Highlights by Priority
OCS’ four overarching priorities created a framework for defining our goals and executing on our mission. In FY 2021, we laid the groundwork for moving our office forward in each of our priority areas. Read on for a snapshot of what we have achieved so far.
Administer High Quality Programs that Reach those Most in Need
Lift Up Voices from the Field
Leverage Resources within OCS and Across Key Programs
Amplify Connections to Administration Priorities
Priority 1
Administer High Quality Programs that Reach Those Most in Need
We are committed to ensuring OCS programs are of the highest quality and are reaching our target beneficiaries—individuals and families with low incomes and underserved communities. We do this by infusing federal funding where it can be most beneficial, guiding grant recipients in providing quality services, and being innovative in our approach to reaching those most in need.
Providing Guidance and Training
OCS programs developed and provided guidance to help grant recipients implement strong, successful programs, including:
- More than 300 training and technical assistance calls and webinars
- 65 Dear Colleague Letters to relay important programmatic announcements
- 22 Action Transmittals to relay critical guidance about action items
- 14 Information Memoranda to relay key policy information
OCS Expedited the Release of
$8.2B
in LIHEAP funding to support immediate home energy needs and ensure continuity of services
$1.6B
in SSBG funding to provide social service programming tailored to community needs
$1.14B
in LIHWAP funding to ensure households with low incomes have access to continuous water and wastewater services
$797M
in CSBG funding to provide tailored community-based services to individuals with low income and underserved communities
$17.2M
in CED funding to create new business development and employment opportunities in disinvested communities
$9.4M
in RCD funding to support capacity building and the management of water and wastewater systems in small, rural, low-income communities
Priority 2
Lift Up Voices from the Field
We are committed to examining and continually re-examining how OCS programs work with families, communities, grant recipients, and stakeholders to lift up voices from the field and incorporate their expertise and experiences to be thoughtful, inclusive, and innovative in our approach.
Providing Opportunities for Feedback and Engagement
Across OCS, we convened and participated in over 50 listening sessions and virtual site visits to discuss OCS’ priorities, provide updates, hear from grant recipients, subrecipients, and families, and discuss opportunities for cross-program collaboration and integration.
We also held three national conferences for grant recipients to provide updates and opportunities to collaborate and leverage lessons learned. Conferences included:
- National LIHEAP Grantee Virtual Training Conference (March 2021) - Over 350 grant recipients came together to develop a network of resources to support individuals and families in need.
- CSBG First Annual Tribal Conference (April 2021) - Indigenous elders and community program staff discussed strategies for healing, systems-level barriers to economic mobility and belonging, and promoting equity and racial justice.
- CED Virtual Grantee Conference - Changing Tides: Building Resilient Communities (June 2021) – CED grant recipients, federal staff, technical assistance providers, and experts came together to formulate creative solutions for achieving grant recipient success during the pandemic and beyond.
Embedding Perspectives from the Field
Through the Intergovernmental Personnel Act and other short-term hiring processes, OCS brought on board several experts from the field to help support OCS programs in key positions as policy branch chiefs and senior advisors. These staff - who have administered LIHEAP, CSBG, and water assistance programs at the local and state level - will spend up to two years utilizing their vital on-the-ground knowledge and expertise of implementing community service programs and projects at the state, county, and local level.
Priority 3
Leverage Resources within OCS and Across Key Programs
We are committed to identifying opportunities to implement cross-cutting initiatives within OCS, across the federal government and with national and local partners to better leverage our resources and support families and communities in need.
Increasing Internal Coordination
OCS redesigned its management approach to implement a One-OCS strategy, with a focus on reducing silos. We began integrating business processes and tools, developing cross-program support contracts, and increasing OCS-wide information. This work lays the necessary foundation to maximize operational efficiencies and effectiveness across programs.
Supporting COVID-19 Relief Efforts
OCS partnered for the first time with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ COVID-19 Community Corps to host joint webinars and training sessions to ensure OCS grant recipients had the latest resources available to support vulnerable populations during the pandemic.
Leveraging Partnerships to Increase the Use of Data and Research
OCS formed a partnership with Georgetown University’s Massive Data Institute to engage academic scholars on data-driven questions to help OCS better identify program impacts and community needs.
OCS and ACF’s Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation (OPRE), began working together to assess and improve CSBG data governance, performance measures, and data quality to strengthen the overall performance management system.
OCS entered into a partnership with HHS’ Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) to fund four Poverty Fellows to support OCS’ research, evaluation, and policy agenda.
Leveraging Support for Target Populations
Recognizing the intersections between poverty and disability and between inequities and aging, OCS and HHS’ Administration for Community Living (ACL) partnered to enhance and strengthen supports for older adults and their families by increasing the visibility of our programs and the areas where they intersect in order to better inform and connect our respective networks.
OCS began working closely with ACF’s Office of Head Start (OHS) to develop joint guidance and host joint listening sessions to better support young children and their families. In FY 2021, OCS also welcomed a detailee from OHS to help support OCS programming.
Priority 4
Amplify Connections to Administration Priorities
We are committed to amplifying OCS’ many connections to the Biden-Harris Administration’s top four priorities of supporting COVID-19 relief efforts, building back the economy with attention to historical inequities, promoting racial equity, and supporting climate change solutions and environmental justice.
Building Back with Attention to Inequities
Aligned with Executive Order 14008: Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad, the CED program supports efforts to revitalize energy communities—communities that have experienced or are likely to experience employment loss and/or economic dislocation events because of declines in the fossil fuel industry. In FY 2021, CED funded six new projects in energy communities.
Supporting COVID-19 Relief Efforts
OCS led two intra-agency working groups to operationalize COVID-19 related executive orders—the COVID-19 Economic Workgroup and the Protecting Worker Health and Safety Workgroup. OCS grant recipients and key stakeholders have engaged in these groups, helping to ensure a connection to the individuals providing services at the local level and the families and communities they serve.
Promoting Racial Equity
In FY 2021, OCS:
- Established a minimum allotment of $10,000 per tribal grant recipient for LIHWAP awards. This funding floor will help very small tribes more adequately serve households in need of water assistance.
- Increased training and technical assistance funding and services to tribes’ to improve their ability to access OCS resources.
- Added Spanish as a language option for the LIHEAP National Energy Assistance Referral Hotline’s Interactive Voice Response feature to make the service more inclusive and effective.
- Began laying the groundwork for LIHWAP and LIHEAP grant recipients to collect demographic data on households served to help ensure an equitable approach to administering benefits.
Equity in Energy, Climate Change, and Environmental Justice
LIHEAP provides significant financial assistance to millions of households who struggle to pay their energy bills. Given that LIIHEAP targets those most in need and the fact that it is used to support households dealing with extreme weather events and emergencies, LIHEAP was identified as a key program under President Biden’s Justice40 initiative. LIHEAP is critical to bridging the home energy affordability gap, providing immediate relief from extreme weather due to climate change, and supporting environmental justice for low-income households across America.
Blog Alert: LIHEAP American Rescue Plan Funding: Racial and Economic Justice is Also Equity in Energy