In June 2022, the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund) announced a plan for releasing updated program eligibility information based upon Census Bureau data from the American Community Survey (ACS) 2016-2020 5-year data series. Eligibility requirements for the Bank Enterprise Award Program (BEA Program), Capital Magnet Fund (CMF), Community Development Financial Institutions Program (CDFI Program), Native American CDFI Assistance Program (NACA Program), and New Markets Tax Credit Program (NMTC Program) are affected by this update. The Small Dollar Loan Program (SDL Program) and CDFI Rapid Recovery Program (CDFI RRP) are affected by the ACS data transition. This announcement provides additional updates in regard to the documents and specific CDFI Fund programs described below.
Updated Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs): CDFI Investment Area and BEA Program ACS Transition
Updated ACS BEA Program Eligibility Data, as well as CDFI Investment Area and Target Market Data was released in January 2023. With this announcement, the CDFI Fund is providing an updated FAQs document with additional questions and answers to address implementation issues that have been raised since the document was first released in January 2023. The updated FAQs document can be found on the CDFI Fund’s website at www.cdfifund.gov/research, under Program Eligibility Guidance.
CDFI Program and NACA Program Transaction Level Report (TLR) Submissions
Until notified otherwise by the CDFI Fund, all CDFI Program and NACA Program Financial Assistance (FA) Award Recipients should continue using the ACS 2011-2015 5-year data series for their TLR submissions. The CDFI Fund anticipates deploying the 2016-2020 ACS data in AMIS in fall of 2023.
NMTC Program ACS Update Delay
To allow calendar year 2022 NMTC Allocatees additional time to use the 2011-2015 ACS data, the NMTC Program will delay the release of the 2016-2020 ACS data until summer of 2023. Delaying the release provides a more reasonable timeframe for Allocatees to use the 2011-2015 ACS data.
The updated Low-Income Community (LIC) data can be used starting on the date the CDFI Fund publishes it. At this same time, the CDFI Fund will also update the list of High Migration Rural Tracts. Information on the prior data transition for the NMTC Program is available on the CDFI Fund website here.
Persistent Poverty Counties (PPCs) and High Poverty Areas (HPAs)
Updated data files for PPCs and HPAs utilizing the 2016-2020 ACS data are now available on the CDFI Fund’s website at www.cdfifund.gov/research, under Program Eligibility Guidance. Please note, these data files do not yet incorporate the data for the Island Areas from the 2020 Decennial Census which will be made available at a later date.
Public notification will be provided as transition guidance for CDFI Fund programs is published. For questions related to the ACS transition, contact the CDFI Fund’s Office of Financial Strategies and Research via email at CDFI-FinancialStrategiesandResearch@cdfi.treas.gov, with the subject line “ACS Question.”
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