Resource Library
All of CAPLAW’s resources and publications are now available in CAPLAW’s new Resource Library. Use the search filters below to find the resource you need.
Featured Resources

Building Blocks of Employee Compensation
Like many employers, CAAs are experiencing challenges retaining their existing staff and recruiting new employees in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. To help CAAs strategize for employee recruitment and retention in a post-pandemic world, CAPLAW has created this guide identifying some types of compensation they can offer, and the laws and regulations governing their salaries and benefits.

LIHWAP Primer for CAAs
The Low-Income Home Water Assistance Program, or LIHWAP, is a new emergency program administered by the Office of Community Services (OCS) that helps low-income households pay water and sewer bills to maintain access to drinking water and wastewater services. CAPLAW created this online guide to help the network navigate the program and better understand the role that CAAs may play in facilitating the funding.

COVID-19 Vaccines: Step-by-Step Guide for Community Action
This step-by-step compliance guide is intended to help the Community Action network navigate the employee vaccination mandates announced by OSHA, Head Start, and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). We describe the planning process your CAA should consider as you develop and update your policies to reflect the new requirements.

2020 Uniform Guidance Updates: Other Key Changes
The Uniform Guidance, 2 C.F.R. Part 200, has been substantially revised for the first time since it was issued, and the final revisions took effect on November 12, 2020. Though most of the revisions will not apply to federal awards issued before November 12, CAAs should begin to plan now for their...

2020 Uniform Guidance Updates: Indirect Costs
The Uniform Guidance, 2 C.F.R. Part 200, has been substantially revised for the first time since it was issued, and the final revisions took effect on November 12, 2020. Though most of the revisions will not apply to federal awards issued before November 12, CAAs should begin to plan now for their...

Joining Forces: Evaluating Merger Opportunities
Now more than ever, CAAs are thinking about innovative ways to maximize their impact while conserving resources. One method for doing so is a merger with another CAA or nonprofit organization. CAPLAW recently issued a new merger decision-making tool that helps CAA leaders understand critical...

FQHC Opportunities: Designation to Collaboration
Reductions in funding and reimbursement have made it increasingly challenging for Community Action Agencies (CAAs) to furnish critical outpatient health care services to their high need and often medically underserved communities. For many CAAs, structuring certain health care lines of business to...

Leadership Lessons: Pro Action of Steuben and Yates
When the board of directors of Pro Action of Steuben and Yates, Inc. gathered for their monthly meeting at the organization’s offices in Bath, New York on February 18, 2020, they had no idea that it would be the last time they would sit in the same room for over half a year. Fortunately, CEO Laura...

Leadership Lessons: Northern KY Community Action Commission
Catrena Bowman-Thomas picked up her office phone and called Northern Kentucky Community Action Commission’s (NKCAC) board chair, J.C. Morgan. She had just left an early March 2020 executive leadership team meeting at NKCAC headquarters in Covington, Kentucky, and had a lot to report. The team had...

Combining Forces: A Merger Manual for CAAs
Now more than ever, CAAs are exploring mergers as a strategy to improve their sustainability and enhance their efficiency and effectiveness. This new tool and the accompanying webinar can help CAA leaders understand the risks and benefits associated with merging, identify and evaluate potential...

All a-Board! Series: Duty of Loyalty (Purpose)
Understand the great responsibility of being a board member through the lens of the duty of loyalty: each board member's obligation to place the interests of the CAA before their personal interests. Learn how to identify and address conflicts of interest, whether they be good, bad, or ugly.Whether...

All a-Board! Series: Engage & Retain Board Members (People)
Join late-night talk show host Carlton Caplaw and renowned band leader Carmen Alto as they discuss five practices that CAPLAW has found to be the hallmarks of engaged and committed boards: educating board members, communicating openly, requiring participation, continually enforcing policies, and...