CCAP Foundational Concepts & Principles 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: The 'maximum feasible participation' requirement in early community action legislation mandated:
- That CAAs spend the maximum allowable percentage on direct services
- Meaningful involvement of low-income people in the design and governance of anti-poverty programs (Correct answer)
- Participation in all available federal grant programs
- Local governments take maximum responsibility for funding poverty programs
Correct answer: Meaningful involvement of low-income people in the design and governance of anti-poverty programs
'Maximum feasible participation' required that poor people themselves be involved in designing, implementing, and governing programs meant to serve them.
Question 2: Which of the following best defines 'community capacity building' in community action practice?
- Constructing physical facilities to house social services
- Strengthening a community's collective ability to identify needs and mobilize resources to address them (Correct answer)
- Increasing the staff capacity of a Community Action Agency
- Building financial reserves to sustain agency operations
Correct answer: Strengthening a community's collective ability to identify needs and mobilize resources to address them
Community capacity building refers to developing a community's collective skills, knowledge, and resources to address its own challenges sustainably.
Question 3: Under CSBG assurances, Community Action Agencies are required to conduct a community needs assessment at minimum every:
- Year
- Two years
- Three years (Correct answer)
- Five years
Correct answer: Three years
CSBG requires CAAs to conduct a comprehensive community needs assessment at least every three years to guide program planning and resource allocation.
Question 4: The concept of 'two-generation programming' in community action refers to:
- Programs that serve both current and former generations of CAA staff
- Simultaneously addressing the needs of parents and children within the same family unit (Correct answer)
- Transferring institutional knowledge from veteran to new CAA employees
- Offering services across two geographic generations of a community
Correct answer: Simultaneously addressing the needs of parents and children within the same family unit
Two-generation programming simultaneously engages parents and children to create enduring change for the whole family and break intergenerational poverty cycles.
Question 5: In community action, 'advocacy' at the systemic level most commonly means:
- Writing grant proposals to secure additional funding
- Working to change policies, laws, and systems that perpetuate poverty (Correct answer)
- Advocating for individual clients in benefit appeals
- Marketing CAA services to potential funders
Correct answer: Working to change policies, laws, and systems that perpetuate poverty
Systemic advocacy in community action focuses on changing the structural policies and systems that create or maintain poverty conditions.
Question 6: Which body is responsible for overseeing CSBG at the federal level?
- U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
- Office of Community Services (OCS) within HHS (Correct answer)
- U.S. Department of Labor
- Small Business Administration
Correct answer: Office of Community Services (OCS) within HHS
The Office of Community Services (OCS), within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), administers the CSBG program at the federal level.
Question 7: The CCAP credential is awarded by which organization?
- National Community Action Foundation (NCAF)
- Community Action Partnership (CAP) (Correct answer)
- National Association of Community Action Agencies
- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Correct answer: Community Action Partnership (CAP)
The Certified Community Action Professional (CCAP) credential is administered and awarded by the Community Action Partnership (CAP).
CCAP Foundational Concepts & Principles 3
The 'maximum feasible participation' requirement in early community action legislation mandated: