Community Services Block Grant

The purpose of Iowa’s CSBG Program is to support the efforts of Iowa’s community action agencies in alleviating the causes and conditions of poverty in their communities.

The Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) is a federal block grant program that is administered by the states.  The purpose of the CSBG is to provide funding to states and local agencies for the reduction of poverty, the revitalization of low-income communities, and the empowerment of low-income families and individuals in rural and urban areas to become fully self-sufficient.

Iowa’s CSBG Program is funded by the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services.  The Division of Community Action Agencies distributes the CSBG funds to Iowa’s 16 community action agencies, which create, coordinate, and deliver many programs and services to low-income Iowans.  The CSBG Program funds the central management and core activities of these agencies.  The agencies use their CSBG funds to mobilize additional public and private resources to combat the central causes of poverty in their communities and to assist low-income individuals to achieve self-sufficiency and ensure their basic needs are met.

Iowa's community action agencies use CSBG to support their efforts in helping low-income Iowans:

  • Remove obstacles and solve problems that block the achievement of self-sufficiency;
  • Secure and retain meaningful employment;
  • Attain an adequate education;
  • Make better use of available income;
  • Obtain and maintain adequate housing and a suitable living environment;
  • Obtain emergency assistance to meet the immediate and urgent family needs;
  • Achieve greater participation in the affairs of communities; and
  • Address the needs of youth in low-income communities.

In federal fiscal year 2022, Iowa's CSBG funding was over $8.1 million.  Iowa's community action agencies used their CSBG funding in their efforts to serve over 120,000 families and over 278,000 individuals.  The agencies administered $177 million in federal, state, local, and private funding and resources.

 For more information, contact:

CSBG Resources