History of Community Action

1. Community
Action:
50+ Years of
History ….
One Mission
Module 1

2. Objectives
To gain an understanding of the
establishment of Community Action
Agencies
1
2
To understand and appreciate the
significance of Community Action
Agencies

3. The Foundation
The Community Action movement is deeply rooted in our culture
and has its basis in philosophies that underlay the creation of the
United States of America.

4. Life,
Liberty
and the
Pursuit of
Happines
s
The political philosophy of the Declaration of Independence was not
new; its ideals of individual liberty had already been expressed by
John Locke and the Continental philosophers.

5. Community
Action
Evolution
• At the end of the 1950’s, and with the increasing social
unrest of the 1960’s, planners and others began to
question their role as “experts” and began to position
themselves as advocates for the residents of the low-
income neighborhoods.
• The Housing Act of 1954 had introduced the concept
of community participation in neighborhood
revitalization projects. This then became a strict
requirement of community development policies in
the 1960’s. This was a new way of business.

6. The
Great
Society
• For a century, the US labored to settle and to subdue a
continent. We called upon unbounded invention and
untiring industry to create an order of plenty for all our
people.
• President Lyndon B. Johnson expressed ‘the challenge of
the next half century is whether we have the wisdom to use
that wealth to enrich and elevate our national life, and to
advance the quality of our American civilization.”
“The purpose of protecting the life of our nation and preserving
the liberty of our citizens is to pursue the happiness of our
people. Our success in that pursuit is the test of our success as a
nation.”
- Excerpted from Lyndon B. Johnson speech at
University of Michigan commencement, May 1964

7. War on
Poverty
“The Great Society rests on abundance and liberty for all. It demands
an end to poverty and racial injustice, to which we are totally
committed in our time. But that is just the beginning.”
- Lyndon B. Johnson

8. War on
Poverty
• President Lyndon B. Johnson declared the War on Poverty
in his State of the Union Address on January 8, 1964. At that
time 35 million Americans (nearly 30%) lived in poverty, and
about 25% of black youths could expect to live life without
regular employment.
• He expressed ‘the challenge of the next half century is
whether we have the wisdom to use that wealth to enrich
and elevate our national life, and to advance the quality of
our American civilization.”
• As a result, he proposed his vision of a Great Society in a
major piece of legislation, the Economic Opportunity Act of
1964.
“This administration today, here and now, declares
unconditional war on poverty in America.”
- Excerpted from Lyndon B. Johnson State of the Union
Address, January 1964

9. Economic Opportunity Act of 1964
• In February 1964, Johnson charged Sargent Shriver, an American diplomat
and politician, with drafting the legislation that would serve the Great
Society. Thus, the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 (EOA) was passed
and signed on August 20, 1964.
• The EOA was enacted and served “by opening to everyone the
opportunity for education and training, the opportunity to work, and the
opportunity to live in decency and dignity”. (Economic Opportunity Act of
1964; Public Law 88-452)
• Johnson then asked Shriver to serve him in setting up the new Office of
Economic Opportunity.

10. Polling
Question
TRUE/FALSE
President Lyndon B. Johnson passed
through Congress and signed the
Economic Opportunity Act of 1964.
True!!!

11. The Strategy Realized…..
• Johnson proposed an expansion in the federal government's
role in domestic policy. In addition to the Economic Opportunity
Act, Congress enacted two major civil-rights acts (1964 and
1965) and two education acts (1965). In addition to the EOA
and its programs, legislation was passed that created Medicaid,
and Medicare.
• To realize the strategy of the EOA, a cabinet level office was
established. The Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO) was
created to coordinate all the federal government’s anti-poverty
efforts and programs. It was also to be a laboratory for program
development.
• The OEO established a direct federal – local relationship,
basically by-passing the states. It encouraged the development
of community organizations and funded them.

12. EOA /
OEO
Programs
• VISTA
• Job Corps
• Neighborhood Youth Corps
• Head Start
• Adult Basic Education
• Family Planning
• Community Health Centers
• Congregate Meal Preparation
• Economic Development
• CDCs
• Foster Grandparents
• Legal Services
• Neighborhood Centers
• Summer Youth Programs

13. Community
Action
Agency is
born….
"We must open the doors of opportunity. But we must also
equip our people to walk through those doors.“
- Lyndon B. Johnson

14. The Mission of
the Community
Action Agency
The EOA defined the purpose of a Community Action Agency. The
organizations were “…to stimulate a better focusing of all available
local, State, private, and Federal resources upon the goal of
enabling low-income families, and low-income individuals of all
ages, in rural and urban areas, to attain the skills, knowledge, and
motivation to secure the opportunities needed for them to become
self-sufficient.”

15. Mission
Adoption
Many community members committed themselves to the CAA
Mission in those early days and remained with the organizations
even though wages were low. the CAA employed many of the poor
they were organized to serve as they came to work for CAAs at low
wages.
In addition to services, the CAA was an advocate. It challenged and
by-passed the traditional systems. In a very short time:
• OEO hired nearly 3,000 employees.
• By 1968, there were over 1,600 CAAs in over 2/3 of the
counties nationwide.
• CAAs were organized to serve single county, multi-counties or
city. Most were private non-profit but some were organized as
public agencies.
• CAAs expanded programs rapidly and set up centers in low-
income communities, reaching out to involve and train the
poor.
• CAAs pursued “maximum feasible participation” for the poor.
This often set up clashes with the establishment.

