Heather Ross – Community Services Program Manager

The Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) is a federally funded block grant in the Office of Community Services, Administration for Children and Families, United States Department of Health and Human Services. The CSBG Act (42 U.S.C. 9901 et seq.) provides funds to states and tribal entities to support services for individuals and families with low incomes that alleviate the causes and conditions of poverty in communities. In Wyoming these funds are received and managed through the Community Services Program, located within the Wyoming Department of Health’s Public Health Division’s Rural and Frontier Health Section.

Each year Wyoming receives approximately $3.4 million in CSBG statutory formula funding through the federal CSBG Act . In turn, Wyoming allocates 90% of the total award to local designated entities based upon a county poverty index rating scale. Eligible entities are designated by the state and may be local governments, nonprofit Community Action Agencies (CAAs) or a hybrid of the two. Local entities provide services and activities addressing employment, education, income and asset building services, housing, nutrition, emergency services, and/or healthcare based on community needs assessments conducted every three years. Examples of services provided may include intensive case management, afterschool projects, employment training, emergency shelter, utility or nutrition assistance, adult financial literacy courses, just to name a few.

In addition to the 90% direct-to-entity allocation, ten percent of the the total award is reserved to support grant administration, training and technical assistance.