To: Board of Supervisors
From: Dr. Grant Colfax, Health Services Director
Report Title: Gift Cards for Participants of Youth Housing Survey
Recommendation: Recommendation of the County Administrator
RECOMMENDATIONS:
APPROVE and AUTHORIZE the Purchasing Agent, or designee, to purchase on behalf of the Health Services Director, 160 Grocery Outlet gift cards each with a $25 value for a total amount not to exceed $3,986 to use as incentives for participation in Contra Costa Health's (CCH) Homeless Program Continuum of Care (CoC) Youth Housing Survey.
FISCAL IMPACT:
This action will result in expenditures of up to $3,986 and will be funded entirely by the Tipping Point Community Grant. There will be no impact to the County General Fund. The total purchase will be executed through two separate purchase orders: 1) With Grocery Outlet Inc. for 80 gift cards each with a $25 value, totaling an amount not to exceed $2,000 with no discount applied; and 2) With Blackhawk Network, Inc. for 80 gift cards each with a $25 value plus shipping, totaling an amount not to exceed $1,986 with a 3% discount applied.
BACKGROUND:
Contra Costa Health Services’ Homeless Program Continuum of Care (CoC), in partnership with the Youth Action Board (YAB), is expanding efforts to better understand the housing experiences of youth and young adults (YYA) across the county. While the annual Point-in-Time (PIT) Count provides valuable information on sheltered and unsheltered homelessness, existing YYA data remains limited, infrequent, and often unable to capture the full range of circumstances YYA face-particularly those who may not interact with traditional systems.
To address this gap, the Youth Housing Survey is being developed to gather more comprehensive information directly from YYA ages 12-26. The survey will collect demographic data and insights into diverse housing situations, including couch surfing, doubled-up living arrangements, unstable housing, and other experiences that may not be visible through standard PIT methodologies. Understanding these nuances is essential to identifying risks and needs, improving system responsiveness, and informing actionable steps to develop more targeted, effective strategies.
The CoC engaged the YAB to ensure that survey design and implementation reflect YYA perspectives. YAB members identified grocery gift cards as the preferred incentive for YYA. To support participation and ensure strong, representative data collection, gift cards will be provided as incentives to YYA who complete the survey. These incentives help encourage engagement and meaningful input from YYA whose experiences are critical to shaping informed, community-grounded solutions.
CONSEQUENCE OF NEGATIVE ACTION:
Failure to approve the use of gift card funds for the Youth Housing Survey will significantly reduce YYA participation, particularly among those who are less connected to traditional service systems and may be reluctant to engage without an incentive. Low participation will limit the ability to capture accurate demographic information and fully understand the range of YYA housing experiences, including couch surfing, doubled-up situations, and other forms of instability. Insufficient data will weaken efforts to identify needs and risks, hinder the development of targeted strategies, and reduce opportunities to secure future resources and funding that depend on robust, community-informed data.