services.

3.  How can we better define what is included in “Linkages”?

Some possible detailed categories: Information/Resource and Referral Services, Partnership Building, Service Coordination?

4.  Per NASCSP’s recent webinar poll and white paper survey, the Network demonstrated interest in capturing the use of CSBG dollars to meet the specific Organizational Performance Standards listed below.

Would these categories, with some explanation, truly represent the functional use of CSBG dollars?

·  Consumer Input and Involvement

·  Community Engagement

·  Community Assessment

·  Organizational Leadership

·  Board Governance

·  Strategic Planning

·  Human Resource Management

·  Financial Operations and Oversight

·  Data and Analysis

What are the opportunities and challenges associated with moving in this direction (i.e. feasibility, cost, timeframe for implementation, etc.)?

5.  Per webinar polling and the white paper survey, the Network also demonstrated interest in connecting all of local agencies’ funding sources that are reported in Section F to the CSBG Service Categories in Section E.

This strategy could provide a comparison between the CSBG expenditures in a given category and the other leveraged resources' in the same category. The resulting data could provide a more comprehensive picture of how CSBG dollars bolster the efforts supported by other funding sources in specific focus areas.

What are the opportunities and challenges association with moving in this direction (i.e. feasibility, cost, timeframe for implementation, etc.)?

6.  NASCSP currently provides an “Other” service category under Section E. This category was designed specifically to identify significant initiatives, but almost all CAA activities can be best described by one of the nine primary service categories. Should the “Other” category be deleted?

Reporting Administrative Costs

Discussion Questions

1.  Currently administrative dollars are reported within the service categories to which they are associated. If administrative reporting is maintained, should it be distinct from the above service categories or reported as a subset of them as currently instructed?

The Federal Office of Community Services’ CSBG Performance Measure

Below are the performance measures currently in use by OCS for CSBG. These may also be found on PDF page 171 here.

Discussion Questions

  1. How should these measures be updated to more accurately reflect changes in reporting and the goals of the CSBG Act?