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What is Community
Action?
In 1961, President John F.
Kennedy began programs to prevent juvenile delinquency. This
formed the President’s Council on
Juvenile Delinquency” which funded “Mobilization for Youth”, that, in
coordination with Ford Foundation, organized and coordinated
neighborhood councils composed of local officials, service providers and
neighbors to develop plans to correct conditions leading to juvenile delinquency.
During this time, the Ford Foundation was working on a
pilot project in New Haven, CT, in which people from all sectors of the
community were recruited to come together and help low-income people. The
process was called “Community Action”. President Kennedy was assassinated in
1963, but the new President, Lyndon B. Johnson, continued the work on programs
to improve the lives of Americans by declaring a “War on Poverty” on January 8,
1964. The Economic Opportunity Act (EOA) was signed into law on August 20, 1964.
This Act created the Office of Economic Opportunity that was to expand the
programs that President Kennedy had begun.
“It is therefore the policy of the United States to
eliminate the paradox of poverty in the midst of plenty in this nation by
opening, to everyone, the opportunity for education and training, the
opportunity to work, and the opportunity to live in decency and dignity.”
Community Action Agencies were formed across the country to
provide job training, education, economic development,
health care delivery, legal services, volunteerism, and a
vast array of other, innovative services. CAA’s were used as “innovators and
testing ground” for new programs, and under President Nixon, the most successful
programs were taken to be administered by other federal agencies. Some of the
programs included: Job Corp, National Youth Corp, Family Planning Community
Health Centers, Legal Services, VISTA, Foster Grandparents, Economic Development, Neighborhood Centers, Summer Youth
Programs, Adult Basic Education, Senior Centers, Congregate Meal Preparation,
Weatherization, and others.
Community Action remains the innovative testing ground for
programs and services to help families and individuals become self-sufficient
and to improve the community and protect the rights and dignity of our citizens.
We continue to administer Head Start, Weatherization, Housing and Homeless
Programs, Senior Meals and Activities, Emergency Assistance, Mass Commodity
Distribution, Prescription Assistance, LIHEAP (Energy Assistance for Low-Income
Home Energy Assistance Program) and Youth Programs. We strive
to improve our services to our clients and our community as we partner with
non-profit agencies, local, State and Federal government, elected officials, the
business and education communities and the community at large. We work
diligently to provide human services delivery, advocacy for the low-income, and
community building throughout our neighborhoods, our communities, and our
country.
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