16. Growing Pains
0
5
10
15
20
25
1959
1961
1963
1965
1967
1969
1971
1973
1975
1977
1979
1982
1984
1986
1988
1990
1992
1994
1996
1998
2000
2002
2004
2006
2008
2010
2012
2014
2016
PovertyRate(Percentage)
Year
Poverty Rate
• The program made significant
contributions to the protection of
civil rights and the expansion of
social programs, but critics
increasingly complained that the
antipoverty programs were
ineffective and wasteful.
• The CAA network was
experiencing growing pains and
lessen commitment from
President Johnson.

17. The Nixon
years….
(1969 – 1974)
After the Johnson administration, Richard Nixon attempted to develop a
guaranteed minimum income for low income people, de-fund the Community
Action Agencies and dismantle the Office of Economic Opportunity. During the
Nixon administration:
• Nixon transfers a number of programs from OEO to other federal departments
to administer. He also proposes no funding for the CAA section of EOA.
• In 1969, Nixon appoints Donald Rumsfeld as Director of the Office of Economic
Opportunity. Rumsfeld surprises and is basically supportive of OEO and works
to improve its efficiency. Rumsfeld hires Dick Cheney and Christy Todd
Whitman as assistants. Rumsfeld publishes CAA mission guidance.
• In 1973, Nixon appoints Howard Phillips as Director of the Office of Economic
Opportunity. Phillips sends telegrams to CAAs telling them to complete affairs
and close down by June. Phillips was unsuccessful due to court rulings, and the
President does not take Phillips recommendations to veto EOA legislation.
Phillips resigns 1974.

18. Plans to
Dismantle OEO
https://www.nytimes.com/1973/02/17/archives/plan-to-
dismantle-oeo-devised-to-foil-congress-plan-is-designed-to.html

19. Polling
Question
s
TRUE/FALSE
The Nixon Administration attempted to
de-fund the Community Action
Agencies and dismantle the Office of
Economic Opportunity.
TRUE!!!!

20. The Ford
Administration
(1974 – 1977)
• During President Gerald Ford’s administration, the OEO was
terminated and replaced by the Community Services
Administration. This diminished the agency’s presence. It no
longer was in the Executive Office but was slated to be
transferred into HEW.
• Ford self-described himself as a domestic moderate and fiscal
conservative. The CAA was not a priority for him, and he paid
more attention to the complaints against CAAs from local
politicians. Overall funding of CAAs was basically flat or below
inflation during this period.
Gerald Ford (right) and Donald Rumsfeld (left),
https://potus-geeks.livejournal.com/532126.html

21. Identity
Crisis
The change in legislation title
during the Ford administration
prompted confusion about
agency mission. The Legislation
changed from Opportunity to
Services. This may have been a
compromised national political
emphasis for survival but
Community Action Agencies were
continued in the legislation with
original structure and role. Many
CAAs did not use the term
Community Action in their “title”
or corporate name. The agencies
were known in their community
by their programs and not their
mission causing a disconnect and
undermining their resource
development efforts.

22. Under
Attack
Again…• During the Ronald Reagan administration (1981 – 1989), Reagan’s
first budget intended to eliminate the Community Services
Administration (CSA) and funding for CAAs. Previous attempts to
eliminate the program had not been as successful as the Reagan
Administration’s effort.
• The National Community Action Foundation, through its director,
David Bradley, and support of key Senators, negotiated a
compromise with the Administration.
• The EOA was repealed and CSA was eliminated. Programs were
assigned to various federal departments. Funds in the resulting the
Community Services Block Grant were to be administered by the
States, and an office was created in the Department of Health and
Human Services to transfer funds to States.

23. Community
Services Block
Grant
• 90% of the funds in the Community Services Block Grant were to be
used at the local level by CAAs.
• The eligible CAAs were the same organizations previously eligible
under OEO and CSA determinations and had as their purposes the
functions assigned to CAAs by the EOA. They were “Grandfathered.”
• States had the responsibility for monitoring CAAs and could spend up
to 5% of the State’s CSBG allocation for administrative purposes. The
remaining 5% was designated for State discretionary anti-poverty
funded activities. Any portion of the two 5% pools not spent for their
purposes would revert to the CAA eligible entities or be returned
unspent.

24. President Bill
Clinton’s
administration
implemented the
most significant
changes in welfare
policy since the
Great Society.
President George
W. Bush issued
Information
Memo 49 Program
Challenges,
Responsibilities
and Strategies.
President Barack
Obama renewed
focus on results.
The OMB issued
the Performance
Program Reporting
(PPR) form.
The
Present
Day

25. Summary Timeline
Pre-
1954
1954
1964
1973
The Housing Act of 1954
had introduced the
concept of community
participation in
neighborhood
revitalization projects.
President Nixon sought
to dismantle the Office of
Economic Opportunity.
The US economy was
greatly impact by the
Great Depression and
there was social unrest to
advocate for the
residents of low-income
neighborhoods.
Congress passed the
Economic Opportunity
Act establishing funding
Community Action
Agencies and Programs. 1981
President Reagan
established the
Community Services
Block Grant to grant
funds to CAAs.

26. Go to the test in module one…Good Luck!!!