THE HISTORY OF CCAA

Colorado Community Action Association (CCAA) is involved in the “tangled” structure of low-income service programs in Colorado since the 1970s.  Colorado was a CSBG “Waiver State”, and as such established a funding allocation system based on the number of low-income citizens in each of the 64 counties.  While this was a fair approach, it clearly set up a number of very small CSBG operations with limited funding.  In Colorado, CSBG funds are awarded to County Governments and the primary grantees are mainly local government departments.  While some primary grantees sub-contract out to local non-profit providers for CSBG services, others retain the CSBG funds to support CSBG related activities within their own departments.  This set up allows for “local control” within each of the counties in serving the low-income residents and those living in poverty in Colorado.

There are forty-one (41) Colorado CSBG grantees that cover all sixty-four (64) counties of the state.  A few of the smaller counties with their smaller budgets have teamed up to combine their CSBG resources to service the needs of their communities together.  The CSBG funding available to these counties ranged from $850 to over $750,000 and is based on the low-income population in the county.  The needs vary per county:  Farming and ranching communities to ski industry communities to industrial communities to college-oriented communities to large urban areas.  In addition, the sizes of the CSBG budgets dictate how many staff implements CSBG services.  For some, there is no administrative budget attached to their funding thus, it is but a small part of their job duties.  For others, the CSBG funding creates new programs and thus, staff members to accommodate the needs.

CCAA has been in continuous operation since the mid 1970s.  Receiving five year funding under the CAA Capacity Building initiative of the Office of Community Services in 1999, the CCAA has shown considerable growth in capacity and in membership. 

The CCAA Board of Directors hired a contract Program Coordinator in December of 1999. On January 24, 2001 the Colorado Community Action Association received the designation as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. The CCAA has a long and beneficial collaboration with the Colorado Department of Local Affairs (DOLA) of an annual state conference for CSBG recipients.  In FY 2002, through a collaborative application and award for an OCS Training, Technical Assistance and Capacity Building Grant, the CCAA has become a leader for the training of Result Oriented Management and Accountability (ROMA) in Colorado.  The Colorado Community Action Association contracted with a Certified ROMA trainer to be the ROMA Coordinator in 2002, and to implement the ROMA training.  We saw that ROMA training was the vehicle that would allow the Association and DOLA to reach our mutual goals.    The ROMA Coordinator, the State CSBG Administrator and the CCAA Board President are Certified ROMA trainers and conducted ROMA training around the state. 

The CCAA Board of Director members have a vast combined history of CSBG and community action programs.  The Board members maximize opportunities to connect at the regional and national level, so as to improve upon their knowledge of other state CAP systems, programs and “best practices”.  The Board members are very open to receiving training and technical assistance from any resource available and affordable to improve CCAA’s capacity.  It is this monthly review process that most directly affects the outcomes of our capacity building. 

On January 24, 2001 the Colorado Community Action Association received the designation as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.  Since then, the Board has developed an Executive Director position to carry out CCAA’s Mission to partner with other private and public organizations serving low-income people through advocating, communicating and providing educational and training resources.

For the past five years, the Executive Director, Rob Sawyer has been responsible for managing all Association business functions, membership recruitment, training and technical assistance services, public relations, planning of the Annual State Conference, and three OCS funded projects:  OCS Capacity Building for State Associations: OCS ROMA Training and Technical Assistance: And a Training, Technical Assistance and Capacity-Building Program, which developed an effective Community Advocate program for recently homeless families in Colorado Springs .  He has maintained and built upon ongoing collaborations with several CAP/CBO agencies.  Working closely with his Board of Directors, Rob is dedicated to Community Action and the ongoing success of the Colorado Community Action Association.

CCAA has successfully collaborated with the different state offices and agencies administering the Federal programs focused on low-income families.  The Board has had a long term partnership with the Colorado Department of Local Affairs (DOLA) which manages the Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) and Community Development Block Grant.  We have developed a functioning partnership with the Colorado Lieutenant Governor’s Head Start State Collaboration Office.  CCAA has built a coalition and working partnership with Colorado Head Start Association.  It was only in 2003 that we started coordinating and partnering with the Denver IRS SPEC (Stakeholder Partnerships, Education and Communication).  We now have a very strong relationship as indicated by a SPEC team member joining the CCAA Board of Directors.  CCAA has organized prior contacts, collaborations and resources and have developed a strong network of partnering public and private agencies, such as Pikes Peak Community Action Agency, Boulder County Community Action Programs, Weld County Department of Human Services, Larimer County Health and Human Services Division, Eastern Colorado Community Action Agency, Arapahoe County Community Services, Adams County Department of Community Development, Mile High United Way, US Bank and many more.