Community Action Agencies Research Articles

AIDS:

A questionnaire assessing AIDS-related knowledge, attitudes and behaviors was distributed in written form and administered by telephone interviews in 1988 and again in 1990. Data were collected from members of minorities throughout Alabame. The telephone survey was based on a random sample, while the written form was distributed at targeted locations including community health centers, community action agencies, state prisons, vocational schools, and predominantly black colleges. Ninety-four percent of respondents in the telephone survey were African-American, while 84% in the written sample indicated they were African-American indicated they were African-American. Over the entire sample, knowledge and AIDS transmission was relatively accurate and increased from 1988 to 1990. Knowledge was higher in the written sample than the telephone sample at both times. The youngest and oldest age groups were least knowledgeable. In addition to knowledge, other variables including concern about contracting AIDS, behavior change, interest in learning about AIDS, and issues related to stigmatization were investigated. Implications for educational and prevention programs are discussed.

Formative evaluation of a community-based maternity services program for the uninsured

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Michigan (BCBSM) funded a 1-year pilot program to expand prenatal services in 7 Michigan cities. These cities were selected because they had high unemployment (20 to 34%) rates and high infant mortality rates. The objective was to provide antenatal care to women ineligible for Medicaid and without private health insurance whose household income fell below 185% of the poverty level. The program was locally operated by community action agencies (CAAs). These are nonprofit antipoverty agencies. Data sources include interviews with project administrators a review of a sample of medical records and surveys of providers and patients. 6 out of the 7 local projects had an overall response rate of 82% (673 of 817) to the participant survey. A response rate of 57% was achieved for physicians (n=41). Locating and enrolling eligible women was likely to be difficult. The CAA administrators thought that outreach efforts needed to be intensive. The CAA put stories in newspapers and had public service announcements on radio and television. Physicians were recruited. Approximately 1/3 of the families were unemployed and had no prior insurance. About 18% of the families reporting prior insurance and unemployment are recently laid off losing insurance along with their jobs. The final group (14%) reflects families who had had jobs that provided insurance but after being laid off accepted lower paying jobs that did not have insurance benefits. About 60% had not received prenatal care before enrolling. They said they probably would not get care if it were not for the program and claimed they had some difficulty in getting care. Money was the main obstacle (71%) to care. A majority of physicians (62.5%) were very satisfied or satisfied with the overall program. The average age of patients in the sample of medical records was 24.8 years. About 12% were adolescents. Approximately 3.4 were White; 20% were Black. 8.2% was the low birth weight rate. The medical record specialists rated care as excellent or more than adequate for 80%. Overall project physicians followed the prescribed care guidelines. The voucher-medical record agreement rate for 6 components of care was more than 90%.

The Current Status of Community Action Agencies in Connecticut

This study of community action agencies (CAAs) in Connecticut provides a historical analysis of the agencies and raises the issues of community control and self-help strategies as effective remedies for poverty. As CAAs have evolved, they have changed into organizations that combine local, state, and federal initiatives, in-kind and income programs, and universal programs, as well as programs targeted specifically for the poor. As nonprofit agencies, CAAs are unique because all of their strategies have been directed toward maintaining, to the degree possible, the original mission of the Economic Opportunity Act-to help the poor achieve empowerment and selfsufficiency. Although the accomplishments of the CAAs are inconclusive, the ability of CAAs to survive is based on the special relationships these agencies have developed with local and state governments, the business community, and the poor.

PRIVATE INITIATIVE AND COMMUNITY RESPONSIBILITY: A STRATEGY FOR THE BLACK COMMUNITY

In Britain black leaders are generally less well integrated into community agencies and local administration than their counterparts in the United States. This is partly explained by reference to the American ‘arms length’ approach to funding community development which, in contrast to the more centralized British approach, enables black leaders to work ‘within the system’ apparently without sacrificing too much of their political independence. In this context the paper views the activities and funding of the US community action and development agencies and British community relations councils.

Employee Inefficacy in Selected Client Serving Bureaucracies

This analysis is based on a survey of middle and lower echelon employees in housing, community development, and community action agencies in Maryland. The results suggest that a complex and hierarchical work setting heightens the sense of powerlessness among agency employees. The analysis suggests further that employees cope with powerlessness, in part, by taking a narrow and limited view of task performance; and those with such a task orientation take a shallow and stereotyped view of their clients' life situation. Feelings of inefficacy explain how employees who are discontented can nevertheless be channeled into “conserver” behavior.

Reducing Energy Consumption in Low-Income Homes

The 26 local Community Action Agencies in Minnesota administer a federal program to audit and retrofit homes occupied by low-income households. This program seeks to improve the thermal performance of these homes and thereby reduce the economic hardship faced by these households because of high and rising fuel prices. A key question concerns the actual energy savings that can be attributed to the program. The work reported here involved collection and analysis of fuel consumption records from low-income households throughout Minnesota. Data were obtainedfrom 59 households that had received weatherization services and from 37 households that had not yet been weatherized. Comparisons offuel consumption across the two groups for the 1976-1977 and 1977-1978 winters showed that the average saving due to weatherization was 13% of total household energy use. Based on fuel prices that prevailed in 1979, the cost of weatherization is likely to be repaid with lower fuel bills in 3-4 years.

