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RCAP’s national programs: 

1. the Technitrain Program (funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development)
2. a program that provides training and technical assistance for small, publicly owned wastewater systems, onsite/decentralized wastewater systems and private well owners to improve water quality (funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency)
3. the Tribal Utility Governance Program, which provides assistance primarily to develop the capacity of personnel and decision makers of tribally operated systems in EPA Regions 6, 8 and 9 (funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency)

4. With direct funding from the Office of Community Services of the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, each RCAP region has a water and wastewater program that provides technical, managerial and financial assistance to small communities and their water and wastewater systems. Many times communities receive assistance under this funding source to extend or establish new service to parts of communities that previously did not have it.

These programs are implemented by RCAP’s six regional partners. The RCAP national office manages these programs, secures funding for them, and coordinates the regular reporting on the use of the funds (except number 3 above).    

For more information about RCAP's programs for the 12 to 18 months until mid-2012, read the publication that provides an overview of RCAP's work.

Services RCAP provides:

• in-person technical assistance to address water-supply and waste-disposal needs that is tailored to each community
• training and assistance in the areas of utility management and finances for community leaders, elected officials and utility board and staff members
• publication and dissemination of informational and instructional materials
• small amounts of financing assistance to undertake infrastructure improvements (through the RCAP Revolving Loan Fund)

Regarding assistance to individual homeowners: Note that RCAP does not provide grants or financing to individual homeowners to repair or replace failing septic systems. Such problems are usually plumbing in nature and not the purview of our organization, which works on a larger scale, usually with multiple households or whole communities/towns at once. The RCAP national office does not keep a list of organizations that provide this type of assistance to individual households.

Typical assistance process for small communities or utilities:

• A community is referred to RCAP for assistance (from the Dept. of Agriculture Rural Utilities Service, the state health/environmental department where the community is located, public officials, etc.); or a direct request from a community is made
• Initial data gathering and eligibility determination takes place
• RCAP initiates direct contact with the community and schedules a site visit
• Onsite, RCAP assesses the community’s problems and needs; prioritizes its needs
• RCAP works with the community to develop a problem description and service plan, which includes proposed tasks and projected outcomes
• RCAP obtains an agreement from the community on the proposed service plan
• RCAP assigns the project to a Technical Assistance Provider (TAP) and enrolls the community into its database for record keeping and reporting
• The project service plan is implemented
  • RCAP coordinates the work with the community, helps it to utilize other resources, and helps to keep funder/primacy agencies informed
  • A report on completed tasks is generated; progress on resolving problems and needs is summarized
  • The overall success in achieving a satisfactory resolution of problems and needs is reported
• The projects is closed

Services of the RCAP national office in Washington, D.C.