Comunidades Latinas Unidas En Servicio, Inc.

Comunidades Latinas Unidas En Servicio, Inc., doing business as Clues, is a St. Paul, Minnesota–based nonprofit organization that serves as a prime recipient of federal grants for culturally and linguistically specific community services, behavioral health integration, and social support programming for Latino and other underserved populations, with 77% of its recent federal footprint arriving as sub-recipient funding flowing through state and nonprofit prime grantees.

Clues operates as a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) nonprofit and holds no federal contracts; its federal revenue derives entirely from grant awards and sub-awards across health, social service, and arts funding streams. The organization delivers crisis intervention, advocacy, case management, and legal accompaniment services for domestic violence and sexual assault survivors; community behavioral health services including psychiatry, peer recovery support, and assertive community treatment integrated with primary care; Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) programming for low-to-moderate-income filers; and culturally specific public arts programming. Recent prime grants include a $450,000 three-year Office on Violence Against Women Culturally and Linguistically Specific Services award (CFDA 16.016, Oct 2024–Sep 2027) supporting crisis intervention, therapy, and case management for Latino domestic violence and sexual assault victims in the Twin Cities metropolitan area; a SAMHSA Community Mental Health Center Expansion award (Aug 2021–Aug 2023) to integrate behavioral health and primary care for Latino adults and youth with serious mental illness and substance use disorders across Hennepin and Ramsey Counties; and recurring Internal Revenue Service Volunteer Income Tax Assistance matching grants (Oct 2025–Sep 2026 and prior cycles) targeting low-income filers with limited English proficiency. A January 2026 National Endowment for the Arts project grant supports multidisciplinary arts programming in recognition of America's 250th anniversary; prior NEA grants funded visual arts workshops, Day of the Dead parades, and East Lake Street corridor public art programming in Minneapolis.

Clues concentrates heavily in federal health and human services funding. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) leads by award count with 21 awards (14 prime and 7 sub-awards across mental health block grants, substance abuse prevention and treatment, and CCBHC expansion), followed by the Food and Nutrition Service (10 awards anchored in SNAP administration and food distribution support), the Administration for Children and Families (9 awards in child care administration and development), and the Internal Revenue Service (8 awards, all VITA programming). Within that concentration, the Minnesota Department of Human Services functions as the primary passthrough entity for sub-awards, delivering block grants and categorical funding for mental health, substance abuse prevention, child care administration, and SNAP; this state-level structure means that while federal dollars originate from HHS and USDA, administrative and operational oversight flow through Minnesota's human services and agricultural departments.

Clues operates 23% as a prime recipient (18 awards) and 77% as a sub-recipient (61 awards). The prime footprint includes direct federal grants from DOJ (Office on Violence Against Women Culturally Specific Services and Sexual Assault Services Culturally Specific Program), SAMHSA (Community Mental Health Center Expansion), the Internal Revenue Service (VITA), and the National Endowment for the Arts, with combined dollars obligated of $23.4 million across all 79 awards since 2009. Recent activity shows year-to-year volatility: 16 awards in 2022, 11 in 2023, 15 in 2024, declining to 8 in 2025, with 1 award appearing in 2026. Three awards face ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months and therefore carry recompete exposure in that window. Notable sub-recipient relationships flow through the Minnesota Department of Human Services (multiple block grant and categorical funding streams), the Minnesota Department of Children, Youth, and Families (SNAP administration), the Minnesota Department of Agriculture (food distribution and farm partnership initiatives), the Minnesota Department of Public Safety (sexual assault victim services), and nongovernmental intermediaries including Unidosus (housing counseling) and the State of Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (community facility projects supporting education, work, and health).