CCAP Community Development & Engagement 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: In community organizing, what does 'power mapping' help an organization accomplish?
- Identify electrical infrastructure in low-income neighborhoods
- Determine which decision-makers have influence over a community issue (Correct answer)
- Map community walking paths and transit routes
- Assess physical safety hazards in service areas
Correct answer: Determine which decision-makers have influence over a community issue
Power mapping visually identifies stakeholders, their relationships, and their levels of influence to help organizers develop targeted advocacy strategies.
Question 2: A CAP agency is implementing a place-based community development strategy. This approach emphasizes:
- Serving clients regardless of their geographic location
- Concentrating resources and interventions in a specific geographic area (Correct answer)
- Placing social workers in clients' homes
- Using online platforms to reach dispersed populations
Correct answer: Concentrating resources and interventions in a specific geographic area
Place-based strategies concentrate comprehensive resources within a defined geographic area to create systemic change and address concentrated poverty.
Question 3: Which of the following is an example of 'collective impact' in community development?
- A single agency providing all services to low-income families
- Multiple organizations aligning around a common agenda with shared measurement (Correct answer)
- A state government mandating service delivery standards
- A foundation awarding grants to individual nonprofits competitively
Correct answer: Multiple organizations aligning around a common agenda with shared measurement
Collective impact requires five conditions: common agenda, shared measurement, mutually reinforcing activities, continuous communication, and a backbone organization.
Question 4: When facilitating a community meeting in a low-income neighborhood, a CCAP professional should prioritize:
- Presenting the agency's pre-determined solutions for feedback
- Creating space for community members to define problems and solutions themselves (Correct answer)
- Keeping meetings under 30 minutes to respect residents' time
- Limiting attendance to 10-15 residents for manageable discussion
Correct answer: Creating space for community members to define problems and solutions themselves
Authentic facilitation centers community voice and self-determination rather than seeking validation for agency-driven conclusions.
Question 5: A community action professional is working on reducing childhood poverty in a rural area. Which strategy best reflects a systemic approach?
- Distributing food boxes to families with young children
- Addressing income, education, healthcare, and housing barriers simultaneously (Correct answer)
- Expanding childcare subsidies for families earning under 200% FPL
- Hosting parenting classes at the local library
Correct answer: Addressing income, education, healthcare, and housing barriers simultaneously
Systemic approaches address the multiple interconnected root causes of poverty rather than treating individual symptoms in isolation.
Question 6: What is the primary purpose of a community coalition in antipoverty work?
- To reduce administrative overhead for participating agencies
- To leverage diverse stakeholder strengths toward shared community goals (Correct answer)
- To allow agencies to share client data across organizations
- To satisfy grant reporting requirements for collaborative funding
Correct answer: To leverage diverse stakeholder strengths toward shared community goals
Coalitions bring together organizations with different resources, expertise, and constituencies to address complex community challenges more effectively than any single entity.
Question 7: Which federal legislation requires community action agencies to conduct a Community Needs Assessment at least every three years?
- The Social Security Act
- The Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) Act (Correct answer)
- The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA)
- The Housing and Community Development Act
Correct answer: The Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) Act
CSBG requires eligible entities to conduct comprehensive community needs assessments to guide program planning and demonstrate responsiveness to local conditions.
CCAP Community Development & Engagement 3
In community organizing, what does 'power mapping' help an organization accomplish?