The meetings are designed to discuss problems that anyone might have concerning agency policy and management practices. Also the meetings provide an opportunity for restatement and clarification of the responsibilities of the supervisor. MONITORING, REVIEW AND EVALUATION Several new initiatives were begun in 1977 on monitoring, review and evaluation efforts with respect to the functioning of programs the agency administers. For example, major evaluations of CSA national emphasis programs such as community food and nutrition, rural housing and the emergency energy program, were begun. We developed a guidance manual on how to meet the CSA standards of program effectiveness. It has been published and sent to all grantees. A plan has been established so that all community action agencies will be the subject of an evaluation on a rotating basis. TRAINING AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE Regional offices will provide a regular program of training for grantees. CSA auditors will do a training and technical assistance session for auditors who serve community action agencies. CSA regional offices will also conduct training and technical assistance for Community Action Agency boards, executive boards and selected staff members. These sessions will stress the responsibilities and duties that these individuals have, and various management models that have been successful in the past will be utilized. There will also be training sessions conducted by the regional offices in property management, personnel management and accounting systems. The agency is conducting right now an extensive study of its regional office procedures. The new system will reduce the clerical work that has been imposed on field representatives so they can spend more time in the field with grantees. Prior to the issuance of the Government Operations Committee report, CSA had already placed a higher priority on its monitoring efforts by reorganizing the formerly separate inspection, external audit, human rights and general counsel functions into one office to serve as the enforcement arm of the agency. This office is known as the Office of Legal Affairs and General Counsel, and is headed by a Presidentially appointed Assistant Director, who has been delegated the responsibility for insuring that CSA law and regulations are scrupulously followed by CSA employees and grantees. The new office will receive substantial increases in staffing in order to carry out its mission. PROGRAM ADMINISTRATION In our 1979 request we expect to continue managerial and administrative improvements in the operation of CSA programs, The increased program administration request in 1979 of $617,000 consists of salary and benefits costs associated with full year utilization of permanent employees who will be hired during 1978 under the reorganization plan, plus within-grade and career ladder promotions. This will be offset partially by a reduction of 22 positions not required after completion of the reorganization. The reduction of the permanent position ceiling of 1,037 to 1,015 in 1979 consists of 12 positions associated with the phase-down of the community economic program and 10 overhead positions not required in the reorganization. I should point out, Mr. Chairman, that I do not believe reorganization will ever be concluded. It will continue to be a dynamic thing because as we gain more experience in what we have done so far, we may find that we have to make additional changes in our organization, but basically we expect to maintain the priorities expressed here. Mr. FLOOD. When did you come on board as Director? 1979 AUTHORIZATION Mr. FLOOD. Your budget request for 1979 is presently not authorized. Has the administration submitted a proposed extension of the Community Services Act to the Congress? MS. OLIVAREZ. Yes, sir. Mr. FLOOD. What is the current status of that in both the House and Senate? Ms. OLIVAREZ. At this moment the House bill, H.R. 7577, the Economic Opportunity Act Amendments of 1977, was ordered to be reported by the Education and Labor Committee on September 28, 1977; however, the Committee Report has not been filed yet due to further discussion around the Headstart allocation formula which is contained in Title V of the Economic Opportunity Act, the same act which authorized the Community Services Administration and its program. In the Senate, the Human Resources Subcommittee on Employment, Poverty and Migratory Labor has held one day of hearings, on November 21st, 1977 on S. 2090, a bill to reauthorize the Community Services Administration and its programs. An additional two days of hearings are scheduled for March 13 and 14, 1978. Mr. FLOOD. Our concern is, will it be out in time for the appropriation? Mr. ALLISON. You might be a better judge of that yourself, sir. Mr. FLOOD. That is a matter of opinion. What major changes from the present law are contained in the Administration's draft bill? MS. OLIVAREZ. There are several. First of all, we are asking for a decrease in the nonfederal share to 80-20. We are asking that the program be extended three years, and that the Director be allowed to delegate grant-making to regional directors. Mr. FLOOD. Just the major ones. Ms. OLIVAREZ. The major ones I would say would be the nonfederal share, and in addition to that we have asked that in our summer youth recreation program that community action agencies be permitted to be the prime sponsors. Right now that program uses CETA prime sponsors as the implementors of the program at the local level. We would like to see the community action agencies administering that program at the local level. Mr. FLOOD. I think what you might do in answering the question, you might feel better if you developed that for the record and expanded it for the record in more detail. [The information referred to follows:] The Administration transmitted a draft bill reauthorizing the EOA, of 1964, as amended on July 21, 1977. The proposed language would extend the authorization for programs under the Economic Opportunity Act in Titles I, II, III-B, VI, VII, and IX for a period of three years. A change in Section 211(b) of the EOA which would require a minimum of fifteen persons on a Community Action Agency's board of directors. The second change in Section 211 reduces the length of service for community representatives on a CAA board from five to three consecutive years and from ten to seven years total length of