Energy savings from the Minnesota low-income weatherization programme

The 26 local Community Action Agencies in Minnesota administer a federal programme to audit and retrofit homes occupied by low-income households. This programme aims to improve the thermal performance of these homes and so reduce the economic hardship faced by these households because of high and rising fuel prices. A key question concerns the actual energy savings that can be attributed to the programme. The work reported here involved collection and analysis of fuel consumption records from low-income households throughout Minnesota. Data were obtained from 59 households that had received weatherization services and from 37 households that were eligible for assistance but had not yet been weatherized. Comparisons of fuel consumption across the two groups for the 1976–1977 and 1977–1978 winters showed that the average saving due to weatherization was 13% of total household energy use. Based on fuel prices that prevailed in 1979, the cost of weatherization is likely to be repaid with lower fuel bills in 3–4 years.

Educational Anthropologists in Non‐Academic Settings: Reports from the Field

In November of 1974, CAE sponsored a Job Clinic at the annual meetings in Mexico City. The Clinic was planned by Robert Textor and 1 chaired it. The purpose of the Clinic was to provide an opportunity for interested anthropologists to learn more about the types of work being undertaken by anthropologists who are employed by educators as researchers and practitioners in non‐academic settings. In addition, the reports indicate some of the adaptations necessary in making the transition from the traditional roles of anthropologists in academe to those that are newly emerging in public school systems, community action agencies, private consulting firms, and curriculum development organizations.Following the annual meetings, four of the panelists agreed to prepare written statements for the CAE Quarterly. Two of these statements are presented below with the hope that they will be useful in stimulating thought and discussion among CAE members about the development of strategies for opening up new opportunities for anthropologists and ways of preparing anthropologists for new roles in the contemporary world.

The Effects of Power Training on Community Action Agencies

In an effort to help the poor help themselves, power motivation training workshops were designed for Community Action Agency staff members in one state and their effects on individuals were measured six months later. This intervention "from the bottom up" was based on the theory that personal and socialized power needs must first be recognized by and developed in individuals in order for change in an organization-and ultimately in a community-to occur.

The Case for Black College Sponsorship of Head Start Programs

Many black communities have been seriously affected (i.e., economically, educationally) as a consequence of attempts to rechannel funds previously allocated to social service programs. It is a matter of public record that, in some cases, the local administrative handling, by community action programs (CAP), of these federal funds was characterized by improper management, a lack of accountability to the community supposedly being serviced, and an ineffective mechanism for service delivery. In other instances, however, community action agencies sponsoring federally-funded social programs (i.e., CAP Head Start programs) did provide needed and accountable programs. The effort to discontinue the ineffective programs while improving the operation of those that showed above average potential and/or had proven their worth has led to various programs and projects being transferred to new and different governing agencies. The changes in governing agencies has caused at least one major problem for those Head Start programs that wished to remain operative. This is the problem of identifying and screening a reputable sponsoring agency. To improve, supposedly, the administrability of Head Start programs, an executive order has placed the operation of this program under the governance of the office of Child Development (OCD). One major implication of this change is that even though Head Start is officially the responsibility of OCD, if grass roots people are to take advantage of Head Start services, a local and highly reputable agency must assume the responsibility for sponsorship of the program. In effect, communities that had Head Start programs sponsored by CAP agencies must now secure a different sponsor. It is in this vein that black colleges could render

The Centerville Fund, Inc.: A Case Study in Community Economic Control

Community development corporations (CDCs) are new institutions which substitute collective for private ownership and combine social goals and functions with economic development for the poor. In part, a response to OEO-funded community action agencies, which have not lived up to expectations, CDCs are designed to reduce local economic dependency and increase individual and community power. A specific CDC, the Centerville Fund, Inc., is described with particular regard to its relationship to the community and its attempt to combine business and social goals. Its four years of experience suggest that the idea is feasible, and that it is applicable to more affluent citizens and communities.

Resident Participation: Political Mobilization or Organizational Co-optation?

A proposal for this study was developed in early 1966 because of central place which citizen occupies in the rapidly expanding program of the Office of Economic Opportunity. It was felt that a cross-community evaluative study of the Community Action Program experience could provide an essential element in the further development of CAP's. In the late spring of 1969, as the final study report was being written, Community Action Programs were contracting and the new OEO Director would soon announce a shift in focus from providing extensive service programs through Community Action Agencies to limited experimental and demonstration programs. The talk in many target areas was not of participation but of community control. The emphasis in this article therefore is not on the significance of the experience in 1967-68 for the administration of an on-going program; rather it is on the relation of that experience to the larger and continuing issues of citizen involvement and citizen action in a society that is both democratic and contentious.

