Community Action Partnership Annual Convention

1. Community Action Partnership Annual Convention August, 2013 Community Action Past, Present and Future Jim Masters, CCAP, NCRT jmasters@cencomfut.com

2. The Economy Social Values Demographics • Demographics shape the economy. • Demographics and the economy often drive social values. • One or more of these 3 drive public policy. • Most of the 3 do not get translated into public policy. Our system is designed for stalemate. • For the few things that do wind up in public policy, the lag is typically 5 to 50 years.

3. Concepts about Public Policies, Programs and Management Systems • Most are designed to try to do good things • Have limits • Have opportunity costs • Create new problems • Have unintended consequences

4. Leading up to the EOA of 1964 Earlier social problems and “solutions” 1830’s. Puritans/Quakers. Women can own property. 1860’s. Abolition, Demons/asylums. Youth “reform”atory 1890’s. Settlement houses (500 by 1920). Corruption. W.E.B. DuBois. 1910’s. Food/drug poisoning. Women’s suffrage. 1930’s. Depression. Program of Community Action. Social Security, ADC. NYA. Legal Services was rejected. NAACP Margold Report. Prep for WWII. 1950’s Brown vs. Board of Ed. Economy booming. 1960’s. JFK = 3 strategies. LBJ Task Force

5. Three Big Federal Interventions • 1. Post Civil War Reconstruction: • The Freedman’s Bureau 1865 – 1872 (Gen Howard) • 2. The Great Depression • Farm Security Administration 1936 – 1943 (Tugwell) • The War on Poverty. LBJ SOU speech January, 1964. • 23 Strategies -- 3 went into EOA • Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 (added 9 more) • Office of Economic Opportunity 1964 –1974 (Shriver) • Community Services Administration 1974 -- 1981

6. Origins of the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 JFK and LBJ Populist Movement of Farmers & Industrial Workers 1890’s Declaration of Independence 1776 Civil War Reconstruction Freedman’s 1864 -- 1873 Magna Carta 1215 WW II US Constitution 1789 Civil Rights 1954 Brown Past struggles for economic justice and human / civil rights 14th Amendment to the US Constitution 1868 The New Deal FSA 1936 - 43 EOA 1964

7. Signing the Civil Rights Act, July 2, 1964

8. Signing the EOA, August 20, 1964

9. Economic Opportunity Act of 1964“The Great Society War on Poverty” AN ACT To mobilize the human and financial resources of the Nation to combat poverty in the United States. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled. That this Act may be cited as the "Economic Opportunity Act of 1964." FINDINGS AND DECLARATION OF PURPOSE SEC. 2. Although the economic well-being and prosperity of the United States have progressed to a level surpassing any achieved in world history, and although these benefits are widely shared throughout the Nation, poverty continues to be the lot of a substantial number of our people. (continued on next slide)

10. Economic Opportunity Act of 1964“The Great Society War on Poverty” cont. (continued from previous slide)The United States can achieve its full economic and social potential as a nation only if every individual has the opportunity to contribute to the full extent of his capabilities and to participate in the workings of our society. It is, therefore, the policy of the United States to eliminate the paradox of poverty in the midst of plenty in this Nation by opening to everyone the opportunity for education and training, the opportunity to work, and the opportunity to live in decency and dignity. It is the purpose of this Act to strengthen, supplement, and coordinate efforts in furtherance of that policy.

11. Economic Opportunity Act of 1964“The Great Society War on Poverty” cont. Basic Philosophy of EOA • Self-empowerment of the poor. From deserving poor to rights • Maximum feasible participation (in planning / decisions) • Redistribution of economic and social opportunities • Community leadership and mobilization of resources • Volunteerism Creation of Community Action Agencies • Local control within an organized national effort / network • Maximize influence and voice of the poor • Community capacity building Excerpted from CCAP Body of Knowledge

12. EOA History. 1964 -- 1981 OEO Creates Community Action Agencies Community Services Admin (1974 – 1981) EOA repealed CSBG 1981 Green (designation) Quie (Tripartite Boards) 1967 -68 1964 EOA Increased focus on compliance and mgmt OEO transformed to Community Services Administration (CSA) (1974) Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO) Established 1964 CSA closed. Office of Community Services (OCS) created 1981 Excerpted from CCAP Body of Knowledge

