San Antonio council reviews proposed changes to human-services consolidated funding and readies federal-grants tabletop exercise

San Antonio City Council members on Oct. 15 were briefed on proposed changes to the city—onsolidated human-services funding process and on a planned federal-grants "tabletop" exercise meant to help the city and community partners prepare for cuts to federal aid.

Mayor Jones opened the session by saying the two agenda items were linked and warned that federal changes already were being felt locally: "Many of you may have woken up to the same headline I did this morning where Meals on Wheels in our community unfortunately has lost out on that funding," the mayor said.

The briefing from Human Services staff outlined the fiscal year 2026 consolidated funding pool, proposed policy changes for the next RFP cycle, and a timeline for engagement. Melody, the Human Services presenter, told council the adopted FY26 budget sets aside about $24.5 million for the consolidated funding pool, roughly $20 million of which is currently committed to 80 delegate-agency programs; $4.26 million was reserved to be competitively awarded through a new RFP cycle. Staff recommended keeping existing funding priorities (children and youth, strengthening families, senior independence, ending homelessness) and moving to a four-year competitive RFP cycle with the first-year contract running, if approved as proposed, from…