The Census Bureau's Customer Liaison and Marketing Services Office (CLMSO) administers the CIC Program. CLMSO is a division within the Census Bureau's Communication Directorate.

The CIC program was established in 1988, when the U.S. Census Bureau and the National Urban League entered into a joint agreement to create a pilot project to make Census data and information available to minority communities. Over the next two years, the Census Bureau added four additional organizations to the pilot program; the National Council of La Raza (now Unidos US), the Asian and Pacific Islander American Health Forum, Americans for Indian Opportunity, and the Southwest Voter Research Institute (now the William C. Velasquez Institute).

In 2000, the CIC network became an official Census Bureau program. That year, the Bureau expanded the network to a total of 59 organizations. Both the Census Bureau and each of the organizations in the CIC network signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA). The MOA is a legal document approved by the Department of Commerce that explains the cooperative agreement between the organizations and the U.S. Census Bureau. In addition, it outlines the responsibilities of the both the CIC and the Census. The terms of the MOA is effective for three years. However, the latest MOA will be expanded for six years (January 1, 2014-December 31, 2020), which will include activities for the 2020 Census.

The network range between 48-52 non-profit groups, a mix of national and community-based organizations. The network is comprised of colleges and universities, research groups, minority chambers of commerce, civil rights organizations serving children, the aging, rural populations, and tribal governments. The CICs are represented in 22 states (including the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico) across the country.

The mission of the CIC program is to provide efficient access to Census Bureau data products through a wide data dissemination network of organizations. Those organizations effectively process and disseminate Census Bureau data to underserved population groups in easily understandable formats.