Fremont City Council Meeting: 02/17/26 07:00 PM
3300 Capitol Avenue Div/Dept: Human Services Department Fremont, CA 94538 Category: Grants
SCHEDULED
Sponsors:
COUNCIL STAFF REPORT (ID # 5632) DOC ID: 5632
Updated: 2/12/2026 1:50 PM by Dina Lewis Page 1
FY 2025/26 HUMAN SERVICES SOCIAL SERVICES GRANT RECOMMENDATION UPDATE – Approve Recommendation to Increase FY 2025/26 Opioid Settlement Grant Recipient Award and Authorize the City Manager to Execute a Grant Agreement with Bay Area Community Health
Contact Persons:
Name: Annie Bailey Arquimides Caldera
Title: Youth and Family Services
Administrator
Human Services Director
Div/Dept: Human Services Department Human Services Department Phone: 510-574-2111 510-574-2056
E-Mail: [email protected] [email protected]
Executive Summary: On July 15, 2025, the City Council approved $872,732 in FY 2025/26 Social Services grant funding, including $852,732 for twenty Social Service grants and $20,000 for one Opioid Settlement grant to Bay Area Community Health (BACH).
Staff has subsequently reviewed the City’s National Opioid Settlement funding, as well as community needs, and recommends the City Council approve an additional allocation of $50,000 in National Opioid Settlement funds for BACH and authorize the City Manager to enter into a $70,000 grant agreement with BACH to provide opioid intervention services in the community, as well as much needed prevention and intervention training for the City’s outreach staff, first responders and volunteers. Additionally, the City has requested that BACH conduct a community awareness campaign aimed at targeting vulnerable youth and community members and linking them to harm reduction resources.
BACKGROUND: Since the late 1970s, the City of Fremont (City) has administered a grant program for non-profit agencies to provide social services to Fremont residents (Social Service Grant Program). Historically, the Human Relations Commission (HRC) has facilitated a competitive Request for Proposals (RFP) process and made recommendations to the City Council on Human Service Grant funding awards. The City awards Human Service Grants on a three-year funding cycle and FY 2025/26 is the first year of the 2025-2028 funding cycle.
For the FY 2025-2028 grant cycle, the City publicized a new RFP to award up to $100,000 per year in social service grants using the Opioid Settlement funds that the City has been allocated as part of a $26 billion nationwide settlement agreement reached with large opioid manufacturers and distributors (Opioid Settlement grants).
In response to the RFP process, the City received one application for an Opioid Settlement grant from BACH in the amount of $20,000, for a limited scope that included street outreach to 100 residents, one-on-one risk and harm reduction counseling, fentanyl education, and referrals to drug treatment and social service agencies. On July 15, 2025, the City Council approved a $20,000 Opioid Settlement grant for BACH.
Council Staff Report (ID # 5632) Meeting of February 17, 2026 Updated: 2/12/2026 1:50 PM by Dina Lewis Page 2
After the RFP process concluded, and because BACH was the only applicant, and its original funding request was $80,000 less than the total amount of available Opioid Settlement funding, staff reached out to qualified local Community Based Organizations, including BACH, to invite them to propose additional services to meet the opioid social service grant goals and state settlement goals and mandates. BACH was responsive to this invitation and submitted a proposal which demonstrated BACH has the expertise and capacity to increase the scope of its original Opioid Settlement grant proposal in alignment with the allocated grant funding and City needs.
DISCUSSION/ANALYSIS: To align with state goals and mandates, as well as the state mandated spend-down requirements of Opioid Settlement funds, the City has requested that BACH increase its reach from 100 to 200 residents, while maintaining the current frequency of monthly street outreach deployments and fentanyl education sessions. In addition, BACH will proportionally expand the distribution of harm reduction supplies . To ensure BACH has adequate capacity to support the increased number of residents being served, the additional $50,000 in Opioid Settlement grant funding will be allocated exclusively to personnel costs for a Community Health Worker (CHW) at 74.4% FTE. This position is essential to sustain and strengthen outreach activities, provide warm handoffs, enhance care coordination, and maintain the overall quality and consistency of program services and will enable BACH to effectively manage the higher volume of participant engagement, while upholding program standards and reporting requirements.
FISCAL IMPACT: The recommended increase of $50,000 to BACH’s Opioid Settlement grant award, for a total award of $70,000, will be funded entirely by National Opioid Settlement funds in the Miscellaneous Special Revenue Fund (Fund 210) previously appropriated by the City Council as part of the FY 2025/26 annual operating. There is no impact to the General Fund.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW: Approval of the proposed Opioid Settlement Grant award and execution of a grant agreement are exempt from and not subject to review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) because, without limitation, it is not a “project” as defined in CEQA Guidelines Section 15378(b)(2), 15378(b)(4), and/or 15378(b)(5), and it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the activity may have a significant effect on the environment per CEQA Guidelines Section 15061(b)(3), each as a separate and independent basis for CEQA compliance.
RECOMMENDATIONS: Authorize the City Manager, or designee, to execute a grant agreement with Bay Area Community Health, and any other implementing documents that may be required, in the amount of $70,000, inclusive of the original $20,000 previously approved by Council on July 15, 2025, effective July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2026, as set forth in the staff report.