BNCP focuses on empowering local communities to develop and obtain the tools and resources they need to transform neighborhoods of concentrated poverty into neighborhoods of opportunity. CSSP is collaborating with the Departments of Justice, Education and Housing and Urban Development to provide technical assistance to distressed neighborhoods as part of the Building Neighborhoods Capacity Program
(BNCP). The BNCP is a key component of the White House Neighborhood Revitalization Initiative (NRI), an interagency federal partnership focused on empowering local communities to develop and obtain the tools and resources they need to transform neighborhoods of concentrated poverty into neighborhoods of opportunity that support the optimal development and well-being of children and families. A federally-funded program, the BNCP focuses on neighborhoods where there have historically been barriers to creating viable revitalization plans and that struggle with issues such as concentrated poverty, high rates of crime and issues of community safety and justice, low-performing schools, inadequate access to housing and healthcare, and the absence of economic vitality. In addition, successful efforts to address these challenges in ways that lead to better results for children and families require community-driven efforts that build on neighborhood assets and that are supported and sustained by local leaders over an extended period of time. With this in mind, the BNCP is designed to both provide and assess the technical assistance needed to help neighborhoods develop the capacity to 1) create comprehensive neighborhood revitalization plans and 2) effectively use and attract the resources needed to implement and sustain their plans over time. As the technical assistance provider for the BNCP, CSSP will utilize its capacity building framework to help communities access the resources, skills, and people necessary to develop and implement an effective revitalization plan that improves outcomes for children and families. In addition to working directly with these communities, CSSP has helped create the BNCP Resource Center, which will be updated with tools and resources that support the community change field at large.
