Community Engagement

Community Engagement

Community Engagement is a core value at the heart of the work undertaken by Community Action Agencies. Community Action originated with President Lyndon B. Johnson’s War on Poverty and the Economic Opportunity Act, which established the Community Action Program (CAP). Through CAP, public agencies and private nonprofits called Community Action Agencies were formed to promote self-sufficiency and respond to immediate social and economic needs within their communities.

Community Action Services and the Funding Process

The Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) is the federally funded block grant that supports community action services. The general intent behind the CSBG funding mechanism is to empower citizens in making decisions about directing low-income services and solutions based on the needs of their own communities.

This is the primary reason Monterey County Community Action Partnership seeks input from community members and the provider network and why it is overseen by a commission of volunteers that represent all regions of the county. Every two years, Monterey County Community Action Partnership (MCCAP) performs a Community Needs Assessment (CNA). This is an intensive, collaborative effort that involves community members and MCCAP Commissioners, community action service providers, and staff.

The planning process involves assessing the causes and conditions of poverty in our county and collecting input directly from those experiencing poverty, as well as the broader community, about service needs and priorities. The entire MCCAP network of service providers is actively involved in this process. Agencies’ that work directly with the low-income community are in a prime position to supply key insights, and they can engage their clients in the planning process to ensure that input and feedback from low-income residents is incorporated into the formulation of the plan. Results of the initial CNA are used to draft a Community Action Plan to solicit additional public input that will further refine the funding priorities for each two-year funding cycle. Next, a draft plan is presented at one or more public hearings and public testimony is used to refine and finalize the plan, which must then be approved by the community action commission, reviewed by the state, and used to guide local funding decisions. This process not only allows MCCAP to adapt to changes in our community’s poverty profile, but also remain responsive to the community’s perception of service needs and priorities.

Community Action Service Domains

Community Action Agencies across the nation and within California vary widely since they have autonomy both in how they are structured to serve their communities and in the services that they choose to provide or fund. CSBG is flexible funding that supports a wide array of services falling within broad categories of service domains.

The Seven CSBG Service Domains

Community Needs Assessment and Community Action Plans

Every two years, MCCAP collects data to get a better understanding of the effects poverty in our region as well as its demographic and geographic distribution. In other words, it is meant to examine both the occurrence and the experience of poverty in our community by looking at the causes and conditions of poverty as well as who is, or what groups are, most impacted. Demographic reports provide baseline information about what poverty looks like in the county. However, the community needs assessment (CNA) combines this local poverty profile with survey results to determine residents’ top service priorities for each two-year funding cycle. The CNA findings are presented at public hearings to solicit public feedback that is used to finalize the biennial Community Action Plan. Once the plan is endorsed by the Community Action Commission and reviewed by the State, it then becomes the basis for funding services.

MCCAP’s current service providers: click here to see 2024-2025 service providers.

MCCAP’s Biennial Community Action Plans

2024-2025 Community Action Plan is based on the 2023 Community Needs assessment.
2022-2023 Community Action Plan is based on the 2021 Community Needs assessment.
2020-2021 Community Action Plan is based on the 2019 Community Needs assessment.

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