13. 1964 – 1967. Our 1’s • CAA’s have Federal mandate to end poverty. • Checkpoint form. • Citizen participation in policy making. Power. • Voter registration. • New program incubation. Head Start, Adult Ed, Legal Services, VISTA, SCSEP, Cmty Health Centers, Federally funded family planning, Foster Grandparents, Upward Bound, Job Corps, NYC, Food programs in Senior Centers, Local Initiative, etc. • Shift from “deserving poor” to entitlements. • Civil rights and get a GED/job strategies worked! • 1967 separation of IM and social services. • Voting Rights Act of 1965 • Grant Application Process, Program Accounts (2).

14. 1964 to 1967. Our 4’s and 5’s • Must incorporate, have by-laws, annual audits, org charts inventory. • 2. Got Green and Quie Amendments. • Congress put limits on use of Federal funds for voter registration. • Congress began earmarking new money to “National Emphasis Programs”. • OEO decides it needs detailed demographic data on each person served. “CAP Form 84”

15. 1968 – 1972. Our 1’s • Over 90% of existing nonprofit CAA’s were designated under the Green Amendment. • Food Stamp Act of 1968 “Cash not commodities”. Food Stamp Alert. • Implemented the Quie Amendment (tripartite). • Consolidated CAA’s, From 1,800 to about 930. • Medicaid Alert. • Civil rights Act of 1968 (housing) • Experiments in administrative decentralization. • Community Corporations, PNC • 7. Dumped CAP Form 84 • 8. We were OK with Don Rumsfeld, Frank Carlucci as OEO Directors.

16. 1968 – 1972. Our 4’s and 5’s. • Lost the Checkpoint Form. Chicago. • 1968. HQ funded the Blackstone Rangers. • MLK & Bobby Kennedy killed. • Opposed the Family Assistance Plan in 1972. • Daniel Patrick Moynihan. • Guaranteed Annual Income projects folded. • President Nixon re-elected. Moves to impound $ and close OEO.

17. 1973 – 1981. Our 1’s. • Saved OEO. Howard Phillips resigns. • CAA’s move into the space created by separation of IM and social services. • Community Services Amendments of 1974. Standards of Effectiveness. (3) (President Ford). • EITC (1975). • Extended civil rights into HUD, Transportation. • CAA’s were the local Sponsor Agency for CETA. • LIHEAP and WX created. • President Carter. Charles Aragon Report. • Grantee Program Mgmt System (4) (GPMS).

18. 1973 – 1981. Our 4’s and 5’s • Anti-impoundment and Budget Reconciliation Act of 1973 – used against us in 1981. • Assumed everything we did reduced poverty. Didn’t distinguish between public charity, anti-destitution, human development, anti-poverty. • Did not understand how inflation, globalization were eating away at work opportunities for low income people. • After social movements slowed, we had no strategy to replace them except service coordination. • Lost CETA prime sponsorships, PSE. • Too much reliance on pushing the Presidential button.

19. 1981 – 1993. Our 1’s • The CSBG was cobbled together with ideas from the EOA. Saved tri-partite board, got 90% pass through in return for closing CSA. • NVRS, CSBG IS (5) • OCS Demonstration Partnership Program validated family development and microbusiness programs. • Evaluations. • EITC, Food Stamps, Medicaid expansions. • In several states, legislation is passed with elements of EOA, CSBG. • President Reagan says Head Start is one of 7 “safety net” programs.

20. 1981 – 1993. Our 4’s and 5’s. • With repeal of the EOA, lost the Federal mandate. 25% cut. Laid off program development and civil rights staff. • Globalization and automation outrun everybody. • No Federal or state plans to end poverty. • President Reagan: “Government IS the problem.” • Boards focus on monitoring programs, many stop doing community engagement. • Every CAA in trouble was replaced by a public agency. • Begin collecting detailed data on participants.

