Community Economic Opportunity Act of 2015

Community Economic Opportunity Act of 2015

This bill amends the Community Services Block Grant Act to revise the Act and reauthorize it through FY2023.

States must adopt performance requirements and performance benchmarks to be included as part of the performance measurement system under this Act.

States that receive grants must reserve 2% of the funds for a new Community Action Innovations Program (CAIP) and use not less than 90% of the remainder to make subgrants to eligible entities to enable the entities to implement programs, projects, or services to reduce poverty.

Authority is repealed for specific nationally administered grants for: (1) community food and nutrition programs, (2) national or regional programs designed to provide instructional activities for low-income youth, and (3) demonstration partnership agreements addressing the needs of the poor.

A state may use certain grant funds for training and technical assistance to eligible entities and innovative projects to reduce poverty conditions.

Two or more eligible entities shall receive state assistance to merge if the geographic areas of the state they serve can be more effectively served under a single corporate structure. The same assistance must be given any eligible public organization that determines the area it serves can be more effectively served if it becomes a private public charity.

An incentive is repealed for states to enact a charity tax credit.

The Department of Health and Human Services must conduct, in at least one-third of the states in each fiscal year, evaluations (including investigations) of state compliance with the Community Services Block Grant Program.

Written by the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service. All summary versions on Congress.gov