In 1963, shortly before he was assassinated, President Kennedy had asked his economic advisors to draw up some proposals to address the problem of American poverty. Johnson took up this charge after he succeeded Kennedy as President. In Johnson’s first State of the Union address on June 8, 1964, he called for an unconditional war to defeat poverty. He expanded and revised the proposals given to Kennedy and developed the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964. The act included a variety of initiatives:

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1. Head Start

2. Job Corps

3. Work-Study program for university students

4. VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America) – a domestic version of the Peace Corps

5. Neighborhood Youth Corps

6. Basic education and adult job training

7. CAPS (Community Action Programs) CAPS were a radical departure from how government had run most social reform programs in the past, as it proposed the “maximum feasible participation” by low-income people themselves to determine what would help them the most. 

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​Community Action equips low-income citizens with the tools and potential for becoming self-sufficient. The structure of programming is unique – federal dollars are used locally to offer specialized programming in communities. It is a coordinated effort to address the root effects of poverty and to, ultimately, move families and individuals to self-sufficiency. In the first 10 years of the creation of the CAP/CAA system, the U.S. poverty rate dropped to 11.1 percent, a 7.9 percent decrease, and the lowest it would be between 1959 and 2004. Conservative politics reduced funding for CAP/CAA between the 1980’s through the administration of the early 2000’s, and saw a mostly stagnant decrease in the federal poverty level. Funding increased 27% from 2009 - 2010 and 33% from 2006 - 2010. Since 2010, the federal poverty level had steadily decreased to its 30-year low of 10.5% by 2019. This work is not easy and demand is always shifting and changing. Our own agency has undergone drastic change in the last two years to accurately reflect the intent of community action, and deliver on its promise. JobSource is defined as a hands up program for low-income individuals who are able and willing to work to elevate themselves and their situation.