1. History of Community Action
1964- Economic Opportunity Act
1965- All 114 Missouri counties & St. Louis City are served by Community Action
1971- Incorporated as Missouri Association of Community Action Agencies (MACAA)
1975- Name changed to Missouri Association for Community Action (MACA)
2016- Name Changed again to Missouri Community Action Network (Missouri CAN)
2014 marked MACA’s 39th year of operation
The Missouri Association for Community Action has its roots in the War on Poverty, which was declared by President Lyndon B. Johnson in In signing the Economic Opportunity Act, Johnson created the Office of Economic Opportunity, as well as local Community Action Agencies throughout the country. By late 1965, every county in Missouri was served by a Community Action Agency, providing services directly to low-income citizens.
Soon, the executive directors of these agencies began meeting informally to discuss common issues, and in 1971 the group was officially organized as the Missouri Association of Community Action Agencies. To increase its strength as an advocacy organization, it eventually expanded membership to include anyone who worked for a Community Action Agency. In 1975, the organization’s name was officially changed to the Missouri Association for Community Action (MACA) to represent its enlarged scope.
MACA’s early mission was twofold: to serve as an effective advocate for community action and to provide training opportunities for community action staff within functional groups. Membership grew, and in 1976 the association held its first annual congress. In the years since, MACA has continued to advocate for legislation and funding to aid the fight against poverty and to provide training opportunities and technical support to enhance the ability of agencies to serve their clients.
Today, MACA is an active association and widely respected as a strong advocate for services that help communities reduce poverty

2. The National Community Action Network
A network of over 1,000 Community Action Agencies
Region VII
(Missouri, Iowa, Kansas, & Nebraska)
National Partners
NASCSP- National Association for State Community Services Programs
NCAF- National Comm Action Foundation
CAPLAW- Comm Action Program Legal Services

3. The Network Over 3,000 Community Action Employees
19 Community Action Agencies
The Missouri Association for Community Action
30 member Board of Directors
12 Staff Members
All 115 counties are covered by our services
Services range for each agency

4. Come together… All 115 counties are covered by our services
Services range for each agency- Look at Annual Report
Board- Our board has 30 members (make-up of board)

5. General Roles of the Agencies
Local Community Action Agency
State Association
Advocacy
Education
Poverty Simulations
Training/ Technical Assistance
Direct Services
Emergency/Crisis Intervention
Community Needs Assessment
Community Engagement
The state association office handles the things you see on this slide. Advocacy, Education, Training and Technical Assistance.
In contrast, the 19 local Community Action Agencies in Missouri and those that exist in the other states provide a variety of services to individuals, children and families who are living in poverty. The best part of how Community Action works? It’s local. Services provided by agencies will vary by agency since they are determined based upon local needs assessments.
For example, in the Community of Spanish Lake in north St. Louis there was a “food desert”. Families had to travel miles away to get to a grocery store and the only local food options were convenience stores and fast food outlets. The Community Action Agency of St. Louis County developed a Community Supported Agriculture project which started as a community garden and now makes it possible for individuals in this community to access high quality fresh produce. This is just one example of hundreds of local projects that communities have developed to mitigate the effects of poverty.

6. Financial Sustainablilty
Federal Grants & Contracts
Membership Dues & Registration Fees
Poverty Simulation Kit Sales & Trainings
Private Foundations and Donations

7. Statewide Vision & Mission
Our Vision: A state where all people and communities thrive.
Our Mission: To advocate for low-income Missourians and strengthen the Community Action Network.
Here at Missouri Can are we the state association of Missouri's 19 Community Action Agencies, Allies and Supporters united to help people and change lives. We are the statewide voice for Missourians struggling with poverty and the Community Action Network.
Our Vision: A state where all people and communities thrive.
Our Mission: To advocate for low-income Missourians and strengthen the Community Action Network.
So advocacy is half of our mission here at the Missouri CAN office. We believe that the work we do as advocate for low income Missourians is an important part of the work we do for you as members and as staff at the local community action agencies.
We are doing this advocacy work so that we can work towards our statewide vision – a state where all families and communities thrive.

8. How we fulfill our Mission
Advocate
Public Policy at the state & federal levels
Partner with state and national organizations
Develop publications
Organize and host events
Build Capacity
Works to build capacity of:
The Missouri Community Action Network
Missouri Community Action Employees & Volunteers
Ally Members
Community Partners
Training and Technical Assistance
Convenes state and regional group

9. Website: communityaction.org Social Media: Facebook Twitter Google +
How to find us
Website: communityaction.org
Social Media:
Facebook
Twitter
Google +

10. Poverty in Missouri

11. How do we define Poverty?
“Poverty is an inherently vague concept and developing a poverty measure requires a number of relatively arbitrary assumptions.”
» Rebecca Blank, 2008
Former United States Secretary of Commerce
So, how is poverty defined in the United States today? Poverty is defined by income. Anyone living below the federal poverty rate of around $12,000 for an individual and $23,550 for a family of four, is defined as living in poverty. However, there are some problems with this measure. First of all, it was developed in 1963 by Mollie Orshansky. The basis of her idea was to use the cost of a nutritionally adequate diet as the basis for a cost-of-living estimate and to calculate a cost of living for families of different sizes and composition. In the 1960s, food made up approximately 1/3 of a family’s budget. Today, we spend approximately 6%. In contrast, other household expenses such as health care, child care and energy costs have risen considerably.
The Census Bureau releases two reports every year that describe who is poor in the United States. The first report calculates the nation’s official poverty measure based on cash resources. The second is known as the supplemental poverty measure (SPM) and takes account of cash resources and noncash benefits from government programs aimed at low income families.

