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BACKGROUND The stated mission statement for the Housing and Human Services Grant (HHSG) Program is to enhance the quality of life in Pleasanton. The grant program historically has focused on activities that benefit lower income residents. Each fall, the Human Services Commission develops a Statement of Priorities and Evaluation Criteria for the Housing and Human Service Grant Program; these priorities and evaluation criteria are tied to the Human Services Commission Strategic Plan and the 2011 Eastern Alameda County Human Services Needs Assessment. The commission seeks to address the most critical needs and barriers to service delivery in Pleasanton. To support the provision of these important services, the City has annually allocated funding for the grants from its General Fund budget. A policy adopted by the City Council in 2009 increases funding based on the percentage increase of the City's General Fund budget from the prior year. The amount allocated to the HHSG this fiscal year is $188,528. The minimum grant amount that may be requested is $5,000 and there is no established maximum amount that an applicant may request. A community benefit organization is "a nonprofit charitable organization that is tax exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the internal revenue code and whose mission is solely to engage in community benefit activities." Historically, the Human Services Commission has focused its recommendations on direct delivery of service as this aligns most directly with the strategic plan and needs assessment findings; however, the current HHSG Program does not preclude application by a community benefit organization that builds capacity and contributions to support the local nonprofit services network for Pleasanton residents. The amount of funding for such a grant allocation would be limited to General Fund monies as the federal funding requires a direct delivery of service. Except for the past two years wherein the Council allocated full funding to grantees to help offset the impact of COVID-19 on our most vulnerable residents and the non-profits serving them, collectively the grant requests have exceeded the annual allocation of funding such that the commissions and Council have to consider how to allocate funding to best meet the current needs of Pleasanton residents. DISCUSSION The City does not provide direct delivery of human services and relies on its non-profit partners to create a safety net of services for our residents; thus, there is merit in considering how the City may help to strengthen the local non-profit service network to increase capacity to meet the growing needs of our community. The Human Services Commission's strategic plan identifies these "Most Critical Human Service Needs" to be health care and behavioral health, disability services and access, food and nutrition, youth services, senior services, homelessness in the Tri-Valley, workforce development/unemployment, and service provider critical initiatives. The current safety net infrastructure in the Tri-Valley generally provides one non-profit for each area of need, resulting in little duplication of services. The existing infrastructure becomes more vulnerable as non-profits struggle to find funding to meet the growing need; if one of Page 2 of 5