The state gets about $4 million in federal Community Services Block Grants a year to spend on programs to help low-income individuals.
But Office of Community Services Director Ray Domingo told lawmakers it’s not clear if the state will continue to receive those funds.
“Right now the information we have has been mixed. There's uncertainty in the very near future,” he said.
“Originally, as I understand, around June, it was not in the president's budget. I don't know what transpired after that. Staff that we are in contact with in the federal government have also not been able to provide us concrete information about this particular program and other federal programs. So we're trying to get as much information as we can. It's difficult to do so because they don't even know themselves. We are just being hopeful.”
Each county has a community action agency that gets a portion of the state’s community services block grants. In fiscal year 2024, the agencies helped about 41,000 people in Hawaiʻi.
The block grants are often used by the agencies for overhead costs that are not covered by other direct grants to run programs like homeless shelters, preschools and food assistance.
Despite the federal funding uncertainty, the Office of Community Services is continuing to work on its Community Services Block Grant State Plan, which it will need to submit to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
