Community Services Block Grants: Background and Current Legislation

Publication Date: July 1998

Publisher: Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

Author(s):

Research Area: Social conditions

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Abstract:

Community Services Block Grants (CSBG) are funds that are provided to states, and then passed through to local agencies, for a wide variety of antipoverty activities. The CSBG program is administered by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and is the modern day version of the antipoverty initiative launched by President Lyndon Johnson during the 1960s. In FY1998, the CSBG and several related activities are funded at $542 million. The legislation authorizing the CSBG is scheduled to expire at the end of FY1998, and the Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee on June 23 approved S. 2206, which would reauthorize the program for an additional five years, through FY2003. This report provides background on the CSBG and related activities, including information on funding, and tracks the progress of relevant legislation and appropriations measures. This report is continually updated.