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Human services warns of rising demand, potential funding shortfalls and shifts to SWAP preregistration
Summary
Human Services outlined planning for federal eligibility changes, warned of growing needs among seniors, said nonprofit grant demand exceeds available funds, and described a new preregistration model for the winter shelter voucher (SWAP) program.
Human Services staff told the council that federal and state policy changes, an aging population and flat local revenue will increase demand for services and that the department is preparing for the 2026 planning phase of new federal eligibility rules.
“2026 is really gonna be our planning phase. Now some of those requirements will go into effect, some for different eligibility requirements in 2026, but a lot of it will be a planning phase. We're still waiting on a lot of federal guidance and state guidance,” Human Services leadership said.
Department staff warned that nonprofit grant requests exceed available dollars. A finance representative told council nonprofit asks ran roughly $450,000 higher than available 2026 funding and that the mill levy backing human services may decline as property tax rates shift, creating a “double whammy” for local grants. Staff said the department intends to continue its tiered scoring system for grants but that 2027 may require reallocation and reevaluation.
On homelessness response, Human Services presented a change to the city’s winter activation program (SWAP): a preregistration model for vouchers. “We’ve modeled this across a variety of different cities and counties, and that is a preregistration model for SWAP…we're really trying to be intentional of being able to really get folks registered, and then we're gonna utilize different scoring mechanisms and parameters to really prioritize if and when we have to,” staff said. The department said the preregistration approach aims to make distribution more trauma‑informed and equitable and to enable better tracking of people on the by‑name list.
Staff said some new responsibilities may be handled with existing personnel in 2026 while planning continues; additional staffing or budget shifts for 2027 were flagged as likely depending on federal guidance and funding availability. Human Services will return with more financial detail as the 2027 budget process begins.
