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City reports more than $180,000 paid from family crisis fund after water outage; about $514,000 remains
Summary
City staff briefed the committee on Family Crisis Fund activity tied to the recent water outage: payments made, remaining balance, referral counts, approval rate and average payment amounts; staff said urgent eviction cases are referred to eviction-diversion partners.
City staff told the Education and Human Services Standing Committee that the Family Crisis Fund—expanded after a citywide water outage—has made payments and continues to process hundreds of requests.
Why it matters: The fund was stood up to help Richmond residents who documented financial hardship related to the water outage. Committee members asked how quickly payments can be processed for urgent cases, including eviction risk, and staff described coordination with the eviction-diversion program.
Key figures and process: - Demand and processing: Staff said roughly 2,200 requests arrived in the first three days after the fund opened, at which point the city paused intake to allow the queue to be processed. - Payments and remaining balance: As of the morning of the meeting, staff said the fund had made “over $180,000” in payments since Feb. 5 and that about $514,000 remained in the fund. - Case counts: Officials said 596 cases were referred to partner agencies, about 313 cases remained open (waiting on documentation, vendor payment processing, or referral action) and 283 cases had been fully closed. An additional roughly 66 cases were removed as duplicates. - Approval rate and payment sizes: The program’s approval rate was about 45%. The average payment since Feb. 5 was about $1,655. Staff said traditional Family Crisis Fund awards average about $1,800, while payments directly tied to the water outage average roughly $1,100–$1,200. - Process and timelines: Staff said some urgent approvals can be completed within 48 hours if requesters submit documentation promptly and partners can process payments quickly; more typical turnaround times vary and can take up to a month depending on documentation and vendor payment methods.
Staff and referrals: Dominic Barrett, senior policy advisor in the deputy chief administrative officer’s office for human services, said urgent eviction-risk cases are often referred to the eviction-diversion program, which may be a better fit. He also said the fund pays vendors directly rather than giving payments to individuals and that payments sometimes require fiscal-agent processing (including W-9s or mail-based vendor payment delays).
Costs to administer: Barrett said the fiscal agent’s contract includes a program-management fee believed to be about 10% of extended family crisis fund payments and noted the program has used city staff time and in-kind support (for example, OCWB and Office of Aging and Disability Services staff) rather than new direct personnel spending.
Follow-up: Committee members asked the administration to provide additional timeline examples, documentation requirements and any further breakdowns committee members need to evaluate cases at risk of eviction and to ensure timely payment for urgent needs.