21. 1994 – 2013. Our 1’s • GPRA of 1993. MATF produces ROMA. (6) NPI’s (7) • Reauthorization of the CSBG 1998 • Asset development, IDA, NEFE, homebuyer, etc. • Social enterprises peek over the horizon • CCAP • Body of Knowledge • Pathways to Excellence • Creating the 21st Century Model 2004 • Summit in 2005 • NCPES in Bethesda, 2007 • A few state level plans to reduce poverty • Partnership trying to reconnect with CED • OCS funds Centers of Excellence for Standards, Theory of Change, ROMA next generation. Hires UI. (8)

22. 1994 – 2013. Our 4’s and 5’s • Program development systems grind to a halt. • Focus mostly on services to individuals and families. Our family development got stuck somewhere between I&R and “social-work light”. • Still can’t tell the difference between anti-destitution and anti-poverty. • No high-impact strategies to deal with shrinking economic opportunity. • No immigration policy. • Late late late in picking up on the Meg Bostrum, George Lakoff work on reframing. And now, we are backsliding from economic security to FPL. • Lost connections to universities, other national orgs.

23. Signs the current era is ending • Problems defining and measuring poverty. • Many historic strategies have lost their oomph. • We have few strategies that get people out of poverty. • Have we hit the limits of social services? “Light touch?” • From deserving poor to entitlements – and back again. • Entitlement payments/wages have not kept up with inflation. • Long, slow withdrawal of Federal government. • From: Nationwide, 500 counties, 200 EZ/EC’s, • 60 Promise Neighborhoods. • From institutional change and anti-poverty • to anti-destitution = “stuff”.

24. The Future? • Energy conservation. • Other environmental opportunities. • An explosion of articles and books. • Partner with other national groups; CAP; NAF, PRRAC, EPI; CEPR. • Who is poor and for how long is a matter of national choice. (Britain, Ireland, France and 50 other countries). • The Persistence of Poverty in the United States. Garth Mangum, Stephen Mangum, Andrew Sum. • 6. Human Development Capability Approach. • Amartya Sen. http://www.capabilityapproach.com

25. More • Gar Alperovitz ‘s book: “What Then Must We Do?” • UN Development Program, MDG’s. NASW. • http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals • 9. Jared Bernstein http://jaredbernsteinblog.com • 10. Allen Stansbury http://declineofusmiddleclass.blogspot.com • 11. Social movements: Tea Party; Occupy. • Preschool for All.

26. More • 13. Gates Foundation, Clinton Global Initiative. • 14. Public Service Employment. • High-school level skills at a minimum. • Minimum wage. • Social capital. www.circlesusa.org • Head Start PFCE Framework. • Community revitalization. • The New Reality Initiative at the Partnership • Transition Communities ww.transitionus.org • What else?

27. The Promise of Community Action Community Action changes people’s lives, embodies the spirit of hope, improves communities, and makes America a better place to live. We care about the entire community, and we are dedicated to helping people help themselves and each other.

28. Community Action Code of Ethics

29. Clark, Robert F. Maximum Feasible Success: A History of the Community Action Program. Washington, CD. National Association of Community Action Agencies, 2000. Community Action Code of Ethics. Washington: Community Action Partnership, 2002. Community Services Block Grant Act. Pub. L. 105-285. 27 Oct. 1998. Stat. 112-2728. Economic Opportunity Act. Pub. L. 88-452. 20 Aug. 1964. Stat. 78-508. Harrington, Michael. The Other America, 1964. The New American Poverty. New York: Holt, 1984. Masters, James I. “Advocacy.” CAA Executives’ Handbook. Washington: National Association of Community Action Agencies, 2000 .“Participation of Low-Income People.” CAA Executives’ Handbook. Washington: National Association of Community Action Agencies, 2000. Office of Economic Opportunity and Community Services Administration Publications. Characteristics of Eligible Activities. OEO Instruction 6001-03.May 10, 1971. Means of Carrying Out a Community Action Program. OEO Instruction 6001-01. May 10, 1971 The Mission of the Community Action Agency. OEO Instruction 6320-1. November 16, 1970. Participation of the Poor in the Planning, Conduct and Evaluation of Community Action Programs. OEO Instruction 6005-1. December 1, 1968. - Standards for Evaluating the Effectiveness of Community Action Programs. OEO Instruction7850-1. May 28, 1969. The War on Poverty—A Hometown Fight. Washington, GPO, 1965. Bibliography

30. Past, Present and Future of Community Action Discussion Jim Masters, Center for Community Futures jmasters@cencomfut.com 510.339.3801