Social Service Grants Committee Meeting July 16, 2026

The City of Topeka Social Service Grants Committee convened on July 16, 2026, to review appeals related to grant scoring for social service organizations. Two appeals were considered: one from the Shawnee County Medical Society Health Access Program and another from the Topeka LULAC Senior Center. The committee agreed to adjust the Health Access Program's score from 50% to 100% for outputs and outcomes, resulting in a higher grant allocation. However, the appeal from LULAC was partially granted; while the committee agreed to increase their leadership score from three to five points due to board diversity considerations, they upheld the lower score related to prior grant reporting due to a clerical error by the grantee. The committee discussed challenges in scoring based on race and ethnicity data entry and emphasized the need for clearer guidelines and technical assistance to prevent future errors. Due to score changes, the committee planned to reconvene before August 1 to finalize grant award amounts for council approval as part of the budget process.