Title
Recommendation to Direct the Preparation of a Needs Statement to Confirm the Ongoing Community Needs for the Fiscal Year 2026-27 Community Development Block Grant Annual Action Plan; to Designate the President of the Social Service Human Relations Board and/or another Board Member to Review the Statement and Represent the Board at the December 2, 2025, City Council Public Hearing; and to Determine That CDBG Public Services Funding Will Be Prorated for Fiscal Year 2026-27, Based on Available Funds
Body
To: Honorable President Scott Means and Members of the Social Service Human Relations Board
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
In the summer of 2025, the City of Alameda (City) prepared and submitted its new Five-Year Consolidated Plan (Consolidated Plan), which identified the following priorities:
• Support programs for very low- and low-income residents, preserving safety net services, and providing support and coordination for families and individuals who are vulnerable or in crisis.
• Improve access to food and reduce food insecurity.
• Support services that provide mental health care or support services for those residents experiencing mental health challenges.
• Fund and support overnight shelter, crisis housing, and public services for homeless families and individuals.
• Fund supportive services, including case management and outreach, at agencies that serve homeless families and individuals.
• Fund economic development initiatives and support services that help job seekers to receive additional training or enter the job market, including microenterprise assistance.
• Create new affordable housing throughout the City.
• Offer financing for residential rehabilitation projects.
• Clean-up and secure unsafe structures and sites that pose a health and safety threat.
• Make improvements, including those for ADA accessibility, to public facilities, such as curbs and sidewalks, neighborhood parks and recreational improvements, tree planting, homeless facilities, and other improvements.
• Improve the administration of funding and coordination among project providers.
• Support fair housing efforts in the community, including providing assistance to individuals facing challenges with acquiring housing.
Each year, the City holds a public comment period on housing and community development needs to support the City’s effort to identify the community’s social service needs and to direct the preparation of the Needs Statement for the upcoming fiscal year (FY). The Needs Statement will be presented to City Council for approval at the public hearing, and this item is scheduled for December 2, 2025. The approved Needs Statement will be included in the upcoming Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) FY 2026-27 Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA)/Request for Proposals (RFP). The Action Plan FY 2026-27 Schedule is attached as Exhibit 2.
In 2023, the Social Service Human Relations Board (SSHRB) completed the 2023 Community Needs Assessment (2023 CNA). The 2023 CNA was reviewed and accepted by the City Council at its May 2, 2023, meeting. The 2023 CNA confirmed the continued need for the CDBG-funded services. City staff and SSHRB use CNA data as a baseline to assess and identify Alameda’s community needs.
In coordination with The Road Home, SSHRB and City staff plan to prepare and conduct the next CNA in 2026. The Road Home is a comprehensive five-year strategic plan that provides an achievable roadmap to addressing homelessness in Alameda based on an evaluation of existing programs and systems. The new CNA will then be brought to City Council for final approval.
BACKGROUND
As part of the annual CDBG process, the City holds a public comment period on housing and community development needs, concluding with a public hearing at a City Council meeting. The purpose of this staff report is to:
1. Provide an overview of the CDBG process,
2. Review priority needs,
3. Propose the schedule and timeline of CDBG activities, and
4. Propose methodology for FY 2026-27 funding recommendations.
At the October 22, 2025, Social Service Human Relations Board (SSHRB) Special meeting, staff will briefly review the CDBG program and the process. After the presentation, SSHRB will review the current community needs and direct the preparation of the Needs Statement for FY 2026-27, which will be presented to the City Council during the December 2, 2025, Public Hearing.
The U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) typically announces CDBG allocations in the winter or spring; however, funding for FY 2026-27 is not included in plans for the Congressional budget. If funding becomes available, staff will present recommendations for funding to City Council during the first meeting in May 2026.
DISCUSSION
Overview of the Community Development Block Grant Process
As an entitlement jurisdiction, the City receives CDBG funds from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). CDBG regulations require that an annual public hearing be held to obtain community input on current housing and community development needs. The October 22 SSHRB Special meeting provides an opportunity for input on the Annual Action Plan for FY 2026-27. Alameda’s FY 2026-27 Action Plan will identify local priorities and uses of CDBG funds to address needs in eligible categories.
Every five years, the City is required to prepare a Consolidated Plan, which outlines the housing and community development priority needs that will inform CDBG funding decisions for the upcoming five-year period. The City recently created a new Consolidated Plan as the FY 2020-24 Consolidated Plan concluded on June 30, 2025. An overview of the City’s priority needs for FYs 2025-29 Consolidated Plan includes:
• Preserving and increasing affordable housing and supportive services;
• Creating opportunities and educating individuals on fair housing;
• Preventing and addressing homelessness; and
• Addressing non-housing community development needs such as neighborhood improvements, public services, accessibility improvements and economic development.
