Life Enrichment Committee Meeting – January 27, 2026 – Oakland
Life Enrichment Committee Meeting – January 27, 2026
The Life Enrichment Committee of the Oakland City Council met on January 27, 2026, at 4:05 PM. The meeting lasted approximately 30 minutes and included approval of prior minutes, a schedule of outstanding committee items, and a major action item to award SAMHSA-funded grants for trauma-informed behavioral health services. Three council members were present; one was excused.
Consent Calendar
- Approval of Draft Minutes (Jan 13, 2026) – Motion by Councilmember Wong, seconded by Chair Fife. Passed 3-0 (Gallio excused).
- Determination of Schedule of Outstanding Committee Items – Motion by Councilmember Houston, seconded by Councilmember Wong. Passed 3-0.
Public Comments & Testimony
- David Boatwright (District 4) – Asked that contact information in reports be operational; requested a comprehensive grant appraisal system to measure outcomes and justify continued funding.
- Blair Beekman – Praised the mental health program and expressed concern about California’s redefinition of mental health and drug addiction policies. Emphasized the need for coordination with programs like Ceasefire and real-time street interventions.
Discussion Items
- Item 3: Resolution to Award Grant Agreements Using SAMHSA Funds
- Presentation: Desirelyn Cole, ReCAST Program Manager, presented the proposed $437,000 grant to three agencies and a $200,000 professional services agreement (total $637,000) for Oct 1, 2025 – Dec 31, 2026. The program provides trauma-informed behavioral health services to high-risk youth, mental health first aid training, and community partnerships. Key metrics include training 58 city staff across 17 departments, 200 community members trained, partnerships grown from 65 to 79 agencies, and over $50,000 per year in youth-led mini-grants. A mental health awareness campaign reached over 1 million impressions.
- Council Questions:
- Councilmember Houston asked about contractor selection (the city selects them) and whether there will be a future funding cycle (this is the fifth and final year; reauthorization depends on SAMHSA). Success stories highlighted the Men’s Wellness Group serving over 100 men monthly.
- Councilmember Wong asked about coordination with other city programs (Ceasefire, violence interrupters). ReCAST previously coordinated but later offered training to violence disruptors. She also inquired about city staff training – offered via Citywide Training database and on request. Concerns were raised about delayed payments to community-based organizations; Human Services Director Jason Lester acknowledged a backlog due to understaffed contract team and proposed using vacancy savings to address it.
- Motion and Vote: Motion by Councilmember Houston, seconded by Councilmember Wong to approve staff recommendations and forward to the Feb 3, 2026 City Council meeting on consent. Passed 3-0 (Gallio excused).
Key Outcomes
- Consent Calendar Items Approved – Minutes and pending list adopted unanimously.
- SAMHSA Grant Resolution Approved – The committee recommended approval to the full City Council, placing the item on the consent calendar for Feb 3, 2026.
- Payment Delay Issue Addressed – Human Services announced a plan to use vacancy savings to hire additional contract staff and reduce payment delays.
- Committee Adjourned – Chair Fife acknowledged the passing of former staffer Bridget Cook and thanked city staff for their response to the downtown fire emergency.
Meeting Transcript
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I just found out this afternoon. Good afternoon and welcome to the Life Enrichment Committee. For today's date, January 27, 2026. The time is now 4.05 p.m. and this meeting has come to order. Before taking roll, I will provide instructions on how to submit a speaker's card for items on this agenda. If you're here with us in chambers and you would like to submit a speaker's card, please fill one out and turn it to a clerk representative. Before the item is read into record, speaker requests were due 24 hours prior to this meeting. This meeting came to order at 4.05 p.m. Speaker cards will no longer be accepted 10 minutes after a meeting has began, making that time 4.15 p.m. With that, we would now begin to take roll. Council Member Gayo is excused. Council Member Houston. Present. Councilmember Wong present and chair five present thank you we have three members present one excuse Gallo and before you begin chair five do you have any announcements I do not have any announcements and I think this should be a very straightforward meeting we have one action item on the agenda so let's go ahead and get into it thank you moving to our first item of the day which is item one approval of the draft minutes from the committee meeting on January 13th 2026. are there speakers there are no speakers for this item I'll entertain a motion I'll second we have a motion made by council member one seconded by chair fife to accept the approval of the draft minutes from the committee meeting held on january 13 2026 as is on roll council member gaio is excused council member houston thank you councilman wong aye and chair fife this motion passes with three eyes one excuse gaio moving to to accept the approval of the draft minutes of the committee meeting on january 13 2026 as is moving to item two determination schedule outstanding committee items this is also known as your pending list so to the administration do you have any proposed changes do the chair we do not did you want thank you thank you uh any uh amendments or updates changes from the body seeing none uh i will entertain a motion we have a motion made by council member houston seconded by council member wong to accept the termination schedule outstanding committee items as is on roll council member gallio is excused council member houston council member wong aye and chair fife aye this motion passes with three eyes one excuse gallio to accept the termination schedule outstanding committee items as is moving to item three Adopt the resolution one awarding grant agreements using substance abuse and mental health services administration funds to three agencies in a total amount not to exceed 437,000 to provide trauma and informed behavior services to the high-risk youth from October 1st 2025 to December 31st 2026 and to waiving the local and small local and requests for proposal requirements and awarding professional service agreement in the amount not to exceed $200,000 in SAMHSA funding for October 1st, 25 through December 31st, 26, and three authorizing the city administrator to amend grant agreements and professional services and the set amount of agreements using the carryover and relocated
openpublica.com