The Department of Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund) has established a plan for releasing updated program eligibility information based upon Census Bureau data from the 2011-2015 American Community Survey (ACS). Eligibility requirements for the Bank Enterprise Award Program (BEA Program), Community Development Financial Institutions Program (CDFI Program), Native American CDFI Assistance Program (NACA Program), and New Markets Tax Credit Program (NMTC Program) will be released according to the timetable below.

Currently, eligibility information for the above listed CDFI Fund programs is determined by data collected through the 2006-2010 ACS. The CDFI Fund revises program eligibility criteria to coincide with each subsequent full five-year ACS data release, which is now the 2011-2015 release.  However, the CDFI Fund plans to implement a one-year transition period to allow program applicants and recipients the option to determine eligibility using either 2006-2010 ACS data or 2011-2015 ACS data.

Detailed information regarding usage of ACS data during the transition period will be posted on the program-specific pages on the CDFI Fund website. The CDFI Fund will provide public notification as transition guidance for CDFI Fund programs becomes available.

The revised ACS data will also be included as an update to the CDFI Information Mapping System (CIMS). Program participants and interested members of the public can view the mapping tool on the CDFI Fund’s website.

  • New Markets Tax Credit Program Low-Income Community (LIC) Data is now available.The updated LIC data may be used as of October 31, 2017, with a one-year transition period to use prior 2006-2010 ACS data. For more information, view the NMTC Census Transition FAQs. In addition, the updated LIC information is expected to be available to view as a data layer in CIMS in November 2017.
  • Bank Enterprise Award Distressed Community Data: to be released Spring 2018 (tentative)Updated BEA data may be used starting on the release date, with a one-year transition period to use prior 2006-2010 ACS data.
  • CDFI and NACA Programs Certification Investment Areas: to be released Summer 2018 (tentative)CDFI Program and NACA Program data may be used starting on the release date, with a one-year transition period to use prior 2006-2010 ACS data.

In addition, previously released Economic Distress data for the FY 2017 Capital Magnet Fund (CMF) application round and High Housing Need data for the FY 2016 CMF round is now available in CIMS.

Program specific policies related to the transition to 2011-2015 ACS data and revised eligibility tables will be posted to the research page, as well as to relevant program pages on the CDFI Fund website. Updated Community Investment Mapping System (CIMS) data reflecting new program eligibility will tentatively be deployed with revised eligibility tables.

For questions related to the ACS transition, contact the CDFI Fund via email at cdfihelp@cdfi.treas.gov, with the subject line “ACS Question.”