Alameda’s FY 2026-27 Action Plan will identify local priorities and uses of CDBG funds to address needs in eligible categories. Eligible activities include property acquisition and rehabilitation, public facilities improvements, public services, accessibility improvements, economic development, and planning and administrative activities. At least 70 percent of CDBG funds must benefit low- and moderate-income residents or neighborhoods. A limited amount of funds may also be used to eliminate blight in selected areas.
The purpose of the public meeting is to support the City’s effort to identify the social service needs of the community and prepare a recommendation for the FY 2026-27 Needs Statement for approval by the City Council at the public hearing on December 5, 2024. The approved Needs Statement will be included in the upcoming CDBG FY 2026-27 Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA)/RFP.
CDBG Past Performance
Listed below are the previous and current (excluding Legal Assistance for Seniors) CDBG-funded public service providers, their service offerings, annual goal of people served, and number of persons who benefited from the program in FYs 2020-25:
|
Service Provider |
Service Offering |
Annual Goal of People Served |
FY 2020-21 Persons |
FY 2021-22 Persons |
FY 2022-23 Persons |
FY 2023-24 Persons |
FY 2024-25 Persons |
|
Alameda Family Services |
Mental Health Counseling |
55 |
55 |
32 |
44 |
39 |
56 |
|
Alameda Food Bank |
Emergency Food Distribution |
3,000 |
10,537 |
11,731 |
6,302 |
8,921 |
10,338 |
|
Building Futures |
Shelter & Counseling |
85 |
120 |
62 |
66 |
95 |
80 |
|
Eden Council for Hope & Opportunity (ECHO) |
Fair Housing & Housing Counseling |
125 |
69 |
67 |
103 |
149 |
127 |
|
Eden Information & Referral |
Information & Referral |
350 |
397 |
402 |
459 |
495 |
443 |
|
Family Violence Law Center |
Family Violence Prevention |
32 |
43 |
62 |
37 |
37 |
33 |
|
Legal Assistance for Seniors |
Legal Assistance for Alameda Seniors |
395 |
43 |
294 |
39 |
55 |
42 |
The Statement of Work Progress Reports from the last quarter of FY 2024 contracts are attached as Exhibit 3 for reference and provide additional information to supplement the data shown above. Following is a brief summary of some of the goals, accomplishments, and/or challenges each provider faced.
Alameda Family Services (AFS) met their annual goal of providing school-based mental health services to 55 youth in the City of Alameda throughout FY 2024-25. The program goals are to decrease hospitalizations, reduce mental health crisis, and provide individual therapy to students. In Quarter 4, AFS provided services to 56 youth at school-based health centers throughout Alameda. AFS also led a school outreach initiative dedicated to destigmatizing mental health and increasing youth access to services during Mental Health Awareness Month.
The Alameda Food Bank (AFB) made significant progress towards their organizational goals by providing emergency food distribution for individuals and preparing for the transition into a new facility. In FY 2024-25, AFB far exceeded their annual goal by reaching 10,338 individuals and families that deal with food insecurity. As a response to federal budget cuts, AFB had to reassess their sourcing methods and distribution to ensure they could continue to serve the community without drastic changes to the quality and quantity of food offered.
Building Futures’ Midway Shelter served 80 clients in FY 2024-25. In Quarter 4, Midway Shelter assisted 16 clients, providing 1,953 bed nights and 5,859 meals per day. In addition to providing bed nights and 3 meals a day, the staff at Midway conducts weekly meetings that cover various vital topics such as parenting, domestic violence support, housing workshops, employment workshops, basic life skills and children’s activities.
Eden Council for Hope and Opportunity’s (ECHO) annual goals consist of responding to fair housing inquiries, investigating fair housing complaints, conducting fair housing audits, administering fair housing sessions and tenant/property management mediation. In FY 2024-25, ECHO exceeded their annual goal by assisting 127 clients from a diverse demographic.
In 2024-25, the Family Violence Law Centers (FVLC) program succeeded by meeting their annual goal of reaching 33 clients. During Quarter 4, FVLC’s Family Violence Prevention Project provided emergency relocation, crisis counseling and safety planning, direct legal assistance and legal representation to 9 unduplicated victims of domestic violence within the City of Alameda. Furthermore, FVLC’s Crisis Services Manager continued to regularly participate in the Alameda Domestic Violence Task Force (Alameda DVTF) and the Alameda Collaborative for Children, Youth, and their Families (ACCYF), both of which provide opportunities to share information on FVLC services, to learn about other resources available in Alameda, and to encourage new collaborations to improve service delivery to domestic violence victims in the City of Alameda.
Legal Assistance for Seniors (LAS) program scope of work for FY 2023-24 is to provide free legal services to 44 seniors in the City of Alameda in the areas of health law, public benefits, guardianship, naturalization, housing and general legal services for those that may need assistance in other areas of law. Also, LAS is to reach 296 or more individuals through its Community Education Program by providing community education presentations and outreach events geared towards the senior community of the City of Alameda. Lastly, 49 seniors are to be provided with free, unbiased health insurance counseling through Alameda County’s Health Insurance Counseling and Advocacy Program (HICAP). During Quarter 4 of FY 2023-24, LAS reached a total of 11 seniors. Cases ranged between housing, health law, and elder abuse. The HICAP Program counseled a total of 22 individuals in Quarter 4, allowing LAS to far exceed its contracted goal by 269%.
