CAPLAW Webinar

Join CAPLAW for a discussion of our forthcoming case study on CT Food 4 Thought, a hydroponic greenhouse farm operated by New Opportunities, Inc., a CAA in northwest Connecticut. The webinar will feature New Opportunities’ Executive Director Bill Rybczyk, who will share the story of how his team pivoted strategically to grow its business from an idea to a successful farm producing 8,000-11,000 heads of lettuce per week. CAPLAW will highlight some of the legal choices Bill faced along the way, such as how to structure the social enterprise and manage unrelated business income tax. We will also discuss other topics, like employment arrangements and conflicts of interest, which CAAs should consider when launching a social enterprise.

Presenters: 

Bill Rybczyk, New Opportunities Executive Director;

Caroline Santilli, CAPLAW Staff Attorney

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Fiscal administration and management issues for federal grants have become more complex for CAAs due to the historic influx of funding they received in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many of these challenges, from managing new programs and a rapid ramp-up of services, to cost allowability as needs during the pandemic evolved and closing out short-term grants, relate to the financial administration of new or increased funding streams.

To help CAAs navigate these challenges – new and old – CAPLAW, in collaboration with the National Community Action Partnership, has invited two of our most knowledgeable and engaging financial experts, Kay Sohl and Denes Tobie, to answer your questions about managing your agency’s finances.

Experts: Kay Sohl, Kay Sohl Consulting; Denes Tobie, Wipfli LLP

Part 1 of the Mastering the A-B-CSBGs: Fundamentals Series

Maintaining a tripartite board is challenging enough without questions about who can serve and how to elect them. Join this session to review the rules and guidance applicable to the public, private, and consumer sectors.

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Part 2 of the Mastering the A-B-CSBGs: Fundamentals Series

CSBG funds are unique among federal grants in that their use is guided by the needs of the communities served. Learn more about the rules and guidance governing the various ways CSBG funds can be used in this session.

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Part 3 of the Mastering the A-B-CSBGs: Fundamentals Series

This session will cover the planning and reporting requirements that facilitate the implementation of CSBG at the state and agency level. We will discuss topics such as allocation of funding, designation of new eligible entity, state plans and the community needs assessment.

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Part 4 of the Mastering the A-B-CSBGs: Fundamentals Series

CAA leaders should understand the life cycle of a CSBG grant so they can make smart decisions about spending, reporting, and accounting for their funding. This session will explore the performance management process, including monitoring by state CSBG offices and the Office of Community Services, and terminating or reducing a CSBG grant.

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Join CAPLAW and NCAF as they provide the community action network with updated information about the potential for a shutdown and ways to prepare and respond to one. In this webinar, NCAF and CAPLAW will discuss the state of play in Washington and tips for how the Network can prepare for a shutdown prior to the start of the new federal fiscal year.

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In September 2023, CAPLAW and Kay Sohl Consulting developed and released Being Direct: Shared Cost Recovery through Direct Cost Allocation, a resource that explores how CAAs can use direct cost allocation to recover costs that benefit multiple funding awards. Now CAPLAW and financial expert Kay Sohl are hosting a webinar to present the resource and discuss the issues it covers, including factors CAAs should weigh when deciding whether to fully recover costs using direct cost allocation principles; how to recover costs using a cost allocation plan; and allowable and unallowable cost allocation methods. Please join us for this important discussion.

Join us for a discussion of key, potential changes on the horizon to the rules that govern the administration and use of federal awards. On October 5, 2023, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) published proposed revisions to the Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (Uniform Guidance). If implemented, the revisions could result in a number of impactful changes, including increasing the de minimis rate for indirect cost recovery from 10% to 15%; removing certain prior written approval requirements; clarifying when recipients and subrecipients may notify OMB of disputes with regard to a Federal agency's acceptance of a federally negotiated indirect cost rate; and more. We will share our analysis of the proposed changes and our understanding of their potential implications for federal grant recipients and subrecipients. We’d also like to hear your thoughts, especially with respect to any feedback you think is important to share with OMB. Register Now.

The Uniform Guidance has been updated! The revised regulations contain numerous changes that will affect how federal grant recipients and subrecipients, including community action agencies, administer their federal funds. Join CAPLAW for a webinar about the changes and the potential impacts for the community action network.