California § 12727 - All activities of the California Community Services Block Grant Program eligible

§ 12727. All activities of the California Community Services Block Grant Program eligible

All activities of the California Community Services Block Grant Program eligible entities shall have the following basic and specific purposes: (a) The basic purpose of this chapter is to stimulate an effective concentration of all available local, state, private, and federal resources upon the goal of enabling low-income families, and low-income individuals of all ages, in rural and urban areas to attain the skills, knowledge, and motivations and to secure the opportunities needed for them to become fully self-sufficient. (b) The specific purposes of this chapter are to promote, as methods of achieving an effective concentration of resources on the goal of individual and family self-sufficiency, the following: (1) The strengthening of community capabilities for planning and coordinating federal, state, private, and other assistance related to the elimination of poverty, so that this assistance, through the efforts of local officials, organizations, and interested and affected citizens, can be made more responsive to local needs and conditions. (2) The coherent organization of a range of services related to the needs of the poor, so that these services may be made more effective and efficient in helping families and individuals to overcome poverty-related problems in a way that takes into account, and supports, their progress in overcoming identified causes of poverty. (3) The implementation, subject to adequate evaluation, of new types of services and innovative approaches toward eliminating causes of poverty, so as to develop increasingly effective methods of employing available resources. (4) Maximum feasible participation of members of the groups and residents of the low-income areas to be served by programs and projects in the development and implementation of those programs and projects, in order to assure that all programs and projects are meaningful to, and widely utilized by, their intended beneficiaries. (5) The broadening of the resource base directed towards the elimination of poverty, so as to secure, in addition to the services and assistance of public officials, private religious, charitable, and neighborhood organizations, and individual citizens, a more active role for business, labor, and professional groups able to provide employment opportunities or otherwise influence the quantity and quality of services of concern to the poor. (c) It is the finding of the Legislature that these state purposes and the intent of the federal Community Services Block Grant will best be served by enacting the program policies and requirements contained in this chapter.