Life Enrichment Committee
February 13, 2024
AGENDA REPORT
TO: Jestin D. Johnson FROM: Scott Means
City Administrator Interim Director, Human
Services
SUBJECT: AC-OCAP Annual Report and 2024
CSBG Resolution
DATE: January 16, 2024
City Administrator Approval Date:
RECOMMENDATION
Staff Recommends That City Council Adopt A Resolution:
1. Accepting and Appropriating Anti -Poverty Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) In The Amount Of One Million, Three Hundred, Nineteen Thousand, Seven Hundred Four -Five Dollars ($1,319,745) Awarded By The California Department Of Community Services And Devel opment (CSD) For The January 1, 2024 Through December 31, 2024 Program Year (“2024 CSBG Program Year”);
2. Authorizing The City Administrator To Accept And Appropriate Any Additional Grant Funds From CSD Awarded For The Same Purpose Within The 2024 Term;
3. Authorizing The Use Of General Purpose Funds To Pay The Human Services Department Central Services Overhead Charges For 2024 CSBG Programs In The Estimated Amount Of One Hundred Fifty -One Thousand, Nine Hundred Fifty-Six Dollars ($151,956)
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This report provides the City Council with a recommendation to adopt a resolution accepting and appropriating a federal anti-poverty Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) in the amount of one million three hundred nineteen thousand seven hundred four-five dollars ($1,319,745) awarded by the California Department Of Community Services And Development (CSD) for the 2024 program year; and authorize the use of general purpose funds to pay the Human Services Department’s central services overhead charges for the 2024 CSBG program year, which is estimated to be one hundred fifty-one thousand nine hundred and fifty-six dollars ($151,956).
The services provided through AC-OCAP’s Community Economic Opportunity (C.E.O) network support the agency’s mission of creating pathways that lead to economic empowerment for Jestin Johnson (Jan 24, 2024 14:44 PST)
Jan 24, 2024
Jestin D, Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: AC-OCAP Annual Report and 2024 CSBG Resolution Date: January 16, 2024 Page 2
Life Enrichment Committee
February 13, 2024
the 149,843 (9.2 percent) Alameda County residents documented by the U.S. Census Bureau 2018-2022 American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimate as living below the Federal poverty level. These funds will be used to help support the goals and strategies outlined in the AC-OCAP’s 2020–2025 Strategic Plan, and the state approved 2024-2025 Community Action Plan; both geared at supporting the needs of Oakland and the surrounding Alameda County residents with low-incomes by helping to increase their self-sufficiency and improve their overall economic well-being.
BACKGROUND / LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
Calendar Year 2024 marks the 60th Anniversary of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s 1964 “War on Poverty” and the creation of the Community Action Agency. In 1971, the Federal government designated the City of Oakland as a public Community Action Agency responsible for administering various anti-poverty programs and services as part of the War on Poverty. In 1981, the Federal Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act restructured the allocation of funds to Community Action Agencies by establishing the Community Services Block Grant program.
These Federal CSBG funds are administered through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and managed by the State of California’s Department of Community Services & Development (CSD). The CSBG formula for local funding allocations is based on the number of residents living below the Federal poverty level as captured by the United States (U.S.) Decennial Census.
In 2011, the State Department of Community Services and Development expanded Oakland’s geographical territory to include all the cities within Alameda County, except the City of Berkeley, and approved through City Council Resolution No. 83589 C.M.S. As a result, the AC- OCAP was established. Unlike other funding governance structures, federal regulations mandate that a public entity shall administer the CSBG through a tripartite board that fully participates – ensuring maximum feasible participation of people experiencing poverty in the development, planning, implementation, and evaluation of the program(s) to serve low-income communities (Public Law 105-285, SEC. 676B; 42 U.S.C. § 9901).
Federal reauthorization of the Community Services Block Grant Act legislation was last authorized in 1998. On May 13, 2022, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the bipartisan CSBG Modernization Act (H.R. 5129) to enhance funding for CSBG and make other programmatic changes to ensure it is effectively meeting the current needs of local communities, including expansion of eligibility for services to 200% of the federal poverty line (FPL). The bill has been received in the Senate, read twice, and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
Alameda County’s CSBG funding is administered by the City of Oakland’s Human Services Department (HSD) through the Community Action Partnership Governing Board (City Council) and the federally mandated 18-member Tripartite Administering Board which includes nine (9) democratically selected members who represent the low-income community, six (6) elected officials or their designees, and three (3) members who represent other groups and interests that serve the low-income community. AC-OCAP’s Community Economic Opportunity (C.E.O) network is part of 1,000 Community Action Agencies located throughout the 50 states, representing an estimated 40.9 million (12.6 percent) people living in poverty according to the U.S. Census Bureau 2018-2022 American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimate.
Jestin D, Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: AC-OCAP Annual Report and 2024 CSBG Resolution Date: January 16, 2024 Page 3
Life Enrichment Committee
February 13, 2024
ANALYSIS AND POLICY ALTERNATIVES
Adopting the proposed resolution will continue to allow the City of Oakland’s Community Action Agency to provide responsive and essential programs and services to residents whose income falls below the federal poverty threshold. The non-profit agencies chosen to receive the CSBG grants implement programs that address the Citywide priority of housing, economic, and cultural security. The Low-Income Housing grant programs help recipients gain access to temporary shelter and/or stable affordable housing, or purchase housing items to help get started making a house into a home. The Job Training and Employment Placement grant programs help participants build skills that lead to employment which helps to improve the participant’s economic situation. Over 500 participants are expected to receive housing services and 250 individuals will receive assistance obtaining job skills training and/or employment. All grantee participants are also encouraged to help improve their economic condition by participating in the no cost tax preparation services that are provided. The 2024 No-Cost Tax service site will be at the West Oakland Public Library. Over 200 low-income residents are projected to receive no- cost assistance preparing their income taxes.
The U.S. Census Bureau uses income thresholds that vary by family size and composition to determine who lives in poverty. Based on the 2023 federal poverty guidelines, the income threshold for an individual living in poverty is $14,580 annually (around $7.01 per hour). By comparison, the federal minimum wage has been $7.25 per hour since 2009. On January 1, 2024, California’s minimum wage increased to $16.00 per hour, and Oakland’s minimum wage increased to $16.50 per hour.
In Alameda County, the overall poverty level is at 9.2 percent (149,843 residents) according to the 2018-2022 American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimate, down 11,738 from (161,581 residents) in the 2015-2019 ACS 5-year estimate. The City of Oakland’s poverty level for the same duration is 13.2 percent (57,247 residents), down 13,111 from (70,358). Table 1 is a highlight of AC-OCAP’s service population and a comparison of Alameda County’s 2018-2022 ACS 5-year estimate, and the 2000 and 2010 low-income population census data.
Jestin D, Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: AC-OCAP Annual Report and 2024 CSBG Resolution Date: January 16, 2024 Page 4
Life Enrichment Committee
February 13, 2024
Table 1: Alameda County’s Low-Income Population
Alameda County & Oakland’s
Low-Income Community Profile
2000
Below
Poverty
% of
Total
Pop.
2010
Below
Poverty
% of
Total
Pop.
2018-22
Below
Poverty
% of
Total
Pop.
Change
from
2010
Alameda County 156,804 11.0% 172,348 11.7% 149,843 9.2% (22,505) Oakland 76,489 19.4% 74,335 19.3% 57,247 13.2% (17,088) Alameda County
without Oakland
& Berkeley
60,820
6.4%
79,543
8.1%
73,181
6.9%
(6,362)
AC-OCAP Areas 137,309 9.6% 153,878 10.4% 129,313 8.7% (24,565) Berkeley 19,495 20.0% 18,470 18.4% 19,415 17.7% 945
Source: US Census Bureau 2000, 2010, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates – 2018-2022
A higher percentage of African American and American Indian/Alaska Native residents are living below the Federal Poverty Line (FPL) in Alameda County than their resident population percentage. For example, African Americans account for 10.1 percent (165,435) of the County’s population (1,637,215), yet 16.6 percent (27,534) live in poverty. White and Asian residents account for 34.0 percent and 32.3 percent of the County’s population, respectively, but only 7.1 percent and 7.3 percent of their residents live in poverty. In Oakland, African Americans account for 21.8 percent (94,559) of the City’s population (433,432), yet 19.4 percent (18,318) live in poverty.
AC-OCAP will receive a renewal grant in the amount of $1,319,745 in federal Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) funds to provide services to the 129,313 low-income residents.
This translates into an allocation of $10.21 per resident. To increase the grant’s impact, the AC- OCAP Board uses an equity lens to ensure the needs, particularly those of the low-income Black, Latinx, Indigenous, and People of Color (BLIPOC), are being directly addressed and served. The annual CSBG allocation provides critical support to AC-OCAP’s Community Economic Opportunity (C.E.O.) network of funded grantees and partners. Its impact increases as the Administering Board continues to implement the AC-OCAP 2020–2025 Strategic Plan, which includes the State approved 2024-2025 Community Action Plan highlighting the following five agency focus areas:
1. Entrepreneurship/Job Training & Employment Placement: to help people with low- income and the hard to serve population build skills that lead to employment.
2. Low-Income Housing: to increase opportunities that help people with low-income access safe temporary shelter and/or stable affordable housing /homeownership.
3. Community Development: increases access, opportunities, and resources within Alameda County’s low-income communities.
4. Civic Engagement & Advocacy: to increase public awareness and empower people with low-income to take action.
Jestin D, Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: AC-OCAP Annual Report and 2024 CSBG Resolution Date: January 16, 2024 Page 5
Life Enrichment Committee
February 13, 2024
5. Capacity Building: fosters and expands the agency’s capacity to address and eradicate poverty.
Civic Engagement, Advocacy, and Capacity Building: is supported through AC-OCAP’s internal programming for community wide projects such as the Earned Income Tax Credit Initiative, Fatherhood Initiative, End Hunger Initiative, and the relaunch of Oakland’s Bank On Initiative.
FISCAL IMPACT
Funding for the programs and services will be derived from the Federal Community Services Block Grant administered through a contract from the State of California Department of Community Services and Development (CSD) in the amount of $1,319,745 for AC-OCAP funding for anti-poverty programming throughout Alameda County (excluding the City of Berkeley) for the program year 2024. In addition, the City of Oakland provides an operating subsidy from the General-Purpose Fund (GPF) in the amount equivalent to HSD’s Central Services Overhead Charges.
The Human Services Department’s 2024 CSBG allocation (January 1 – December 31, 2024) in the amount of $1,319,745 will be included in the City’s FY 2024-2025 Adopted Policy Budget. $1,319,745 will be appropriated through this Resolution in the Department of Health and Human Services Fund (2128), Fostering Safe and Healthy Communities Program (SC22), CSBG – Admin/Programs Orgs (78362/78361), CAP CSBG 2024 Admin/Program Projects (1006757/1006758). Approval of the resolution will authorize acceptance and appropriation of this grant in the amount of $1,319,745. The State CSBG contract administrative costs are capped at 12 percent; therefore, HSD is requesting, as it has in prior years, a contribution from the General-Purpose Fund in an amount equivalent to Central Services Overhead estimated at $151,956. Failure to accept the Federal CSBG renewal funds would result in a decrease of $1,319,745 in revenues for vital support and services to Oakland’s and the surrounding Alameda County’s (excluding Berkeley) low-income families.
This grant supports AC-OCAP’s service providers that deliver anti-poverty programs and services to Oakland and the surrounding Alameda County low-income community. To improve the agency’s administrative efficiency and programmatic impact, RFP selections are held every three years. On February 7, 2023, Resolution 89584 C.M.S. authorized the City Administrator to enter into the first year of the grant agreements with the anti-poverty service providers and to enter into amended agreements to increase the amount and extend the term if additional CSBG funding becomes available during the 2023-2025 three-year funding cycle without returning to council. Table 2 below shows the Board’s approved 2023-2025 programs and services to help Oakland and the surrounding Alameda County (excluding Berkeley) low-income residents achieve economic stability as outlined in the agency’s state approved Community Action Plan.
Jestin D, Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: AC-OCAP Annual Report and 2024 CSBG Resolution Date: January 16, 2024 Page 6
Life Enrichment Committee
February 13, 2024
Table 2: 2023-2025 Programs and Services (AC= Alameda County, excluding Oakland)
2023-2025 AC-OCAP Service
Providers (Legal Name)
Program Title Grant Agreement /
Procurement
Annual
Allocation
(not to exceed)
Entrepreneurship/Job Training & Employment Placement
New Door Ventures:
Employment services for low-
income young adults 16-24
Comprehensive Job
Training and Job
Placement for
Transition Age Youth
Grant Agreement $50,000
Urban University: Education
and employment services for
low-income young adults 18-24
Single Moms at Work
Pathways Program
Grant Agreement $50,000
Community Works West Inc.:
Employment services for re-
entry, unemployed, and
homeless low-income adults 18-
64 Project R3: Return,
Restore & Rise
Grant Agreement $50,000
Lighthouse Community
Charter Public School: CTE
Career pathways that earn
college credits and work
experience while in high school
Paid Student Internships Grant Agreement $50,000
Hack the Hood Inc.:
Employment training in
technology for low-income youth
and young adults 14-24
Tech Career Pathways
for Youth in Oakland
Grant Agreement $50,000
Love Never Fails: Employment
opportunities for unemployed,
homeless adults ages 18-64
AC: IT Biz
Entrepreneurial Program
Grant Agreement $30,000
Rubicon Programs
Incorporated: Employment
opportunities for low-income
adults ages 18-64
AC: Job Training and
Employment Placement
Grant Agreement $50,000
Chabot-Las Positas
Community College District,
DBA Tri-Valley Career Center:
Employment opportunities for
unemployed adults ages 18-64 in
the Tri-Valley area
AC: Tri-Valley Pathways
to Employment
Grant Agreement $50,000
Sub-Total $380,000
Jestin D, Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: AC-OCAP Annual Report and 2024 CSBG Resolution Date: January 16, 2024 Page 7
Life Enrichment Committee
February 13, 2024
Table 2: 2023-2025 Programs and Services (AC= Alameda County, excluding Oakland)
2023-2025 AC-OCAP Service
Providers (Legal Name)
Program Title Grant Agreement /
Procurement
Annual
Allocation
(not to exceed)
Low-Income Housing
Covenant House California:
Housing for homeless young
adults ages 18-24
Emergency Shelter &
Supportive Services for
Young Adults
Experiencing
Homelessness
Grant Agreement $50,000
Lao Family Community
Development, Inc.:
Employment training for low-
income adults ages 25-54
Strong Housing Options
(SHO) Program
Grant Agreement $50,000
Operation Dignity, Inc.:
Housing for homeless and/or
disabled veterans ages 25+
Housing for Oakland's
Homeless Veterans
Grant Agreement $50,000
St. Mary’s Center: Housing for
homeless and disabled
adults/seniors ages 55+
Senior Homeless
Services
Grant Agreement $50,000
A Diamond in the Ruff, Inc.:
Housing support to women by
teaching life skills to stabilize
and succeed
Transitional Housing for
Single Women
Grant Agreement $30,000
Change To Come: Creating
Pathways that lead to Economic
Empowerment
Her Story Grant Agreement $30,000
Fremont Family Resource
Center Corporation: Housing for
unemployed and homeless
families and individuals ages
18-54
AC: Family Support
Services for the
Homeless
Grant Agreement $50,000
Alliance for Community
Wellness, dba La Familia:
Housing assistance for
homeless, unemployed,
previously incarcerated, and
disabled families
AC: FESCO's Les
Marquis Emergency
Shelter and Banyan
House Transitional
Housing
Grant Agreement $50,000
Sub-Total $360,000
Jestin D, Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: AC-OCAP Annual Report and 2024 CSBG Resolution Date: January 16, 2024 Page 8
Life Enrichment Committee
February 13, 2024
Table 3: 2023-2025 Programs and Services (AC= Alameda County, excluding Oakland)
2023-2025 AC-OCAP Service
Providers (Legal Name)
Program Title Grant Agreement /
Procurement
Annual
Allocation
(not to exceed)
Civic Engagement, Advocacy, and Capacity Building
Housing & Economic Rights
Advocates (HERA): Promote
financial empowerment for low-
income individuals through
second chance bank accounts
Bank On Oakland (BOO)
Financial Empowerment
Grant Agreement $40,000
Eden I &R, Inc.: Provide
information and referral
services to support EITC and
Bank On Oakland Initiatives
and Community Homelessness
Services
AC-OCAP 2-1-1 Phone
Services for EITC and
BOO and Help
Residents Access App
(HRA)
Grant Agreement $40,000
Safe Passages in partnership
with Alameda County
Community Food Bank: Fight
hunger and increase food
security for Alameda County's
low-income families
Food Security Initiative Procurement for
food distribution
$40,000
Clear Channel/CBS
Outdoors/BART/AC Transit:
Education and outreach
advertising campaigns
Financial Empowerment
Marketing
Procurement of
Services
$40,000 (total
is inclusive for
all vendors)
Sub-Total $160,000
Grand Total $900,000
If additional grant funds become available from the grantor (CSD), within the existing grant term for the same purpose, staff is seeking authorization to accept and appropriate funds without returning to Council within the 2024 contracted program year.
PUBLIC OUTREACH / INTEREST
During the AC-OCAP 2023-2025 RFP selection process in August 2022, the Program Planning Committee (PPC) received 27 completed proposals (16 job training and 11 housing/ 21 Oakland and 6 Alameda County). The reviewer committee, composed of 4 Board members and 15 community members experienced with reviewing grant proposals, evaluated, and scored each proposal. Each proposal was reviewed by 3 or 4 reviewers. The PPC acknowledged the housing challenges people are currently experiencing in Oakland and Alameda County and took action to advance the Citywide priority to support housing, economic, and cultural security. The PPC ensured its selections covered the highly impoverished areas of Alameda County and Oakland. The PPC was also very intentional about its funding selections and leaned more into helping the housing applicants. The PPC’s recommendation to the AC-OCAP Executive Committee was that 8 housing applicants should be funded versus the 5 selected in 2020.
Jestin D, Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: AC-OCAP Annual Report and 2024 CSBG Resolution Date: January 16, 2024 Page 9
Life Enrichment Committee
February 13, 2024
Since 2 of the new housing selections are smaller agencies, they are being seed funded for growth. The Executive Committee’s RFP recommendations were given to the Administering Board and confirmed at the Administering Board meeting on November 14, 2022.
AC-OCAP holds its monthly Administering Board meeting, which is open to the public, on the second Monday of every month at 5:30 pm in City Hall Conference Room #3. Residents can also get more information on meeting agendas, and current programs and services by visiting the agency’s website at https://www.oaklandca.gov/boards-commissions/alameda-county- oakland-community-action-partnership-administrating-board.
COORDINATION
The Office of the City Attorney, the Finance Department, the Contract Administrative Unit, and the City Administrator’s Office have been consulted in the development of this report and resolution.
PAST PERFORMANCE, EVALUATION AND FOLLOW-UP
Since 1971, the City of Oakland’s Community Action Agency has leveraged its Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) funds to help address poverty at the local level. Through CSBG funding, AC-OCAP has identified gaps in services and supported innovative programming geared toward improving the overall quality of life for low-income residents by providing access to job training, entrepreneurship, education, employment, affordable housing, life skills-training, legal services, health care, food stamps, gift cards, Earned Income Tax Credit, financial education, asset building, and other essential services.
The State of California of Community Services and Development, as part of the condition of the grant, monitors and evaluates AC-OCAP’s performance on an annual basis. The agency continues to receive a clean CSBG fiscal/program monitoring report and audit and is regarded as an exemplary public Community Action Agency. As of August 30, 2023, part-way through the program year, 34,583 (20,916 Oakland; 13,667 Alameda County) total residents with low- income have been served by AC-OCAP’s Community Economic Opportunity (C.E.O) Network.
The support services ranged from food provided for the Hunger Free Summer Program for kids, the Community Homelessness Services Holiday Dinner, and Safe Passages Food Distribution to Schools Program to the United Way Earned Income Tax Assistance and referral services.
Direct program services were provided to 1,522 individuals that completed the program intake applications. African Americans represent the highest percentage of residents that received services at 32.4% (493), while 16.6% (27,534) of them live in poverty. Whites received services at 23.5% (357), while 7.1% (39,522) live in poverty. Asians received services at 5.6% (85), while 7.3% (38,604) of them live in poverty.
The highlights of the agency’s part-year community impact are as follows:
➢ 310 have been placed into transitional housing or an emergency shelter ➢ 99 have obtained or maintained permanent housing
➢ 134 have received employment training
➢ 77 have obtained gainful employment
Jestin D, Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: AC-OCAP Annual Report and 2024 CSBG Resolution Date: January 16, 2024 Page 10
Life Enrichment Committee
February 13, 2024
➢ 9 have earned a high school diploma or GED
For fifty-two (52) years, the City of Oakland’s Community Action Agency has had a track record in making a difference in the lives of thousands by staying true to its motto of “helping people, changing lives.”
SUSTAINABLE OPPORTUNITIES
Economic: AC-OCAP programs and services directly impact the employability of Oakland’s and the surrounding Alameda County’s low-income residents by providing access to education, employment training, job opportunities, and financial empowerment, all designed to help families achieve an increased level of self-sufficiency and economic well-being.
Environmental: The implementation and support for increasing access to weatherization, public transportation, and the availability of healthy, fresh, local foods directly contribute to decreasing the overall carbon footprint of Oakland and the surrounding Alameda County.
Race & Equity: The AC-OCAP programming directly supports Oakland’s Equity Indicators Report Topic 3: Financial Health by improving access to a Healthy Financial Institution through its Volunteer Income Tax Assistance/Earned Income Tax Credit Initiative and addressing poverty. AC-OCAP’s Community Economic Opportunity (C.E.O) network prioritizes services to targeted populations based on needs assessed and outlined in the agency’s 2024- 2025 State Approved Community Action Plan which focuses on serving populations of African American, Latinx, and other People of Color within Oakland and throughout Alameda County who are disproportionately documented as living below the federal poverty threshold.
Jestin D, Johnson, City Administrator
Subject: AC-OCAP Annual Report and 2024 CSBG Resolution Date: January 16, 2024 Page 11
Life Enrichment Committee
February 13, 2024
ACTION REQUESTED OF THE CITY COUNCIL
Staff Recommends That City Council Adopt A Resolution:
1. Accepting and Appropriating Anti-Poverty Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) In The Amount Of One Million, Three Hundred, Nineteen Thousand, Seven Hundred Four-Five Dollars ($1,319,745) Awarded By The California Department Of Community Services And Development (CSD) For The January 1, 2024 Through December 31, 2024 Program Year (“2024 CSBG Program Year”);
2. Authorizing The City Administrator To Accept And Appropriate Any Additional Grant Funds From CSD Awarded For The Same Purpose Within The 2024 Term
3. Authorizing The Use Of General Purpose Funds To Pay The Human Services Department Central Services Overhead Charges For 2024 CSBG Programs In The Estimated Amount Of One Hundred Fifty-One Thousand, Nine Hundred Fifty-Six Dollars ($151,956)
For questions regarding this report, please contact Dwight Williams, AC-OCAP Acting Program Director at 510-238-6131.
Respectfully submitted,
SCOTT MEANS
Interim Director, Human Services
Prepared by:
Dwight Williams, Acting Program Director
Alameda County-Oakland Community Action
Partnership (AC-OCAP)