Hampton’s Hopeful Hampton reports declines in shootings and expands youth employment, diversion and relocation services

Leticia Handy, director of the Office of Youth and Young Adult Opportunities, presented the Hopeful Hampton initiative’s annual report to the Hampton City Council, summarizing prevention and intervention work aimed at reducing gun violence and stabilizing youth and families.

Handy said the office’s core focus is prevention, intervention and family stabilization and stressed the program’s “carrot-and-stick” model: city-funded wraparound services combined with enforcement and prosecution where appropriate.

Key program results and figures (as presented): - Summer youth employment grew from 83 participants in 2022 to 147 in 2025, placed across 58 host sites; the program received more than 400 applications this year. - The Hopeful Hampton Divergent program (a 12-week incentivized intervention) had 27–28 participants in the most recent cohort, with 19 completed program successes and 8 reoffenders for a reported 70.4% success rate. - Between 2023 and 2025 the presenter reported an aggregate decrease of “50–57% or higher” relative to 2023 shooting peaks, though Handy noted peaks occurred in 2023 and 2025 and that police data timing can vary by reporting period. - The office reported 169 individuals were originally on the vulnerability list (those at greatest risk of involvement in shootings); as of the presentation the list showed 92 active and 77 removed, with 51 people removed after two years without incident. - Opportunity Connect, the case-management/referral platform, handled more than 65 cases in FY2025; roughly 60 of those were assigned individualized service plans. - The office reported relocating six families temporarily and three young adults permanently into transitional housing this year; three of those maintained housing and employment.

Handy highlighted several program elements: - Neighborhood resource centers: The office received $4.6 million (congressional allocation attributed to Congressman Bobby Scott) to develop five neighborhood resource centers in targeted areas. Rip Rap Road was identified as the first site; the office was in contract review with Bethel Christian to open a center before Oct. 1. - Shoreline Operation Station: An initial temporary tent staffed during high-use periods evolved into a permanent staffed structure for Buckroe Beach; Handy reported the station operated seven days per week from noon to 8 p.m. during the season and that since the Shoreline Operation Station began the office recorded no fights or youth-related incidents requiring a police call for service while on duty (two missing-children events were resolved quickly). - Violence interrupters and outside agencies: Handy described a network of contracted “credible messengers” and interruption partners. The office reported an annual contracted investment of roughly $287,762 previously, later “quartiled down” to approximately $168,000 for FY2026 allocations, with most organizations funded at about $42,000 per year and one organization receiving higher funding because it provided wraparound services and mental-health coordination.

Handy discussed finance and grant administration: the office carried over roughly $1,170,000 in FY2025 funds and reported that total general-fund appropriations and grants had been used for capital, programming and salaries. She compared the office’s prevention spending to incarceration costs, noting Virginia’s annual incarceration cost per inmate at $61,000 and asserting prevention spending was lower than the hypothetical incarceration cost for comparable individuals.

Council members asked about operational details including case-management training, data quality, transportation for summer youth employees, and the sustainability of hospital partnerships for housing placements. Handy said outside agencies use a common reporting tool (Opportunity Connect/JotForm), acknowledged data-entry and training needs, and said some housing stabilization expenses may be routed through a Riverside Hospital partnership.

Summer Youth Employment success coach model: Council also heard from three summer success coaches — Alexa Gaines (VCU), Yajimai “Michelle” Prempeh (Hampton University), and Damir Borders (Livingstone College) — who said the success coach role provided on-site mentoring, conflict mediation and supervisor support across many work sites. The success coaches reported supporting 87 young people directly (about 59% of SYEP participants) via 55 site evaluations, 12 reflections and routine check‑ins; supervisors and councilmembers praised the model.

Ending: Handy asked for continued city support and monitoring; she said the steering committee and partners will continue working on neighborhood centers, stabilization placements and data systems. Council members praised the office’s results and asked for additional success stories in future reports for public communication.