The Community Education department held three presentations at the Mastick Senior Center and reached a total of 13 individuals. LAS’s Community Education Program reached a total of 316 seniors and caregivers.
COVID-19 and the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act
On March 27, 2020, the President of the United States signed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act into law. The City received two allocations in the amounts of $683,116 and $597,112 for a total of $1,280,228. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the City expanded capacity or launched new programs to assist impacted, low-income households. Listed below are the service providers, their service offerings, and the number of persons who benefited from the program in FY 2020-21, FY 2021-22, FY 2022-23, and FY 2023-24. The table below only lists program years where funding was used to support the emergency shelter which was carried out by Family Violence Law Center. No clients were served in FY 2024-25 due to limited funding availability. There is currently $293.08 available in CARES Act funding.
|
Service Provider |
Service Offering |
2020-21 Persons |
2021-22 Persons |
2022-23 Persons |
2023-24 Persons |
|
Family Violence Law Center |
Emergency Shelter |
5 |
11 |
37 |
4 |
Priority Needs
The Social Service Human Relations Board (SSHRB) conducts a citywide community needs assessment every three to five years as part of its chartered mandate. SSHRB’s most current needs assessment was conducted in 2022. In 2023, Community Development Department staff conducted a short, three-question survey to review and verify the community and social service priorities identified by community members from the 2023 Community Needs Assessment. The next citywide community needs assessment is planned to launch in 2026-2027. Consequently, staff will recommend that:
1) FY 2026-27 NOFA/RFP award funds for a single year; and
2) NOFA/RFP for the 2027-28 year consider offering agreements with two-year terms.
Exhibit 1 contains the Consolidated Plan goal and activities that the Board previously determined to address the identified priority needs. Those priority needs include Affordable Housing, Homelessness, and Non-Housing Community Development, which is addressed through Public Services, Economic Development, and Public Facilities and Infrastructure.
Proposed Schedule and Timeline
The FY 2026-27 NOFA is tentatively scheduled to be released in January 2026. In 2024, SSHRB proposed funding current social service providers on a two-year funding cycle with the adoption of the new FY 2025-29 Consolidated Plan and 2025 Annual Action Plan. If SSHRB accepts staff’s recommendation to amend and prorate FY 2026-27 funding allocations for the social service providers, then the NOFA will solely be for CDBG-funded economic development projects, public improvement projects, and HOME-funded affordable housing projects. The proposed Action Plan schedule is attached as Exhibit 2.
Funding Availability
Funding for the next fiscal year is derived from two sources: entitlement funds that are allocated by HUD and program income that is generated from CDBG loan repayments. HUD requires that Public Services funding be capped at 15 percent of the current year’s grant allocation plus program income received in the previous fiscal year. At the time the staff report was written, the federal government had not yet adopted the budget for the next fiscal year. As a result, HUD had not yet published its allocations for CDBG FY 2026-27. Therefore, the amount of entitlement funds that will be available is not known at this time. Because the program income will continue to be received through June 30, 2026, the actual amount of program income will not be known before the end of the current fiscal year.
In January 2018, HUD published guidance that entitlement jurisdictions continue to adhere to the CDBG regulations and requirements, including the timeline for submitting the Action Plan, even absent confirmed funding amounts. Consequently, staff are proposing funding allocations, using the following assumptions:
|
Funding Type |
Assumed Amount |
15% of Amount |
|
City of Alameda Entitlement |
$1,000,000 |
$150,000 |
|
FY 2025-26 Program Income |
$60,000 |
$9,000 |
|
Total Estimated Funds Available |
$1,060,000 |
$159,000 |
The actual funding recommendations for FY 2026-27 will be determined after HUD announces CDBG allocations for FY 2026-27, if any. Furthermore, staff will continue to monitor the receipt of program income and adjust the numbers accordingly prior to submitting the final Action Plan to HUD in May 2026.
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommend that the Board hear the presentation, review current community needs, and direct the preparation of a Needs Statement to confirm the ongoing needs for the FY 2026-27 CDBG Action Plan. The Board should also designate the President and/or another Board member to review the statement and represent the Board at the December 2, 2025, City Council Needs Public Hearing.
Respectfully submitted,
Andre Fairley, HHS Management Analyst
Exhibits:
1. FY 2025-29 Consolidated Plan Goals
2. FY 2026-27 Action Plan Schedule
3. Statement of Work Progress Reports
a. Alameda Family Services
b. Alameda Food Bank
c. Building Futures with Women and Children
d. EDEN I & R
e. Eden Council for Hope and Opportunity
f. Family Violence Law Center
Legal Assistance for Seniors