12. How do we define Poverty?
Official Poverty Rate
Developed in the early 1960s when President Lyndon Johnson declared war on poverty.
This measure does not reflect the key government policies enacted since that time to help low-income individuals to meet their needs.
Uses three times the cost of a minimum diet in 1963 in today’s prices
Same rate everywhere
Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM)
Developed in 2010 by the Census Bureau
The SPM extends the official poverty measure by taking account of government benefits and necessary expenses like taxes that are not in the official measure.
Then it subtracts expenses for necessary goods and services such as housing, childcare, work related expenses, etc.
Varies from state to state
The Official Measure The United States has an official measure of poverty. The current official poverty measure was developed in the early 1960s when President Lyndon Johnson declared war on poverty. This measure does not reflect the key government policies enacted since that time to help low-income individuals to meet their needs.
There is now a second measure of poverty called the Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM). Every year since 2010, the Census Bureau has released a report describing the SPM. The SPM extends the official poverty measure by taking account of government benefits and necessary expenses like taxes that are not in the official measure. In 2012, the SPM rate was slightly higher than the official rate, identifying 49.7 million people as poor. This was 16 percent of the population
For both measures, a person is poor if the resources they share with others in the household are not enough to meet basic needs. But the two measures are very different.
Official Measure Supplemental Measure The two measures make assumptions about who shares resources. The SPM assumes that more people in a household share resources with another. The official measure of poverty assumes that all individuals residing who are related by birth, marriage, or adoption share income. The SPM starts with the family and then adds some unrelated people such as foster children and unmarried partners. How do we measure needs?
The poverty threshold, or poverty line, is the minimum level of resources that are adequate to meet basic needs. The official measure uses three times the cost of a minimum diet in 1963 in today’s prices The SPM uses information about what people spend today for basic needs – food, clothing, shelter, and utilities.
Are needs the same in New York and Mississippi? Poverty thresholds for both measures are adjusted to reflect the needs of families of different types and sizes. Only the SPM thresholds take account of geographic differences in housing costs.
The official poverty threshold is the same wherever you live in the United States. In 2012, the poverty threshold for a family with two adults and two children was $22,283.
SPM thresholds vary based on several factors such as place of residence and whether it is a rental unit or purchased property or home with a mortgage.
Pros and Cons of the SPM
Pros – Broader view of the resource sharing unit – considers related individuals in the same dwelling as well as cohabiters and unrelated children to be part of the resource sharing unit – Is directly affected by the policy levers that are currently used to assist low income populations • Non-cash benefits such as food stamps, housing assistance, school lunch programs, and energy assistance • Taxes and refundable tax credits • Out-of-pocket medical expenses and work expenses (including child care expenses) •
Cons – Not officially available before 2009 – Does not facilitate comparisons over time – Does not facilitation comparisons across countries

13. 48 Contiguous States and the District of Columbia
Overall Poverty Rates
National Poverty Rate: 15.9%
2016 Poverty Guidelines
48 Contiguous States and the District of Columbia 1
$11,880 2
16,020 3
20,160 4
24,300 5
28,440 6
32,580 7
36,730 8
40,890
For families/households with more than 8 persons, add $4,160 for each additional person.

14. Missourians to End Poverty

15. Poverty in Missouri
The number of Missourians living in poverty declined last year, while median household income and those with health coverage rose.
Overall, 875,495 Missourians, or 14.8 percent, experienced poverty in This data is compared to the Missouri 908,628 households or 15.5 percent in 2014 according to the recently released American Community Survey by the U.S. Census Bureau. Missouri’s median household income was $50,238 up from the $48,363 median in 2014.

16. Missouri Overall Poverty Rates
Missouri Poverty Rate: 15.5%
16.1%
Missouri Women in Poverty
23%
Missouri Children in Poverty
Arkansas
Illinois 14.7
Iowa 12.7
Kansas 14
Louisiana 19.9
Missouri 16.2
Nebraska 13
Oklahoma 17.2
Texas 17.9
NOW: 14.8

17. 14.8

18. Thriving Families 5 Key Elements of Poverty
Food
Family & Economic Security
Housing & Energy
Health
Education
5 Key Elements of Poverty
Thriving
Families
When thinking of poverty, we focus on five elements of poverty:
Food, Family & Economic Security, Housing & Energy, Health, and Education. Poverty is not just one issue, there are multiple barriers that keep people in poverty.

19. Generational vs Situational Poverty
Generational Occurs in families where at least two generations have been born into poverty. Families living in this type of poverty are not equipped with the tools to move out of their situations.
Situational Generally caused by a sudden crisis or loss and is often temporary. Events causing situational poverty include environmental disasters, divorce, or severe health problems.