service. Section 222 (a) (11) adds the use of CETA workers to our rural housing program. A revision of 222(a) (13), the Summer Recreation program, would modify implementation of the Summer Youth and Recreation Program to provide for sponsorship by community action agencies and establish eligibility standards consistent with other Title II programs. A change in local initiative non-Federal share would restore the prior 80-20 ratio. Section 601(c) was amended in 1974 to prohibit the Director from delegating to regional officials the authority to make grants or contracts or to set policy. While this was intended to force greater review of and control over grants and contracts, it has had the opposite effect. The requirement that final approval over grants and contracts reside in Headquarters office, effective June 1975, has to date necessitated over 8,000 grant reviews and signatures be made by the Headquarters official to whom such authority was delegated. The amendment allows delegation by the Director to regional officials. Consistent with the change in Section 601(c), removing the prohibition against the Director delegating any authority to those not directly responsible to him/her under the Act, an amendment to 602(d) would allow delegation of specified authority outside the Agency to facilitate interagency cooperative efforts without requiring specific Presidential approval. The first sentence of section 605 (c) of the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964, as amended, is amended by inserting "and ending with the calendar year 1978" before the period at the end thereof. (2) A new sentence is added at the end of the second sentence: "The Advisory Council shall cease to exist 60 days after making the final annual report required by this subsection". This change would abolish the National Advisory Council sixty days after the submission of its March 1978 report to the President. Section 620 of the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 as amended is amended by striking "The Director and such other agency heads shall submit at least annually to the Congress a joint or combined report describing the actions taken and the progress made under this section". This change would eliminate one of three reports required annually under the Act. We would also eliminate the Section 745 report; however, the Agency would still be required to file its annual report to Congress under Section 608. The information required in this section and Section 745 would be included in that annual report. This proposed change to section 731(a) establishes the eligibility of Community Action Agencies and other community-based organizations for financial assistance under other sections of Title VII, principally the Rural Development Loan Fund. The intergovernmental Advisory Council has never been established as required under the Act. The proposal recognizes that reality. Section 601, subsections (e) (f) (g) (h) were the provisions in the 1974 amendments to the Act that allowed the President, after March 15, 1975, to transfer the Community Services Administration to the Department of Health, Education and Welfare. Special provision was made for transfer of Title VII programs to the Department of Commerce. The President chose not to exercise his authority under these sections and maintained CSA as an independent agency. The reauthorization repeals this specific reorganization mechanism. This proposal repeals section 745, eliminating one of the three reports required under the Act. Along with the elimination of the report in Section 620, it consolidates all reports into one annual, comprehensive report to Congress under Section 608. COMMUNITY ACTION Mr. FLOOD. How many community action agencies do we have in this country? MS. OLIVAREZ. 878. Mr. FLOOD. What portion of the country is covered by CAP agencies? Ms. OLIVAREZ. Out of the almost 3,200 counties, we are covering about 2,200 of the counties, constituting 75% of the country. Mr. FLOOD. As you see it, what is the main purpose of a Community Action Agency? MS. OLIVAREZ. The main purpose is to mobilize the resources at the local level, identification of the problems that exist in that community vis-a-vis the poor people, design of a plan to address those problems, the monitoring of what is going on in terms of programs to serve poor people, and the involvement of the poverty community itself in the development of the plans and the identification of the problems and in the administration of the program. Mr. FLOOD. In fiscal 1978 the Congress gave you an increase of $39 million over the budget for community action? MS. OLIVAREZ. Yes. Mr. FLOOD. How much of the $39 million have you obligated to date? MS. OLIVAREZ. We are in the process right now. We have developed a plan in cooperation with the- Mr. FLOOD. Just so we get this right. In fiscal 1978 the Congress gave you an increase of $39 million over the budget for community action. The question is, how much of that $39 million have you obligated to date? MS. OLIVAREZ. $277 million has been allotted. Mr. ROLLIS. Our total 1978 obligations to date are $199 million. Concerning the $39 million, we are still in the planning process; we have not obligated any of that. That was made available in December, I believe. MS. OLIVAREZ. It was tied up in the Labor, HEW appropriation, so we did not get that money until December. Mr. FLOOD. Specifically how will that $39 million be spent? MS. OLIVAREZ. That money will be used for four things. The first is cost of living increases because the community action agencies that had static funding for the last few years were not able to give cost of living increases to their employees. We are also going to use it to strengthen administration of the community action agencies, to reduce the disparity of funding that exists right now, and to encourage innovation among the community action agencies. So the $39 million will go to community action agencies. It will not be used for any other categorical program. Mr. FLOOD. You are asking for a further increase of $12 million in 1979. Tell us how those funds will be used, and also tell us how you arrived at the figure of $12 million. What is sacred about $12? Why wasn't it $121⁄2 million or $13 million? Ms. OLIVAREZ. I will ask Mr. Rollis, our Controller, to answer. Mr. ROLLIS. The $12 million will be used to increase the smaller community action agencies, that is, basically those below $150,000 |