The Education and Human Services Committee of the Richmond City Council met on June 11, 2026, at approximately 9:45 AM. The committee heard an extensive update on gun violence prevention efforts and the alignment of the Department of Justice Services, received a human services update from the Deputy Chief Administrative Officer, and considered several ordinances related to opioid settlement funds, shelter operations, and after-school programming. All items were approved unanimously.
Madam Clerk, we have called uh quorum. I'm gonna call this meeting to order if you can read the emergency evacuation plan announcement and public speaker guidelines. Thank you. I find activation of the emergency alarm. Signal all person 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 9th Street to the fence area located between clanly 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. Failure to adhere to the guidelines may result in speakers forfeiting any remaining time and further disciplinary action as necessary, which can include barring from attendance and future meetings of the committee for a period of six months. And madam chair, all members of the committee are in attendance today, and you do have a quorum. Thank you, madam 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, singing nine and no one signed up before the 10 a.m. deadline. The public comment period is now closed and back to the committee. I gave her a clerk of the you're now madam chair, I guess. Madam Clerk. Um we'll move on to uh we're we're joined by the illustrious Greg Hoppins. 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 really, 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 Brampton, members of the Education Human Service Committee colleagues, members of the public. Today I'm gonna go over a brief overview of gun violence prevention efforts here in the city of Richmond, just picking up where we left off in November and giving you all the overview of where we are now. Um, like again, I want to say thank you for the opportunity to provide update of the work that we're doing, and I appreciate the continued leadership and commitment through you all to strengthen families, support neighborhoods, and advancing public safety through the city of Richmond. Um, today we're gonna discuss a lot, but I'm gonna try to be as brief as possible because a lot of information. Um, I will provide overview of the Department of Justice Service updates, um, review key gun violence data trends, um, highlight the impact of safer community investments, discuss our Virginia Crime Control Act, and provide update on trauma healing response network and include the 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 positive advisor for gun violence prevention, and now blah, who am I? I'm the Department of Justice Service Director, right? Um, 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.