San Francisco DAS approves $84,858 grant to APA Family Support Services for CalFresh outreach

SAN FRANCISCO — The Department of Aging and Adult Services (DAS) Commission on Oct. 1 voted unanimously to authorize a one-year grant with APA Family Support Services to expand CalFresh outreach and application assistance for older adults and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) consumers.

The commission approved a contract for the period Oct. 1, 2025, through Sept. 30, 2026, for $77,144 plus a 10% contingency, not to exceed $84,858. The motion passed by roll call with Vice President Nelson Lum, Commissioner Martha Knudson, Commissioner Wanda Jeong and Commissioner Linda Parker Pennington voting yes. There were no callers on the item during public comment.

The grant will fund outreach, partnership development and in-language, individualized application assistance targeted to places older adults are likely to be reached, including meal sites, senior housing, family resource centers and community centers. "Application assistance will coincide with older adult program services or will be located where older adults are likely to be reached," said Leah Walton, nutritionist for the Department of Aging and Adult Services, during the presentation.

Walton told the commission that outreach activities will include developing materials and disseminating them through community events, mailings, partner networks and social media. The grantee plans to partner with five community organizations for pop-up services, including Booker T. Washington Community Service Center, Filipino Senior Resource Center, Cambodian Community Development, Inc., and YMCA Bayview, according to Walton's presentation.

Commissioners asked for clarification on the program's target populations, data sources and language capacity. "Is this outreach focused mainly to seniors or is it also extended to SSI recipients of disabilities?" asked Commissioner Johnson. Walton replied that the program is "mainly focused for seniors," explaining the funding source drives that focus. She also said the agency will use a state-provided data dashboard to identify San Francisco communities with lower CalFresh participation among SSI recipients.

Walton described the grantee's language capacity: "They do have bilingual and bicultural staff, who speak English, Cantonese, Mandarin, Thai, Lao, and Spanish. And within their organization, they can also access Ming, Mongolian, Taishanese, Filipino, Tagalog, and Samoan." She added that the organization can obtain additional languages through interpreters.

The contract's performance metrics in the appendix list a target of 219 CalFresh applications submitted; Walton noted those figures refer to applications, which may cover multiple household members. She also said the contract does not specify a numeric target for individual recipients beyond application counts.

The commission approved the grant with a unanimous roll-call vote. No public commenters spoke on the item.