The Massachusetts Association for Community Action (MASSCAP) is a statewide association of the 23 Community Action Agencies (CAAs) operating in Massachusetts. Its anti-poverty mission is to strengthen, unify, and advocate, alongside its network, to advance economic, racial, and social justice and to create communities where everyone thrives.
Throughout its agencies, these federally mandated antipoverty CAAs currently serve over 600,000 people living with low incomes in the Commonwealth. With the help of community-based boards of directors, CAAs conduct regular needs assessments and develop strategic plans to address communities’ needs. Using this information, CAAs operate over 100 blended and integrated programs while also working closely with local allies and city and town officials to address emergent community needs through coalitions and collaboration.
In 2023, MASSCAP was awarded $1.2 million in funding from the Office of Community Services (OCS), within the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), to implement the Diaper Distribution Demonstration and Research Pilot Program, also known as the Diaper Distribution Pilot.
Throughout the pilot, MASSCAP expanded existing diaper distribution services with a robust network of community partners, including CAAs and diaper banks, effectively distributing more than 3.5 million diapers throughout Massachusetts and Connecticut in the first two years of the program. MASSCAP managed a “hub and spoke” model, in which one agency in each region acted as the diaper depot and distribution point for other organizations in the area. CAAs were well-positioned to offer these services and integrated this resource seamlessly into other programs, such as Head Start programs, food pantries, WIC offices, and family shelters.
In 2025, MASSCAP extended the program another year with an additional $600,000 in HHS funding. In 2023, MASSCAP contracted with Children’s HealthWatch, a nonpartisan network of pediatricians, public health researchers, and children’s health and policy experts committed to achieving health equity for young children and their families by advancing research to transform policy, to evaluate the impact of the Diaper Distribution Pilot. Researchers from Children’s HealthWatch designed and MASSCAP implemented the evaluation, which included pre- and post-pilot surveys and regional focus groups. In total, 502 longitudinal surveys were collected over 14 months with an average of eight months between the first and last surveys. Children’s HealthWatch conducted the analysis of survey data in 2025, showing statistically significant differences in both economic and health indicators. In focus groups, caregivers shared that not only did they experience less stress due to having enough diapers, but they also reported their children experienced decreased diaper rash frequency.