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Page 2 of 4 Over 19 months, starting in August 2022, staff and the consultant engaged in an extensive process to complete the 2024 Eastern Alameda County Human Services Needs Assessment (EACHSNA). This process included establishing project committees, attending community events, holding focus groups, reviewing regional studies, and hosting two joint Human Services Commission meetings in two different cities. In April 2023, the City Council was given an overview of the work to date. In February 2024, staff is presenting the final report, included as Attachment 1, to each city's respective City Council for acceptance. DISCUSSION The 2024 EACHSNA includes comprehensive research and analysis to describe current and anticipated human service needs over the next 5–10 years and recommendations for addressing these needs. The three cities are committed to collaborating with each other, local service providers, and Alameda County to implement these recommendations over the next decade to enhance the provision of human services in the Tri-Valley. Findings The Tri-Valley is economically stable; however, there are pockets within each of the three cities with high concentrations of individuals living below the federal poverty level. While there are significant numbers of social service providers in each of the three cities, some services require recipients to travel outside the region, which has implications for transportation and accessibility and creates barriers to accessing services for some recipients. Identifying existing community strengths helps ensure that the report's recommendations build upon and leverage assets, capabilities, and resources already within the community. These strengths include community cohesion, diversity, quality of health care and mental health services, nonprofit organizations and other support service providers, recreation, and high- quality schools. The report also identifies challenges/opportunity areas at both the community and organizational levels. These opportunity areas include housing challenges, difficulty accessing health care and mental health services, a general lack of awareness of available services and a need for service navigation, a need for outpatient and residential substance-use treatment services, and a desire for more linguistically and culturally responsive providers. Community members also expressed concerns about safety and needing more transportation services. There is also a significant need for youth services. This includes high-quality, affordable childcare and early childhood education for young children. For older children, parents and youth alike expressed a desire for accessible extracurricular activities, including after-school and enrichment programs, affordable summer programs, and recreational activities, including sports. Older youth identified concerns around academic pressures and responsibilities, mental health and physical safety, substance use, including a need for prevention programs and treatment services, and a lack of access to school restrooms. Service provider organizations expressed frustration at the general perception that needs are lower in the Tri-Valley. They identified several funding challenges, including a need for grants that cover infrastructure, operating costs, and marketing and a high burden for grant applications and reporting requirements. Organizations also identified a need to increase awareness of services among each other, to avoid service duplication and to leverage Page 49 of 554