Richmond Education and Human Services Committee Meeting - June 11, 2026
Richmond Education and Human Services Committee Meeting - June 11, 2026
The Education and Human Services Committee of the Richmond City Council met on June 11, 2026, at 2:00 PM. The meeting featured a comprehensive presentation on gun violence prevention and justice services, updates from the Deputy Chief Administrative Officer for Human Services, and action on several ordinances related to opioid settlement funds, shelter operations, and afterschool programming. All items on the agenda were approved unanimously. The meeting adjourned after a brief approval of minutes from the May 14, 2026 meeting.
Public Comments & Testimony
- No members of the public signed up to speak on any agenda item before the 10:00 AM deadline. No public comments were made during the meeting.
Discussion Items
- Gun Violence Prevention and Justice Services Update – Greg Hopkins, Director of the Department of Justice Services, presented an overview of the city's gun violence prevention efforts. He highlighted the alignment of the Office of Gun Violence Prevention with Justice Services and provided detailed data: Black residents accounted for the majority of shooting victims; males and young adults remain highest risk; the highest concentration of shootings occurs in the East End and North Side. Safer Communities grant funding has impacted over 16,000 residents through 395 program activities, representing $3.2 million in violence prevention investments across 13 sub-recipients and 26 communities. The Virginia Community Crime Control Act (VJCCA) funding has remained flat since 1995, while youth needs have grown more complex. In 2026, 251 youth are served, with 865 cases processed and over 500 youth diverted from deeper court involvement. The Trauma Healing Response Network logged 70 incident-related alert responses, conducted over 900 wellness checks, coordinated 120 emergency relief requests, and distributed over $35,000 in emergency assistance. The Office of Gun Violence Prevention is partnering with the National Institute for Criminal Justice Reform to develop a five-year strategic plan. Councilmembers praised the integrated approach and asked about metrics, victim fund access, and collaboration with Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority on VAWA transfers.
- Human Services Updates – Amy Popovich, DCAO for Human Services, announced upcoming Juneteenth events and highlighted Parks and Recreation summer programs, including a new interactive map for meal sites (18-20 locations citywide) and the full integration of parks services into the 311 system (200 requests in the first month). She noted that the Richmond Free Press has gifted its archive to Richmond Public Libraries. She also recognized Greg Hopkins for testifying before a U.S. House subcommittee on gun violence prevention.
- Ordinance 2026-140 and 2026-141 (Opioid Settlement Funds) – Anna Jones, Opioid Response Strategist, explained that the first ordinance authorizes acceptance of $1,164,547.84 from national opioid settlements into the city's special fund. The second ordinance transfers $300,000 to the Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) Pilot Program run by the Richmond City Sheriff's Office, which has served 178 unique individuals since January 2025. Both ordinances were approved unanimously.
- Ordinance 2026-143 and 2026-144 (Salvation Army Shelter) – Steve Harms, Policy Advisor, presented a two-year extension of the operating grant for a 50-bed men's year-round shelter and inclement weather/cooling center, and a lease amendment for a resource and training center at 1900 Chamberlain Avenue. Both ordinances were approved unanimously.
- Ordinance 2026-139 (CARITAS Surge Shelter) – Dominic Barrett, Senior Policy Advisor, explained that this ordinance transfers $80,000 from an unused Venture Richmond line item to cover additional surge shelter nights needed due to extreme weather and Winter Storm Fern. The ordinance was approved unanimously.
- Ordinance 2026-142 (YMCA Afterschool Program) – Eva Collin, Senior Policy Advisor, presented a grant contract with the YMCA of Greater Richmond for low-cost afterschool programming at six elementary schools (Francis Red, Cardinal, Munford, Holton, and Fox). The contract covers the just-concluded school year due to a budget misunderstanding. Councilmembers discussed capacity constraints, licensing requirements, and the broader childcare crisis, including changes to state subsidy eligibility that limit access for school-age children without a sibling under five. The ordinance was approved unanimously.
Key Outcomes
- The committee approved all six ordinances (2026-140, 2026-141, 2026-143, 2026-144, 2026-139, and 2026-142) unanimously (3-0) and forwarded them to the full City Council with a recommendation to approve.
- The committee approved the minutes from the May 14, 2026 meeting as presented.
Meeting Transcript
Madam Clerk, we have call uh quorum. I'm gonna call this meeting to order if you can read the emergency evacuation plan announcement in public speaker guidelines. Thank you. I find activation of the emergency alarm signal, all persons should immediately exit the building. Please use the exits to the left or right front of the council chamber or the north or south stairwells outside of your doors at the chamber. Do not use elevators or escalators. After exiting the building, security will direct everyone down ninth street to the fenced area located between claims streets. Able persons should assist visually and hearing impaired visitors with exiting the building. Public speaker guidelines. Individuals wishing to speak during public hearings and the public comment period are generally allowed three minutes to speak. Persons appearing before the committee are not allowed to campaign for public office, promote private business ventures, use language of a personal nature which insults or demeans any person, including comments directed at public officials or staff members that are not related to their official duties or address a question staff members directly. All questions are to be directed to the committee chair. And uh we'll take public comment. Public comment is now open. Is there anyone present who wishes to address this committee regarding items not on today's agenda? Madam Chair, Singh, and no one signed up before the 10 a.m. deadline. I gave our clerk of the pressure. You're now madam chair, I guess, madam clerk. I see him in the audience with us. I'm so excited you're here with us today. We'll roll right into your uh presentation. And um, just a little housekeeping for the audience and those out there in TV land today. We're gonna roll it. This is gonna be a rocket docket, is what they call it across the street. So we're gonna roll through this agenda. We got committee members that have a hard stop at 3 15. So we're gonna really try to roll through this, uh, roll through this agenda. Okay. All right. Thank you, Mr. Hopkins. Good afternoon. I'm gonna try to be as brief as possible. Um, so good afternoon, Chairwoman Lynch, Councilwoman Jones, Councilman Brimpton, members of the education Human Service committee colleagues, members of the public. Today, I'm going to go over a brief and overview of gun violence prevention efforts here in the city of Richmond. Um, just picking up where we left off in November and giving you all the overview of where we are now. Today we're going to discuss a lot, but I'm going to try to be as brief as possible because a lot of information. I will provide overview of the Department of Justice Service updates, review key gun violence data trends. Highlight the impact of safer community investments, discuss our Virginia Crime Control Act, and provide update on trauma healing response network and include Departmental Office of Gun Violence Prevention updates. So here's some updates for you guys. Last time I was here, I think I was a senior position advisor for gun violence prevention, and now voila, who am I? I'm the Department of Justice Service Director, right? So a lot has changed. So at the end of the day, we're gonna talk about that alignment and what it means. But we do have some new folks. Um, Mr. Tracy Matthews and Miss Leda Jones. They come by way of the state and local government. Ms.
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