Family Planning in 19 Rural Counties

More than 90% of 2.4 million poor women in small town and rural American areas have no family planning resources. The Carolina Population Center (CPC) of the University of North Carolina with Office of Economic Opportunity support initiated a program in 19 North Carolina counties whose objectives were to organize a family planning service develop the role of private physicians and utilize existent services and personnel 40 administer and staff the program. 3 Community Action Agencies chosen because they knew the people and their activites served as delegate agencies. The agencies hired family planning staffs supervised by the director of the delegate agency. Training sessions covered human reproduction and various methods of contraception. Films group discussions and interviews were used as training methods for the planning staffs. There were 72 sources of service composed of 60 private cooperating physicians 3 field offices and 9 health departments. It was found that when services are available contraception will be adopted for birth control.

Organization Theory and Community Action Agencies

T he Economic Opportunity Act, by creating hundreds of community action agencies in American cities, has added a significant new institution to the urban political system. Because it is a new institution, political scientists have been, with a few notable exceptions,1 slow to analyze its behavior, even though the community action agency has indisputably achieved an important role in the political life of many American communities. However, it would appear that the framework for such an analysis is readily available to political scientists. There is now an extensive body of theory concerned with how organizations behave both internally and in relation to their environment.2 There has been little effort to relate

Community Action: Where Has It Been? Where Will It Go?

The authors describe the origins of the concept of co-ordinated action on behalf of the poor in the rise of Community Chests and welfare councils. The Ford Foundation Gray Areas Program and the demonstration programs of the President's Committee on Juvenile Delinquency provided the initial testing for the major themes later embodied in the Community Action Program of the Office of Economic Opportunity. Community-action programs are credited with already having wrought major changes in the social welfare structure of American communities, particularly in spreading service programs to previously unorganized areas, enhancing competence of program-managers, reaching downward into poor and nearly poor groups for additional sources of leadership, training new black leaders, and developing the concept of subprofessional employment. Community-action agencies continue to be plagued by such major problems as, on the national policy level, guaranteed income, housing, and employment, and, on the local level, appropriate levels for decentralizing power and programs, departure from traditional patterns of delivering services, development of effective professional and lay leadership, and management of large-grant programs. The authors conclude that CAP has already made an enormous contribution. Attention must be given to enhancing planning capability, improving management and fiscal responsibility, and developing national policies which undergird local action effectively.

Community Power and Public Welfare*

the concept of community. However, of the variety of possible issueareas that could be related to power structures, some are relevant for municipalities, others for the county, and others encompass smaller and larger corporate units.1 Both the scope of these issues-areas and the participants who shape their outcomes must still be considered in spite of the inability to determine community boundaries. It would appear, therefore, that researches of local power structures must confront alternative units of analysis such as the municipality or the county. The immediacy of this problem has been underscored by the organization of most Community Action Agencies under the Office of Economic Opportunity on a county or multi-county basis, and by public welfare, which tends to be administered on a county basis. The purpose of this investigation is to apply a theoretical and methodological orientation developed in some structural community power research to the county as a unit of analysis in hopes of assessing the viability of both the unit and the orientation. The study is necessarily of a preliminary and exploratory nature since precedents in both these main concerns are

Community Action: Where Has It Been? Where Will It Go?

The authors describe the origins of the concept of co-ordinated action on behalf of the poor in the rise of Community Chests and welfare councils. The Ford Foundation Gray Areas Program and the demonstration programs of the President's Committee on Juvenile Delinquency provided the initial testing for the major themes later embodied in the Community Action Program of the Office of Economic Opportunity. Community-action programs are credited with already having wrought major changes in the social welfare structure of American communities, particularly in spreading service programs to previously unorganized areas, enhancing competence of program-managers, reaching downward into poor and nearly poor groups for additional sources of leadership, training new black leaders, and developing the concept of subprofessional employment. Community-action agencies continue to be plagued by such major problems as, on the national policy level, guaranteed income, housing, and employment, and, on the local level, appropri...

Family planning programs of the office of economic opportunity: Scope, operation,and impact

The goals of the Office of Economic Opportunitys family planning services are to assure that the poor are able to plan their families and to improve the general health status of those served. In 1964 for the 1st time the Office of Economic Opportunity granted funds to a community action agency for delivery of family planning services. This precedent initiated the funding of millions of dollars of applications from poor people all over the U.S. for family planning service grants. A survey revealed that the number of persons in need of family planning services would require an annual expenditure of 140 million dollars. The response of Congress and Office of Economic Opportunity administrators has been positive in the attempt to achieve the program goals for funding levels have been doubled annually between 1965 and 1968. Although the program is service oriented it is also concerned with organizational and personal consequences of family planning services for the poor. The intent is to deal with all problems of poverty comprehensively. Basically the Office of Economic Opportunity makes direct grants to community action agencies. The local poverty agency may take direct responsibility for the provision of services to the local residents or it may contract with a health provider. The program must involve the entire community. As community action has become an integral part of the program there is no packaged method of delivery of the family planning services. The kind of planning and consultation that occurs prior to the funding of a program and the wide variety of problems to be solved results in great variations of program design. In 1965 the Office of Economic Opportunity funded 14 family planning programs in 5 states. This year the number of programs was 151 in 35 states and Puerto Rico and the number of people served was 200000. The Office of Economic Opportunitys experiences have shown that a program of family planning administered within the community action framework can be successful in providing family planning to the poor while promoting the broader goals of community action.