REPORT TO HOUSING AND HUMAN SERVICES COMMISSION
SUBJECT
Title
Biennial Review of Priority Needs for Human Services and Recommendation to City Council
Report
BACKGROUND
The City provides grants to eligible human services agencies on a competitive basis pursuant to Council Policy 5.1.3: Human Services, originally adopted in 1981, and amended in 1999 and 2006. Eligible human service agencies are those which provide assistance programs for lower-income clients (those with a household income of less than 80% of area median income), such as food, legal services, health care, literacy classes, child care, and so on. Most of the clients served by these programs are seniors, people with disabilities, very low income households, and homeless persons. Historically the City has used a portion of its annual Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) from the federal government to fund these grants, although in more recent years, City General funds have also been used.
Applications for the human services grants are solicited every two years, following hearings held by the Housing and Human Services Commission (HHSC) and City Council to determine the City's current "priority human service needs." Grants are awarded conditionally for a two-year period, with the second-year grants conditioned on several factors, such as successful completion of the grant activity in the first year, compliance with the terms of the grant agreement, and availability of funding for the second year.
The priority needs are those identified through this hearing process as most deserving of the City's funds designated for human services. The total amount of funding requested usually exceeds the amount available by a factor of two or more. It is therefore helpful for applicants to know the priorities so that they better determine if their programs are likely to succeed in receiving a grant through the City's grant program. This program is quite competitive and, typically, not all grant applicants will...
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