Contracting Services
To learn more about Neighborhood & Community Services funding opportunities, please visit the Funding Opportunities section at the bottom of this web page.
Funding Community Needs
Neighborhood & Community Services funds community programs that strengthen our community. Funded programs support our efforts to improve livability, education, safety, civic engagement, and equity and accessibility indicators in the Tacoma 2025 Strategic Plan, including:
2025-2026 Department Funding PrioritiesÂ
The City will prioritize investments that address the following areas and solutions to: Â
- Increase residents’ perception of safety. Â
- Increase access to mental health and substance use disorder services. Â
- Improve equitable services for youth, seniors, and vulnerable populations.   Â
- Increase accessibility to health care services. Â
- Increase equitable access to nutritious and culturally relevant food. Â
- Prevention and early intervention to reduce violence. Â
- Enhance coordinated services for at-risk individuals leaving hospitals, jails, juvenile detention facilities, or crisis facilities to ensure access to resources, permanent supportive housing, and promote financial empowerment. Â
- Enhance homeless outreach efforts, permanent supportive housing programs, rapid rehousing initiatives, and supportive services tailored to prevent and end homelessness.
Aging & Disability
Wellness activities and programs to support seniors and disabled residents of Tacoma to live healthy and independent lives. Services to aid seniors in maintaining a healthy lifestyle, social and emotional wellness, and access to resources are offered at the Senior Hubs, a partnership between the City and Parks Tacoma, and at other agencies within the community.
Building Resilience Against Youth Violence and Exploitation (BRAYVE)
(Formerly Youth and Young Adult Violence Reduction)
Programs funded under this focus area will align with the five core strategies of the Comprehensive Gang Model to reduce and prevent youth and young adult violence and sexual exploitation. Funding will be prioritized to support data-informed strategies for firearm violence reduction, interventions and outreach for highest-risk youth, prevention strategies, place-based interventions, mental health resources, and trauma-informed practices that promote healing, conflict resolution and de-escalation, and out-of-school programming. Services provided will address disparities that exist for those most at risk of becoming a victim or perpetuator of violence.
Community Violence Reduction and Prevention Â
Services provide community trauma response after incidents to offer social-emotional support at the community level. This may include onsite supports, after care for families and communities, and access to resources. Funding may be used to build community resiliency, healing, and a sense of belonging to intervene and prevent violence before it occurs.
Complementary Services Â
Programs support individuals in achieving and/or maintaining housing stability. Services may include food, furniture, legal, and benefit assistance.Â
Domestic Violence Reduction and Prevention
Services are intended to provide supportive services that reduce the risk of family and intimate partner violence, promote resiliency, and disrupt the cycle of violence. Programs will address prevention and intervention services, be healing centered and/or trauma-informed, and be culturally relevant to meet the needs of those served. Â
Equitable Food Access
Addresses the disparities in accessing nutritious and culturally relevant food while also promoting equitable opportunities for food access across all socio-economic demographics.Â
Health and Health Care
Services are intended to enhance accessible, equitable, and comprehensive services promoting physical, mental, and social emotional well-being for all. This includes services in behavioral health, substance use disorder prevention and treatment, social and emotional supports, prenatal and maternal supports, resources, as well as navigation of supplemental resources for uninsured/underinsured individuals, and other state and federal benefit programs.
Homelessness 
Services include encampment outreach; adult, youth, and young adult sheltering; supportive services such as case management; and connection to transitional and long-term housing options.
Household Stability
These services support residents facing housing insecurity by providing access to programs that enhance life skills and promote stability, including financial education, rental assistance, and other supportive services
Mental Health and Substance Use Disorders Â
Services funded range from inpatient care and emergency response to individual and group outpatient counseling from qualified professionals. RCW 82.14.460
Applications to provide contract services are processed through the City’s Finance Department – Procurement and Payables Division. Sign up for our email list to get alerts when new funding opportunities open for applications, or visit the City’s Contracting Opportunities web pages to explore all of our diverse service and supply contract opportunities.
How Contracting with NCS Works
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*NOTE: Each process varies. The following represents a general overview of the steps in a typical process.
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- A Notice of Funding Availability is released, advertised and available on the City’s website. Electronic applications are typically open for at least 30 days.
- Application support from the City includes:
- Application Workshops
- Technical Assistance
- Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
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- Staff screen applications to verify applicant eligibility for funding.
- Eligible applicants are invited to present their program and answer questions during an 8-10 minute oral presentation to a review panel who rates the applications.
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- The review panel, often the Human Services Commission, discusses compiled application scores, votes on funding allocations for each application, and makes funding recommendations.
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Depending on the amount of approved funding and nature of the program, City staff or City Council will finalize and approve funding recommendations.
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- Applicants will be notified of the funding recommendation for their program before awards are approved.
- Applicants recommended for funding will begin working with City staff to develop a contract for services.
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- Contracts may not be executed until funding recommendations are fully approved.
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All programs receiving City funding are required to:
- Submit monthly invoices (unless otherwise specified)
- Submit monthly and/or quarterly reports (client demographics, service-related outputs and outcomes)
- Participate in on-site monitoring to evaluate program operations and compliance (at least once during the contract period)