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Community Action Board warns federal CSBG delays and immigration enforcement fears are reducing service uptake
Summary
The Community Action Board told the committee that national funding delays to the Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) and fear among immigrant families about enforcement are reducing use of local services, and asked the county to consider supports for legal services, SNAP and Medicaid outreach and to sustain VITA tax‑assistance programs.
The Montgomery County Community Action Board urged county leaders to plan for two near‑term risks: federal delays to Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) funding and a decline in immigrant community service use owing to fear of immigration enforcement.
Davita Rowley, chair of the Community Action Board, said CSBG funding — the agency’s primary federal funding source — is subject to congressional disbursement and that federal shutdowns and agency layoffs have delayed allocations. "The delays in CSBG funding… is something that we're very concerned about," Rowley said.
Rowley described immigrant families avoiding services because of enforcement fears: some families are not leaving home or are foregoing medical care and school participation. The Community Action Agency’s Test Center and navigation unit field hundreds of service requests monthly and the agency asked the county to consider funding legal immigration services and support for safety‑net programs as federal provisions change.
The board also flagged SNAP and Medicaid coverage risks (it cited a statewide figure that approximately 175,000 Maryland residents could lose Medicaid coverage and that 57,000 Maryland residents face SNAP reductions) and asked the county to prepare for the consequences of reduced benefits. The board endorsed restoring the county’s working families income supplement to match the state Earned Income Tax Credit at 100 percent and highlighted the VITA tax program: last year VITA assisted 2,397 households producing roughly $7.7 million in free tax refunds and credits.
Board leadership asked county staff to continue coordinating outreach to food‑security and benefits partners and to support anti‑poverty measures in the FY27 budget.
