AG 2016 12 19 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Salisbury-Rowan Community Action Agency, Inc. • Identify specific improvements,or results,to be achieved among low-income people and the community; and • Organize and implement programs,services,and activities,such as advocacy, within the agency and among "partnering"organizations, to achieve anticipated results. The strategic plan is a living document which the Board and the Executive Director use to ensure that the services delivered to low-income families meet their needs.The Board and the Executive Director will continue to develop strategies to promote a standard of excellence for the organization,and remain an organization that is cognizant of the needs of the low-income community in order to proactively strategiee against and eliminate the causes of poverty. 2. Describe your agency's method and criteria for identifying poverty causes and list the identified causes.Also describe the methods and criteria used to determine priority and selection of strategies to be implemented that will address the poverty causes. Our agency identifies poverty causes by staying abreast of current local, state and national poverty reports,and staying active members of the North Carolina and National Community Action Agency Association.Another method used to identify poverty is assessing the needs of the low-income community as well as the agencies and organizations who serve them. The 2016 Community-wide strategic planning and needs assessment conducted for our agency included feedback from low- income individuals in our service areas,and community organizations serving those individuals about the socio-economic landscape of our counties,state and nation. The assessment trends and findings indicated the need for increased services in the Hispanic community; however, it also noted that the agency has adequately provided services to the Hispanic community. Beginning summer,2015, SRCAA in partnership with Rowan Cabarrus Community College(RCCC),became a satellite site for English as a Second Language(ESL) classes. SRCAA is currently hosting its third class. This effort to reach more diverse low-income families further demonstrates the staffs willingness to implement a specific strategy while addressing an element of the strategic plan Certain factors that are determined to impact poverty or change the current landscape are consistent over the years. However, other sociolenvironmental factors such as economic j downturns,fluctuation in the job market,growth in various industries or simultaneous decline in others, impact communities and the ability of residents to gain, maintain or improve employment I options. Based on the 2016 Community-wide strategic planning and needs assessment, as well as other methods of feedback from our participants,the Board and agency staff determines and prioritizes the service delivery strategies implemented to best meet the needs of low-income persons. Strategies that have been used in the past and some new strategies to address poverty causes include: a. Focusing on wages that would move a family above poverty based on family size and identifying job opportunities for families that would most likely result in success for them b. Creating a more intensive work search/employment plan that requires job seekers to be accountable to their Family Development Specialist. c. Requiring families to take incremental steps toward achieving self-sufficiency through the attainment of specific job skills;therefore,filling the skills gap for employers who indicated a lack of for their specific job openings. i Fiscal Year 2017-18 community Services Block Grant Application t Attachment number 2\n Page 11 of 37 F-9 Page 114