It is with heavy concern that we must inform you that, as of today, services funded under the Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) in Arkansas have been suspended effective immediately due to the current federal government shutdown. This disruption has profound implications across our state and for the entire network of Community Action Agencies, their clients, and the communities we serve.
What Does This Mean for Arkansas Communities?
For 15 Community Action Agencies serving all 75 counties of Arkansas, CSBG is the core federal anti-poverty block grant that fuels critical services: food distribution and nutrition, housing stability and eviction prevention, health care referrals and services, early childhood and child care supports, adult education and job training, emergency services and crisis response.
According to recent state data:
1. These 15 agencies served 169,693 individuals in low-income households across Arkansas.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
2. They supported 84,924 families.
3. Among individuals served: ~10,355 lacked health care coverage, ~36,848 reported a disability, ~48,881 were children living in poverty.
4. For every $1 of CSBG funds, the network leveraged $30.01 in federal, state, local and private resources.
When CSBG services pause, we are removing one of the foundational “safety nets” — the network effect that reaches food, housing, health, child care, education, and asset-building.
The Significant Impact:
1. Food & Nutrition: Many families rely on CSBG-supported food distribution, mobile markets, fresh produce access, nutrition education. With this pause, supply chains and support networks are interrupted.
2. Housing & Housing Stability: The ability to prevent eviction, maintain utilities, support weatherization and low-income home energy services are tightly linked with CSBG-funded coordination. With funds suspended, the risk of housing instability increases.
3. Health care: Access, referrals, case management, and wrap-around supports for those lacking coverage or with disabilities depend on CSBG as a linchpin. The suspension creates gaps in service for some of the most vulnerable.
4. Child Care & Early Education: Families who rely on Community Action Agency programs for childcare subsidies, school readiness, and early childhood support will face reduced service capacity, which in turn affects parents’ ability to work or seek training.
5. Education, Employment & Self-Sufficiency: The asset-building, job-training, financial literacy, and self-sufficiency pathways that our network advances through CSBG are now jeopardized — the progression from dependence to independence is stalled.
6. Community Resilience: In rural and urban communities alike, these agencies act as convener, connector, catalyst. Without CSBG support, that infrastructure suffers — and the “one more layer of protection” peeled away is the backbone of community-based poverty alleviation.
For Arkansans, this isn’t abstract. It means a family in the Delta region cannot access a CSBG-supported nutrition resources or emergency utility funding; it means a senior in the River Valley loses mobility assistance; it means a household in Northwest Arkansas doesn’t get referred to affordable housing when an eviction looms. The reach is wide and deep.
CALL TO ACTION
Now is the moment for all of us — board members, agency leadership, staff, community partners, the people we serve — to raise our voices and ensure our Congressional delegation understands the real-life consequences of this pause. Please contact your U.S. Senators and U.S. Representatives and tell them that Arkansas’s Community Action Network needs full restoration of CSBG services without delay.
Here are the contacts for our Arkansas delegation:
U.S. Senator John Boozman (R–AR)
Phone: 202-224-4843
Email: https://www.boozman.senate.gov/contact
U.S. Senator Tom Cotton (R–AR)
Phone: 202-224-2353
Email: https://www.cotton.senate.gov/contact
U.S. Representative Rick Crawford (R–AR-1)
Phone: 202-225-4076
Email: https://crawford.house.gov/contact
U.S. Representative French Hill (R–AR-2)
Phone: 202-225-4071
Email: https://hill.house.gov/contact
U.S. Representative Steve Womack (R–AR-3)
Phone: 202-225-4301
Email: https://womack.house.gov/contact
U.S. Representative Bruce Westerman (R–AR-4)
Phone: 202-225-3772
Email: https://westerman.house.gov/contact
To our agency leaders, our staff, our volunteers, and most importantly the thousands of Arkansans whom we serve: We know this disruption creates anxiety, uncertainty, and hardship. We see the mother in Little Rock who now may have to forgo child care for her toddler while she works; the senior citizen in Pine Bluff whose utility bill assistance is now on hold; the veteran in Pocahontas relying on food distribution and job-support services. These are real lives. These are our neighbors.
And yet: we are resilient. We are community-driven. We will not let this pause define us. Join us, speak up, share your story, make the call. Let’s lead with urgency and solidarity.
Together, we will ensure that when the dust settles, we emerge stronger, services are restored, and our communities are safe and empowered. Thank you for your partnership and your unyielding commitment to resilient communities across Arkansas.
In service and in hope.
Tomekia Moore of Pine Bluff is the executive director of Arkansas Community Action Agencies Association (ACAAA).