Section 2992.2 - Declaration of policyThe General Assembly finds and declares as follows:
(1) It is the intention of the General Assembly as a matter of public policy to affirm the commitment of the Commonwealth to ameliorating the causes and effect of poverty by: (i) Providing a range of services and activities having a measurable and potentially major impact on the causes of poverty in the community and establishing grants for organizations providing services to migrant and seasonal farmworkers.(ii) Encouraging and supporting a holistic approach designed to move low-income families and individuals towards self-sufficiency.(iii) Providing activities designed to assist low-income participants in obtaining employment, education, housing, emergency assistance, transportation and other necessities.(iv) Providing, on an emergency basis, for the provision of such supplies and services, nutritious foodstuffs and related services as may be necessary to counteract conditions of starvation and malnutrition among the poor.(v) Coordinating and establishing linkages between governmental and other social service programs to assure the effective delivery of services to low-income individuals.(vi) Encouraging the use of entities in the private sector in efforts to ameliorate poverty in the community.(2) It is also the intention of the General Assembly to stimulate a better focusing of human and financial resources on the goal of eliminating poverty by providing for the continuity of programs which presently exist throughout this Commonwealth for this stated purpose.(3) By so doing, it is the intention of the General Assembly to set forth the policies which shall govern the administration of the community services block grant or subsequent funding mechanisms established for similar purposes. This block grant was created by the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981 and follows the provisions defined in that act.(4) The General Assembly also finds that the Federal funds available to finance activities under this act shall be used for the following purposes: (i) To provide a range of services and activities having a measurable and potentially major impact on causes of poverty in the community or those areas of the community where poverty is a particularly acute problem.(ii) To provide activities designed to assist low-income participants, including the elderly poor:(A) to secure and retain meaningful employment;(B) to attain an adequate education;(C) to make better use of available income;(D) to obtain and maintain adequate housing and a suitable living environment;(E) to obtain emergency assistance through loans or grants to meet immediate and urgent individual and family needs, including the need for health services, nutritious food, housing and employment-related assistance;(F) to remove obstacles and solve problems which block the achievement of self-sufficiency;(G) to achieve greater participation in the affairs of the community; and(H) to make more effective use of other programs related to the purposes of this act.(iii) To provide on an emergency basis for the provision of such supplies and services, nutritious foodstuffs and related services as may be necessary to counteract conditions of starvation and malnutrition among the poor.(iv) To coordinate and establish linkages between governmental and other social services programs to assure the effective delivery of such services to low-income individuals.(v) To encourage the use of entities in the private sector of the community in efforts to ameliorate poverty in the community.Amended by P.L. 834 2014 No. 90, § 1, eff. 7/2/2014.2002, May 16, P.L. 315, No. 46, § 2, retroactive effective Jan. 1, 2002.