Education and Human Services Standing Committee
Council Chamber, 2nd Floor - City Hall
Agenda — 64 items
- 1 Persons requesting to provide comments virtually during the public hearings or public comment period held at this meeting, must call the Office of the City Clerk at (804) 646-7955, option 3, by no later than 10:00 a.m., on Thursday, June 12, 2025.
- 1 Committee and Other Council Members in Attendance
- 2 Call to Order
- 2 The Honorable Stephanie Lynch - Chair The Honorable Nicole Jones - Member
- 3 Chamber Emergency Evacuation Plan Announcement and Public Speaker Guidelines
- 3 Absent
- 4 Public Comment Period
- 4 The Honorable Andrew Breton - Vice Chair
- 5 Presentation(s)
- 5 Staff in Attendance
- 6 Trauma Healing Response Network
- 6 Ariel Hedgepeth, Assistant City Attorney Kimberly Morris, Assistant City Clerk Will Perkins, Senior Council Legislative Services Manager Candice Reid, City Clerk
- 7 Trauma Healing Response Network
- 8 Discussion Item(s)
- 8 Chair Stephanie Lynch called the meeting to order at 2:04 p.m., and presided.
- 9 Update from the Deputy Chief Administrative Officer (DCAO) for Human Services
- 10 Paper(s) for Consideration
- 10 Upon the Vice Chair's request, Assistant City Clerk Kimberly Morris provided information on the appropriate way to evacuate the Council Chamber in an emergency along with public speaker guidelines.
- 1. To amend Ord. No. 2024-099, adopted May 13, 2024, which adopted the Fiscal Year 2024-2025 General Fund Budget and made appropriations pursuant thereto, by (i) transferring $96,250.00 from the Non-Departmental agency, The Literacy Lab line item, (ii) appropriating $66,250.00 of such transferred funds to the Non-Departmental agency, Reserve for Children’s Fund (Early Childhood, Positive Youth Development, Postsecondary Success) line item, and (iii) appropriating $30,000.00 of such transferred funds to the Challenge Discovery Projects, Inc. (Behavioral Health Clinic) line item in the Non-Departmental agency, all for the purpose of providing funds for emergent needs related to children.
- 2. To authorize the Chief Administrative Officer, for and on behalf of the City of Richmond, to execute a First Amendment to Opioid Funds Agreement between the City of Richmond and the City Sheriff for the purpose of continuing the Medication Assisted Treatment Pilot Program.
- 12 There were no public comment speakers.
- 4. To request that the Chief Administrative Officer cause to be established a work group to work in collaboration with Richmond Public Schools to develop a funding formula for allocating General Fund revenues annually for school operating expenses and a plan for implementation in the Fiscal Year 2027 General Fund Budget. (As Amended)
- 13 page break
- 3. To authorize the Chief Administrative Officer, for and on behalf of the City of Richmond, to execute an UpTogether Grant Contract between the City of Richmond and FII - National for the purpose of implementing the Richmond Resilience Initiative guaranteed income program.
- 15 Board Vacancies
- 16 There were no board vacancies
- 17 page break
- 17 Lorraine Wright, Violence Prevention Program Manager, Richmond City Health District, provided the committee with a presentation regarding the Trauma Healing Response Network.
- 18 Approval of Minutes
- 18 Chair Stephanie Lynch stated the Trauma Healing Response Network has been instrumental to the community, and that she was proud of the evolution of the program.
- 19 May 8, 2025 - Education & Human Services Standing Committee Meeting Minutes
- 19 Member Nicole Jones thanked Ms. Wright for the presentation and recognized the hard work of the Trauma Healing Response Network. She requested statistics on the program's benefits citywide.
- 20 Staff Report
- 22 DCAO Amy Popovich provided the committee with an update regarding water delivery, cooling centers and inclement weather shelters.
- 24 The following ordinance was considered:
- 26 Eva Colen, Senior Policy Advisor for Human Services, provided the committee with an introduction and background regarding ORD. 2025-121.
- 27 Public Hearing
- 28 There were no public hearing speakers.
- 29 There were no comments or discussions and Member Nicole Jones moved to forward ORD. 2025-121 to Council with a recommendation to approve, which was seconded and unanimously approved.
- 30 The following ordinance was considered:
- 32 Jason Alley, Policy Advisor for Opioid Response with the Richmond Sheriff's Office, provided the committee with an introduction and background regarding ORD. 2025-124.
- 33 Public Hearing
- 34 There were no public hearing speakers.
- 35 There were no comments or discussions and Member Nicole Jones moved to forward ORD. 2025-124 to Council with a recommendation to approve, which was seconded and unanimously approved.
- 36 The following ordinance was considered:
- 38 Derrick Wadley, Programs and Operations Supervisor for the Office of Community Wealth Building, provided the committee with an introduction and background regarding ORD. 2025-139.
- 39 Public Hearing
- 40 There were no public hearing speakers.
- 41 Member Nicole Jones asked whether applicant selection had been initiated, and inquired about the duration of the program.
- 42 Mr. Wadley stated the cohort recruitment was in progress and the duration of the program is two years and one month.
- 43 Chair Stephanie Lynch asked whether this was a new grant contract with UpTogether or a contract renewal.
- 44 Mr. Wadley stated that UpTogether previously administered the earlier cohorts and was rejoining the city to administer the upcoming cohort.
- 45 There were no further comments or discussions and Member Nicole Jones moved to forward ORD. 2025-139 to Council with a recommendation to approve, which was seconded and unanimously approved.
- 46 The following resolution was considered:
- 48 Meghan Brown, Director of Budget and Strategic Planning, provided the committee with an introduction and background regarding RES. 2025-R023. Ms. Brown stated that the resolution needed to be amended to change the plan's due date from August 30, 2025, to October 15, 2025.
- 49 page break
- 50 Public Hearing
- 51 Matt Percival, Vice Chair of the Richmond School Board, spoke in support of RES. 2025-R023, and thanked the Education and Human Services Standing Committee for its consideration.
- 52 There were no further comments or discussions and Chair Stephanie Lynch moved to forward RES. 2025-R023 to Council with a recommendation to approve with amendment, which was seconded and unanimously approved.
- 55 Shareyna Chang, Richmond Public Schools Chief of Staff, provided updates regarding graduation, the Summer Bridge Program, and staggered start dates for back to school.
- 57 Council staff provided the committee with the June Education and Human Services Standing Committee staff report.
- 59 There were no amendments or corrections to the meeting minutes of May 8, 2025, and the committee approved the minutes as presented.
- 61 Adjournment
- 62 There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 2:43 p.m.