BCCAP Forward: Expanded, More Focused Assistance

September 2020

“There’s a lot of assistance out there for people, and it’s important that they know.”
—Amy Roberts, Energy Assistance, Eastern CAP Center

BCCAP Forward

The Baltimore City Community Action Partnership (BCCAP) is core to the work we are doing in the Mayor's Office of Children & Family Success to lift up Baltimore’s children and families. CAP centers have long played a critical role in the community, providing energy assistance and partnering with community-based and nonprofit organizations to connect residents to resources and support their journey toward financial stability.

As we enter Fall 2020 and strategize to reduce—and reverse—the far-reaching financial impact of the coronavirus pandemic on residents, we commit to focusing the community engagement and support of our CAP centers and taking it to a new level. CAP centers have the existing infrastructure to lead the way in eradicating poverty in Baltimore. In the months ahead, we will drive that capacity forward to deepen our impact in the lives of children and families.

We’re calling this our BCCAP Forward strategy and it has three main components:

• A new CAP management team
• A new CAP Board of Directors
• Expanded, more focused assistance programs

BCCAP Forward Video

Our New CAP Management Team

The BCCAP Forward strategy starts with building a  strong CAP management team, so we hired Angela Whitaker as our new BCCAP Director. Prior to joining us, Angela led Family Engagement for the District of Columbia Public Schools. Angela guided the strategic planning process that transformed the district’s family services work and assessed its efficacy and impact. She is a Baltimore native, Western High School alumna and a committed advocate for empowering underserved families and communities. In her short five months with us, Angela has assembled a talented management team to lead BCCAP Forward.

Our New Board of Directors

Because BCCAP is funded through the federal Community Service Block Grant, the organization is required to have a “tripartite” board that participates in the development, planning, implementation and evaluation of CAP center programming. The BCCAP board includes 3 local elected officials; 3 members of CAP partner organizations; and 3 individuals with lived experience who reside in the areas CAP centers serve. 

A special thank you to the newly formed BCCAP board. Learn more about the board members, who are critical partners in the BCCAP Forward strategy, here.

Expanded, More Focused Assistance

Also as part of BCCAP Forward, we are expanding the range and reach of the assistance programs CAP centers administer, while better focusing them to support families holistically and over the long term. The pandemic has accelerated this effort, quickly turning CAP centers into an essential community hub for helping keep residents impacted financially by COVID in their homes and their basic needs met.

Utilities Assistance. CAP centers administer both energy and water assistance for the city. While the state’s moratorium on water, gas and electric service shutoffs remains in place until November 15, Maryland utilities have been given the green light to start sending shutoff notices to residents on October 1. To avoid a wave of shutoffs later this fall, our CAP centers are urging residents to seek assistance now. As part of the city’s COVID relief efforts, eligibility for BH2O, the city’s water discount program, has been expanded by removing the income limit. Now through December any resident with a water bill in their name who has been unemployed since March can apply. Online applications for energy assistance and water assistance are now available, and centers have drop boxes where residents can submit paper applications.

Eviction Prevention. Last year CAP centers administered less than $300,000 in rental assistance. In October, they will launch the city’s $30 million eviction prevention program, also part of Baltimore’s emergency COVID response. The centers’ initial focus is to work with tenants and landlords to bring tenants’ back rent current. As with BH2O, there is no income limit with this first phase: Tenants must only prove they are impacted by the pandemic and are in arrears on their rent. Additional eviction prevention supports are also available to residents in the months ahead.

Food Security and Financial Literacy. This fall we will expand our CAP center partnerships to better meet the food and nutrition needs of our communities. And through a partnership with the Mayor’s Office of Employment Development, we are launching a new robust financial literacy program.

Strengthening Staff. Lastly, all of our CAP staff are undergoing training to become certified case managers and financial counselors to better support the full range of residents' needs as they move toward financial stability.

We hope you will join us as we push BCCAP Forward 
for Baltimore’s children and families!

childrenandfamilysuccess@baltimorecity.gov | bmorechildren.com

@bmorechildren | #loveoverfear

Copyright © 2020 City of Baltimore All Rights Reserved.