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Oxnard staff proposes reallocating remaining CARES Act CDBG funds to senior meals and family outreach
Summary
City staff recommended reallocating $331,927.51 in CDBG‑CV funds to a Senior Nutrition Program and $160,787 to a Stories to Stay early‑childhood and housing outreach program to meet CARES Act pandemic‑response requirements and draw down remaining grant balances before a 2027 deadline.
City of Oxnard staff presented a proposal to reallocate remaining Community Development Block Grant coronavirus (CDBG‑CV) funds from the CARES Act to two public‑service programs: a Senior Nutrition Program and the Stories to Stay outreach program, staff said during a City Council presentation.
Lorraine Mendez, grants and compliance services manager in the Housing Department grants division, told the council that “Under the CARES Act, the City of Oxnard received a special allocation of $3,088,367 from the Community Development Block Grant coronavirus program.” She added that the city also received $5,255,005 from the Emergency Solutions Grant coronavirus program and that the ESG‑CV award has been fully expended and closed out.
Mendez said the CDBG‑CV account currently has an unallocated balance of $331,927.51 and that “approximately $210,000 remains in the CDBG CV program administration budget, $160,787 of which can be reallocated to other eligible activities.” To spend down the remaining funds while meeting the CARES Act requirement to prevent, prepare for, and respond to COVID‑19, staff recommended allocating the full unallocated CDBG‑CV balance to two programs run by the Cultural and Community Services Department.
Staff recommended a CDBG‑CV allocation of $331,927.51 to a Senior Nutrition Program to provide congregate and home‑delivered meals for adults age 60 and older. Mendez said the pandemic “disproportionately impacted low income seniors, increasing social isolation, food insecurity, and economic hardship,” and that the meals program is intended to reduce food insecurity, improve health outcomes, and address pandemic‑related isolation.
Staff also recommended reallocating $160,787 to the Stories to Stay outreach program (described in the presentation as Storytime and Housing Literacy outreach). According to Mendez, the program combines early‑childhood literacy activities with housing education and resource navigation to support family stability and long‑term recovery for low‑ and moderate‑income families.
Mendez emphasized timing constraints: “All CDBG CV funds, including obligated but unspent, must be fully drawn down by 03/02/2027.” She told the council the housing department has existing CDBG‑CV appropriations available to fund the proposed reallocations and that there would be no general‑fund impact from adopting the recommendations.
As formal next steps, staff recommended conducting a public hearing on the Ninth Amendment to the FY2020–21 annual action plan, approving the Ninth Amendment to reallocate the CDBG‑CV funds, authorizing the city manager or designees to incorporate the amended allocations into the annual action plan and related budget appropriations, authorizing the city manager to submit required documents for the amendment, receiving and filing any public comments, and authorizing execution of implementation agreements. The transcript records the staff presentation and these recommendations but does not record a council vote or further deliberation.
The staff presentation concluded; the item was set up for public hearing and council action per staff recommendations.
