FY 2002 Budget Initiative: Community Action Agency Affordable Housing Support Program

Community Action Agencies (CAAs) are private nonprofit organizations that were created by the federal government in 1964 to combat poverty by fostering self-sufficiency among low-income and working families. The 25 CAAs operating in Massachusetts serve every city and town with a variety of services such as affordable housing creation and preservation, support for people seeking affordable housing, fuel assistance, Head Start, and child care.

CAAs receive core administrative funding from the federal Community Services Block Grant (CSBG), a flexible resource that allows CAAs to react quickly and effectively to specific local needs such as the lack of affordable housing. CAAs use CSBG to cover central administrative costs, thereby freeing up other resources to enhance or expand existing services.

CAAs in Massachusetts are asking the Legislature to consider including a line-item in the FY 2002 budget to provide CAAs with additional core funding -- a state "CSBG" line item -- to allow us to even more effectively address the issue of affordable housing. The resource ($5 million) would be distributed to the CAAs by the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD).

Consider some facts about the lack of affordable housing in Massachusetts and its impact on low-income and working families:

• Over 240,000 people in Massachusetts pay over 50 percent of their incomes for rent (federal department of Housing and Urban Development)
• Massachusetts is one of the least affordable states in the country in terms of affordable housing (the National Low-Income Housing Coalition)
• In Massachusetts "housing prices are rising faster than in any other state" and there has not been an increase in housing stock leaving Massachusetts 47th in the "nation in the number of building permits issued per capita." (From: a report by the Massachusetts Executive Office of Administration and Finance, Bringing Down the Barriers: Changing Housing Supply Dynamics in Massachusetts)
• About 370 renters and 300,000 homeowners in Massachusetts are shelter-poor: after paying for housing they have little left for other necessities. "Most of the shelter-poor are either elderly, or working single-parent families, and/or people of color." (From: Situation Critical, a report by the McCormack Institute, UMASS Boston)

A state "CSBG" resource would enable CAAs to enhance and expand our ability to help people stay in their homes or find new ones. Every CAA provides some kind of affordable housing service and most provide several affordable housing services.

A preliminary survey revealed that CAAs provide a comprehensive set of affordable housing services across the state. These services can be grouped into four broad categories: transition to housing; information, advocacy, and organizing; development and management; rehabilitation and modification.

Here is a list of those services indicating how many CAAs provide each:

Transition to Housing

• Shelters/Transitional Housing: 9 CAAs
• Homelessness Prevention: 19 CAAs
• Housing Search: 16 CAAs

Information, Advocacy, and Organizing

• Tenant Organizing and Advocacy to Preserve "Expiring Use" Units: 9 CAAs
• Local Organizing Around Affordable Housing Issues (i.e. against demolition of affordable housing, for inclusionary zoning: 13 CAAs
• Housing Information and Referral: 17 CAAs
• Housing Advocacy in the Court System: 10 CAAs
• First-Time Home Buyer Counseling: 9 CAAs
• First-Time Home Buyer Classes: 8 CAAs

Development and Management

• Affordable Housing Development: 7 CAAs
• Rental Voucher Management: 3 CAAs
• Property Management: 8 CAAs
• Elderly Housing Management: 3 CAAs

Rehabilitation and Modification

• Weatherization: 16 CAAs
• Cleaning, Tuning, Repairing, Replacing Heating Systems: 16 CAAs
• Lead Abatement: 6 CAAs
• Home Modification: 5 CAAs

Twelve other states partner with the federal government -- an in some cases exceed the federal allocation -- to provide CAAs with this essential core funding. Here is a chart of the states that provide state "CSBG" resources:

In Massachusetts, the Federal CSBG constitutes no more, and often much less than, 10 percent of a CAA's budget. In fact, the federal CSBG allocation to the state of $12 million -- distributed by the Department of Housing and Community Development -- is about 3 percent of the sum of the budgets of the 25 CAAs operating in Massachusetts.

MASSCAP is a statewide network of 25 multi-service agencies--known as community action agencies (CAAs or CAPs)--providing basic support and training services to thousands of low-income and elderly residents across the state. CAAs were created over 30 years ago by Congress to combat poverty by helping clients gain skills needed for self-sufficiency.

This Fact Sheet was issued: March, 2001.

Listing of the CAAs in Massachusetts

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