TO:City Council
FROM:Community Funding Review Committee
DATE:June 4, 2024
SUBJECT: FY 2024-25 Community Social Service Grant Recommendations RECOMMENDATION:
1. Approve Community Social Service Grants totaling $199,500.
2. Authorize the City Manager or designee to execute Community Social Service Grant agreements with grantees.
3. Authorize expenditure in the amount of $199,500 from A/C #001-1120-611- 5920 (SS2025, General Fund – Grant and Donations) for Community Social Service Grants.
4. Find that this action is not a project as defined under the California Environmental Quality Act.
LEVINE ACT ITEM: Yes
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
No Additional Funding Requested. Minimal administrative staff costs associated with executing contracts and compliance monitoring. Grant funding in the amount of $100,000 is included in the Adopted FY 2024-25 General Fund Budget. City Council approved an additional $75,000 in budget and a reallocation of $25,000 from the Sports Facilities Grant program on December 5, 2023, for a total available budget of $200,000 in FY 2024-25.
BACKGROUND:
The City has been supporting local service providers through community grant programs for over 38 years. The Community Social Services Grant (CSSG) provides programmatic support grants to local non-profit agencies offering essential public and social services to eligible low-income persons. In accordance with past years’ grant program, the Adopted FY 2024-25 General Fund Budget includes $100,000 for CSSG. On December 5, 2023, City Council approved a budget appropriation increase of $75,000 to the FY 2024-25 General Fund Budget
FY 2024-25 Community Social Service Grant Recommendations June 4, 2024
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1 and a reallocation of $25,000 from the Sports Facilities Grant program to accommodate the increasing requests from social service agencies. The CSSG provides grantees a maximum grant award of $10,000 and a minimum grant award of $2,000.
CSSG grant applications for FY 2024-25 were accepted from March 11, 2024, through April 11, 2024. Public outreach for the grant program took place in March and April and included news postings on the City’s website and social media channels. An ad was placed in the March and April editions of the CityScene e- newsletter. A press release was printed in the April 5, 2024, Thousand Oaks Acorn edition. A Community Grant Program workshop was held September 21, 2023, and was recorded and made available for viewing on the City’s website. In addition, emails were sent to previous Social Service grant recipients and a press release was sent to local media outlets. Complete program information can be found on the dedicated City Manager’s Office Grant Opportunities webpage (www.toaks.org/grants) on the City’s website.
A history of the CSSG [previously called Social Services Endowment Fund (SSEF)] awards for the past five years is attached for City Council reference (Attachment #1).
DISCUSSION/ANALYSIS:
There were 25 CSSG program applications received with a total requested amount of $238,500. Staff conducted an initial review of the CSSG applications to confirm the applications met minimum qualifications. One application was rejected for non- compliance with program requirements during staff’s initial review.
The Community Funding Review Committee (CFRC) members separately reviewed each application and scored them based on grant-specific criteria, including the organization’s mission and background, program goals and objectives, and benefit to City residents.
On May 8, 2024, the CFRC met to discuss the collated scores of the applications.
The CFRC unanimously recommends funding in the amount of $199,500 to 23 programs.
Allocation Scoring Method
In May 2019, the CFRC approved an allocation method based on collated points scored on the application as shown in Table 1.
FY 2024-25 Community Social Service Grant Recommendations June 4, 2024
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1 Table 1: CFRC Original Allocation Method
85 – 100 points scored 100% of requested amount
70 – 84 points scored 75% of requested amount
55 – 69 points scored 50% of requested amount
54 or below points scored No funding
Collating the committee members’ score cards and using the original allocation method revealed that 17 programs were eligible for full funding, six programs for 75 percent funding, and one program would have received 50 percent funding, for a total of $209,500. Under this allocation method and with a budget of $200,000, the CFRC would not have been able to fund all eligible applicants.
During the May 8, 2024, meeting, the CFRC members voted unanimously (7-0, 2 absent) in favor of temporarily amending the allocation method based on collated points scored so additional applications could receive increased funding. The temporary allocation method is shown in Table 2:
Table 2: CFRC Temporary Allocation Method
85 – 100 points scored 100% of requested amount
80 – 84 points scored 75% of requested amount
70 – 79 points scored 25% of requested amount
69 or below points scored No funding
Collating the CFRC members’ scorecards and using the temporary allocation method revealed that 17 applicants scored between 85-100 points and are eligible for 100 percent of the funding requested. Five applicants scored between 80-84 points and are eligible for 75 percent of the funding requested. One applicant scored between 70-79 points and is eligible for 25 percent of the funding requested. One applicant scored between 1-69 points and is not recommended for funding. The total funding recommendation is $199,500.
The CFRC unanimously (7-0 with 2 absent) recommends awarding grants in the amount of $199,500 to 23 applicants (Attachment #2).
Staff has acknowledged the growing demand within the community for social service programs and is actively gathering supplementary data to present to City Council in Fall 2024 for potential modifications to the City’s community grants program.
Upon approval by City Council, CSSG grantees will enter into standard community grant agreements with the City for a one-year period, effective July 1, 2024. The agreement states that staff reserve the right to request reimbursement of all or part of the funds if the funds are not expended for the program as described in the FY 2024-25 Community Social Service Grant Recommendations June 4, 2024
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1 contract. Grantees will receive payment upfront and will be required to submit a Final Performance Report that demonstrates how the City funds were used to benefit the community.
LEVINE ACT (California Government Code § 84308):
This item is subject to the Levine Act. City Councilmembers who have received a campaign contribution of more than $250 (aggregated) within the preceding 12 months from a party or their agent/representative, or a financially interested participant involved in this proceeding may do either of the following: (1) disclose the contribution on the record and recuse themselves from this proceeding; or if applicable (2) return the portion of the contribution that exceeds $250 within 30 days from the time the official knew or should have known about the contribution, and participate in the proceeding.
All parties and their agents/representatives must disclose on the record of this proceeding any aggregated contribution of more than $250 made to any Councilmember within the preceding 12 months. Councilmembers are prohibited from accepting, soliciting, or directing a campaign contribution of more than $250 (aggregated) from a party, their agent/representative, or a financially interested participant during a proceeding and for 12 months following the date a final decision is made. In addition, a party, their agent/representative, or a financially interested participant is prohibited from contributing more than $250 (aggregated) to a Councilmember during a proceeding and for 12 months following the date a final decision is made.
COUNCIL GOAL COMPLIANCE:
Meets the following City Council goals:
C. Operate City government in a fiscally and managerially responsible and prudent manner to ensure that the City of Thousand Oaks remains one of California's most desirable places to live, work, visit, recreate, and raise a family.
G. Continue City's commitment to community and cultural programs and services (such as Performing Arts/Theatres, Libraries, TOTV, Visual Arts,Youth and Senior Programs).
PREPARED BY: Clyde Doheney, CFRC Chair
Whitney Luxenberger, Senior Administrative Specialist
Attachments:
Attachment #1 – Community Social Service Grant Award Five-Year History
Attachment #2 – FY 2024-25 Community Social Service Grant Award Recommendations
CMO: 481-10/wl/H:Common/City Council/Council Items/2024/060424/06042024 CFRC CSSG Staff Report.docx