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Office of Community Services outlines FY25 CSBG reporting steps, deadlines and support
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Summary
Office of Community Services staff used a Jan. webinar to review FY24 performance totals, announce SmartForms and OLDC submission guidance for the March 31, 2026, annual report, describe the Federal Quality Assurance Review beginning April 1, and offer technical support for Module 3 SmartForms.
The Office of Community Services (OCS) opened its fiscal year 2025 Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) annual-report kickoff webinar by laying out submission expectations, technical resources and review timelines for states, tribes, territories and eligible entities.
OCS data and evaluation specialists said the FY25 annual report will use Annual Report 2.1 and is due no later than March 31, 2026. "We hope that today we can celebrate the success you have all had in touching the lives of many using last year's performance measures," said Kayla Lennon, a policy data and evaluation specialist for Regions 5 and 9, who opened the webinar and reviewed the agenda. Monique Alcaterra, a data and evaluation specialist for Regions 46 and 7, advised that SmartForms were released Jan. 14 and urged grant recipients to use the Module 1 fillable form or the SmartForm attachment workflow and to prepare for OLDC submission by the March 31 deadline.
Why this matters: OCS emphasized that timely, complete submissions enable national reporting and congressional reporting obligations. Lennon noted that CSBG data is used to produce reports for Congress and named the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions and the House Committee on Education and the Workforce as recipients of those reports. The agency said the 2023 and 2024 reports have been completed and are undergoing revised clearance with publication expected soon.
Key facts and national totals: OCS presented FY24 performance figures to illustrate scale. "The CSBG network served 10,112,535 individuals," Lennon said, adding that the network served 5,178,877 households and 1,094,388 children ages 0–5. Additional outcomes cited included more than 73,000 people receiving mental health counseling, nearly 103,000 receiving school supplies, roughly 39,000 adults obtaining employment at a living wage and more than 176,000 individuals obtaining safe, affordable housing.
Process, quality assurance and deadlines: Alcaterra reviewed the submission roadmap and the Federal Quality Assurance Review (FQR). She said OCS will begin the FQR on Wednesday, April 1, after exporting submitted data, and will offer data assurance calls and follow-up mitigation work with grant recipients. The webinar reiterated that grant recipients should conduct internal reviews, consult prior-year review memos, and ensure all agencies that received and expended CSBG funds have finalized annual reports prior to OLDC submission.
Technical tools and a known SmartForms issue: Presenters encouraged use of the CSBG Annual Report Toolkit, the SmartForms attachments, the vendor portal for third-party system users, and the online data collection system (OLDC) for final submission. Alcaterra described a technical error some offices encountered opening Module 3 SmartForms caused by changes to Microsoft ActiveX controls and advised recipients to unblock macros as instructed in the SmartForm guidance; states should contact their Data and Evaluation Specialist for troubleshooting if the error occurs. Kotianchen reminded participants that Module 3 submissions are optional and must be uploaded as SmartForm attachments rather than PDFs.
Guidance on Module 1 and Module 3 content: Lana Kotianchen, a data and evaluation specialist for Regions 8 and 10, reviewed Module 1 (state administration) final-check items including verifying the correct reporting period (Oct. 1, 2024, through Sept. 30, 2025), completeness of responses, consistency with state plans and updates to state CSBG plans if needed. On Module 3, Kotianchen outlined four phases—formative, formal planning, active implementation and maturity—and said Module 3 should be initialized in OLDC only when an initiative is ready to be submitted.
Examples and technical assistance: The webinar highlighted community examples: Community Action Agency of Western Connecticut reported rescuing over 1,400,000 pounds of food in 2024 and distributing it to 12 local pantries and mobile programs serving seniors; Community Action Partnership of Mercer, Pennsylvania, held a veterans resource fair attended by 232 veterans. Presenters reiterated that OCS offers trainings, office hours and targeted technical assistance at no cost and encouraged recipients to use the recorded webinars and resources available in their Box folders.
What happens next: OCS staff said webinar recordings, slides and related materials will be posted on the CSBG events calendar; additional webinars and regional office hours are scheduled through Feb. 24 and March. Alcaterra reminded attendees that OCS will notify the network once GrantSolutions/OLDC access is available and that the FQR will commence April 1. The webinar closed with a reminder to prepare internal review timelines so states, tribes and territories can submit complete, accurate reports by March 31, 2026.
