The Community Action Program: A Strategy to Fight Poverty

Initially, the Community Action Program (CAP) of the Economic Opportunity Act (EOA) meant different things to different people, but few fully understood its theoretical underpinnings and its future directions could not be predicted. Since then, CAP has evolved into an "umbrella" for a collection of social, educational, political, and welfare-type programs. Half of CAP's funds for the first four years went to prepackaged national programs such as Head Start or Legal Services; the rest were spent largely on "local initiative" programs governed by broad federal guidelines, such as the neighborhood service centers. The cornerstone of community action was participation in the planning and implementation of programs by the poor or by their neighbors living in poverty areas. Local governments often left the community action programs alone, but in many cases the Establishment played a major role in the formulation of agencies and programs. On the whole, CAP monies were spread too thinly over too many areas to have a discernible impact on poverty; but, still, CAP can be thought of as an innovative program in that it gave a voice to the poor.