21. Currently, 287,081 Missouri children live in poverty.
Child Poverty
Currently, 287,081 Missouri children live in poverty.
Out of 114 counties and the City of St. Louis – 92 counties have a child poverty rate of 20% or higher.
Poverty involves a complex array of risk factors that adversely affect the population in a multitude of ways. The four primary risk factors afflicting families living in poverty are
Emotional and social challenges.
Acute and chronic stressors.
Cognitive lags.
Health and safety issues.
2014 Small Area Income & Poverty Estimates – US Census and the Annie E. Casey Kids Count Report

22. Food
16.8% of Missourians are food insecure (That means that according to the USDA they do not have access at all times to enough food for an active healthy life)
Over 879,000 households in the state participate in the SNAP program - with an average monthly benefit per person of $122
7th
Missouri has the 7th highest percentage of food insecure households in the United States

23. Missourians Uninsured
Health
693,878
Missourians Uninsured

24. Education
90.15% of Missouri students graduate high school!

25. Families making over $50K spend only 9% on average.
Housing and Energy
10,237 Missourians are homeless
26%
Is the percentage families earning between $10-$30K spend on energy after taxes.
Families making over $50K spend only 9% on average.
Overcrowded housing has increased %
from
Energy
On average, low-income households spend 14% of their annual income just on energy costs, whereas middle and higher income families usually pay only 3-6%. This means low-income families often cut back on other necessities, such as prescription medication and food, in order to pay their energy bills. The higher consumption often results from housing stock that lacks insulation or other efficiency measures, and older appliances in the home.
Housing
Housing is considered affordable if it equals 30% of a family’s income. Between housing and energy (assuming the housing is “affordable”) low income families face a housing and energy cost of 44% of their annual income just for those two expenses. Across the 9 states highlighted in this presentation, over 3.4 million are paying more than 30% on housing.
Substandard housing is yet another barrier that low income families face and one that drastically affects a family’s quality of life. (Substandard housing refers to any housing that does not meet the local minimum health and safety requirements.) One out of every three people living in severely substandard housing is a child.
Recently, the National Low Income Housing Coalition released a report called “Healthy Homes”, which found that substandard housing contributes significantly to the health issues faced by many low income children. Studies show that children who have secure, affordable housing are far more likely to stay in school and succeed socially, and their parents are far more likely to keep their jobs and maintain a family income

26. Fair Market Rent & Salary
23.02%
Renters paying more then 50% of income on Housing

27. Family and Economic Security
Although over 928,783 people in the state are below the federal poverty line...only 77,551 adults and children receive Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF).
The 2015 federal poverty rate is $11,670 for an individual or $24,250 for a family of 4.
28.3%
Almost a third of all jobs in Missouri are considered “low wage” meaning that they pay less than 100% of the federal poverty line
In the United States, we have an unconscious bias toward what we could call the deserving and the undeserving poor. Kathleen Geier wrote in the blog “Political Animal” - You don’t become poor because you’re a terrible person or a defective human being. People are poor because of the way our economy and our society is arranged. As Mark Rank has written, “American poverty is largely the result of structural, rather than individual, failings. There simply are not enough viable opportunities for all Americans.” For example, compared to other rich nations, the U.S. has what is by far the highest proportion of its workers in low-wage jobs. Yet as hard as they work, those workers have found it impossible to work themselves out of poverty. An excellent book that demonstrates how hard living is when working at low wage jobs is “Nickeled and Dimed, On NOT getting by in America” by Barbara Ehrenreich.
Percentage of Jobs that are “Low- Wage” and percentage of low income families that work.
Arkansas
Illinois
Iowa
Kansas 23 32
Louisiana
Missouri
Nebraska
Oklahoma
Texas

28. Poverty Impacts Individuals Families ENTIRE COMMUNITIES Overall Health
Obesity
Heart Disease / Hypertension
Osteoporosis
Diabetes
Life Expectancy
Brain Development
Social and Educational Skills in Children
According to a 2011 report from the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions: Is Poverty A Death Sentence? The Human Cost of Socioeconomic Disparities, rates of poor or fair health are seven times higher among children of low-income families than their higher earning counterparts.
This report also states the lowest-earning and least-educated individuals often suffer from the worst health; meanwhile, those in the highest income group live, on average, six and a half years longer than people living in poverty. When a family moves out of poverty and closer to self-sufficiency, their health improves. With adequate health insurance, people live longer lives, are diagnosed and treated sooner, and have healthier children.

29. Snapshot of Poverty in Kansas City Metro Area
Information pulled from the Missouri Community Action Needs Assessment Tool via Community Commons.

31. Fairness and Justice
Basis of what we do is rooted in our strong sense of fairness and justice.

32. Tools & Resources on Poverty
Spotlight on Poverty
Coalition for Human Needs
Half in Ten
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
In Missouri…
Missouri Association for Community Action
Poverty Simulations
Missourians to End Poverty Coalition

33. For more information visit us on the web
Thank you.
For more information visit us on the web