TO:City Council
FROM:Community Funding Review Committee
DATE:June 24, 2025
SUBJECT: FY 2025-26 Community Social Service Grant Recommendations RECOMMENDATION:
1. Approve Community Social Service Grants totaling $199,974.
2. Authorize the City Manager or designee to execute Community Social Service Grant agreements with grantees.
3. Authorize expenditure in the amount of $199,974 in FY 2025-26 from A/C #001- 0970-646-5920 (General Fund - Community Endowment Grant Account, SS2026) 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: No
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
No Additional Funding Requested. Minimal administrative staff costs associated with executing contracts and compliance monitoring, and grant funding in the amount of $200,000 are included in the Adopted FY 2025-26 General Fund Budget.
BACKGROUND:
The City has been supporting local service providers through community grant programs for over 39 years. The Community Social Service Grant (CSSG) provides programmatic support grants to local non-profit agencies, offering essential public and social services primarily to eligible low-income persons. The CSSG provides grantees a maximum grant award of $10,000 and a minimum grant award of $2,000.
FY 2025-26 Community Social Service Grant Recommendations June 24, 2025
CSSG grant applications for FY 2025-26 were accepted from March 3, 2025, through April 3, 2025. Public outreach for the grant program took place in March and April and included 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 Community Grant Program workshop was held February 4, 2025, and was recorded and made available for viewing on the City 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 City’s dedicated Grant Opportunities webpage (www.toaks.gov/grants) on the City website.
A history of the CSSG (previously called SSEF) awards for the past five years is attached for reference (Attachment #1).
DISCUSSION/ANALYSIS:
The City received 35 CSSG program applications. Staff conducted an initial review of the CSSG applications to confirm the applications met minimum qualifications.
Two applications were determined ineligible: one was received after the grant deadline and the other was missing a required signature. The 33 CSSG applications that met minimum qualifications requested a total grant amount of $290,600.
The City Council-appointed 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 28, 2025, the CFRC met to discuss the collated scores of the 33 applications. The collated scores were de-identified from the name of the applicant in advance of the meeting and remained de-identified throughout the discussion, as three members declared a conflict of interest for three separate applicants.
During the discussion of the respective applications, the conflicted members recused themselves while the remaining members discussed and confirmed the application score. A vote was taken on the final score for each of these three applicants respectively while the recused member was out of the room. All members then discussed questions they had of specific applicants to determine the final scores of the remaining applications. The members then discussed the appropriate allocation method. With minimal exceptions that never disclosed the scores of the three applications where there was a stated conflict of interest, the scores remained de-identified from the applicant’s name throughout the meeting.
FY 2025-26 Community Social Service Grant Recommendations June 24, 2025
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:
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
Using this original allocation method revealed that 15 applicants scored over 85 points and would have been eligible for 100 percent of the funding requested.
Seventeen applicants scored between 70-84 points and would have been eligible for 75 percent of the funding requested. One applicant scored between 0-54 points and was not recommended for funding. Under the original allocation method, a total funding amount of $247,300 would be needed. With a budget of $200,000, the CFRC would only have been able to recommend funding to twenty-four applicants, leaving the remaining eight qualifying applicants without a funding recommendation.
During the May 28, 2025, meeting, the CFRC agreed to temporarily amend the allocation method based on points scored so that all applicants scoring over 75 points would receive a grant funding recommendation. The temporary allocation method is shown in Table 2:
Table 2: CFRC Temporary Allocation Method
85 – 100 points scored 85% of requested amount
80 – 84 points scored 65% of requested amount
75 – 79 points scored 54% of requested amount
74 or below points scored No funding
Using this temporary allocation method revealed that fifteen applicants scored over 85 points and are recommended to receive 85 percent of the funding requested; ten applicants scored between 80-84 points and are recommended to receive 65 percent of the funding requested; four applicants scored between 75-80 points and are recommended to receive 54 percent of the funding requested, whereas they would not have been funded with the original allocation method. The remaining four applicants scored between 0-74 and are not recommended for funding. The CFRC unanimously (6-0, with 3 abstained) recommends awarding grants in the amount of $199,974 to 29 applicants (Attachment #2).
FY 2025-26 Community Social Service Grant Recommendations June 24, 2025
Next Steps
Upon approval by City Council, CSSG grantees will enter into standard community social service grant agreements with the City for a one-year period, effective July 1, 2025. 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 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.
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: Denise Monden, CFRC Chair
Sarah Mailes, Community Services Analyst
Attachments:
Attachment #1 – Community Social Service Grant Award Five-Year History
Attachment #2 – FY 2025-26 Community Social Service Grant Award Recommendations
CCS: 483-10/sm\H:\common\community services\city council items\2025 staff reports\06242025 cfrc cssg staff report.docx