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Hampton's Office of Economic Empowerment reports early gains, stresses need for case management
Summary
Deanna Valentine briefed council on the office's first-year work: the city's ALICE rate was cited at 31%; staff reported 28 tabling events, 200+ job-seeker contacts, 28 employer relationships and 112 unduplicated workforce clients, and said a case-management system is planned for March—April to improve follow-up and outcome tracking.
Deanna Valentine, director of Hampton's Office of Economic Empowerment and Family Resilience, told the City Council that her office has shifted from a resource-to-resource model to a person-centered, front-facing service focused on economic mobility and family supports.
"Living-wage employment plus supportive services is how we will be able to get people to that family resilience space," Valentine said, tying workforce strategies to broader goals like asset building and housing stability.
Valentine cited local ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) data showing about 31% of Hampton households fall into that category, higher than the stated state average given in her presentation. She described key performance indicators the office is using: income and employment outcomes, financial health and asset building, and family resilience measures. Early activity figures presented to council included 28 tabling events, more than 200 job-seeker contacts, 28 employer relationships and 112 unduplicated clients who received workforce services (resume help, interview prep and job referrals).
Valentine said the office lacks comprehensive follow-up capacity. "One of the struggles that we have... is being able to do that follow-up," she said, and announced the city has secured a case-management system staff expect to implement around March—April to improve tracking of training completions, certification testing and job retention. She also said the office is part of a Bloomberg/Harvard data track to strengthen evidence-based program design.
Childcare emerged as a recurring priority in community engagement: Valentine said surveys and focus groups showed demand for expanded childcare options, nontraditional-hour care and supports for special-needs children. She said the office will field a broader public survey and is coordinating with Virginia Peninsula Community College on workforce and early-childhood training and stipends for eligible participants.
Valentine announced a ribbon-cutting for the office scheduled for Wednesday, Jan. 21 at 3:00 p.m. Councilmembers urged stronger data collection and case management, recommended additional staff and internship partnerships (Virginia Peninsula Community College, Hampton University, Christopher Newport University) to expand capacity, and pressed staff to return with more quantitative outcome data as the office implements the new tracking system.
The council did not adopt new policy at the work session; members thanked Valentine for the report and encouraged staff to return with metrics showing program impact.
