Columbus City Council - June 14, 2021

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Columbus City Council Meeting Highlights:

• USING FEDERAL DOLLARS FOR SUMMER YOUTH PROGRAMMING: Council President Shannon G. Hardin and President Pro Tem Elizabeth Brown are sponsoring ordinance 1390-2021 to enter into a $5,855,232 agreement with I Know I Can to provide summer programming for Columbus youth, using funding provided by the American Rescue Plan (ARP). These summer programs will create credit recovery, post-secondary education preparation, career readiness, and youth employment programs for high school students, providing them a safe environment, focused on their futures.

• CREATING A VACCINE INCENTIVE PROGRAM IN COLUMBUS: President Pro Tem Elizabeth Brown, chair of the Finance Committee is sponsoring ordinance 1490-2021 to create a vaccine incentive program for Columbus residents. This $275,000 program will be administered by the Columbus Urban League to provide $100 to residents for getting the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine or $50 for each shot of the Pfizer or Moderna shots.

• CREATING INTERVENTION STRATEGIES FOR BLACK GIRLS IN DISTRESS: Councilmember Priscilla Tyson is sponsoring ordinance 1435-2021 to execute a grant $27,968 agreement with The Ohio State University to create opportunities for healing with a mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) intervention with criminal justice system-involved Black girls and their parents or caregivers. There is an urgent need to provide specific, targeted support for criminal justice system-involved and at-risk Black girls. These girls are experiencing more stress due to the coronavirus, with 57% noting that their mental health was worse due to the virus and its affects.

• SUPPORTING SENIORS THROUGH PASSPORT: Councilmember Mitchell J. Brown, chair of the Public Safety Committee is sponsoring ordinances 1280-2021 and 1281-2021 to continue funding the Pre Admission Screening System Providing Options and Resources Today (PASSPORT) Medicaid Waiver Program in Central Ohio, which provides home care and assisted living services to older adults. This sustained $198,840,000 in funding helps support over 8,700 seniors in the program.

• CLEANING UP LITTER THROUGH YOUTH EMPLOYMENT PROGRAMS: Councilmember Emmanuel V. Remy, chair of the Environment Committee is sponsoring ordinance 1380-2021 to enter into a $2,001,175 agreement with YMCA of Central Ohio to fund the Youth Litter Pick-Up and Earth Service Corps programs. These programs will employ 400 youth and young adults to collect litter and debris at various locations in the Hilltop, Linden, Near East Side, Far East Side, South Side and Northland neighborhoods during the summer and fall of 2021. Participants, who will be supervised by the YMCA, will earn above minimum wage and will work an average of 20 hours per week during the inaugural 12 weeks of the program.

• ADVANCING ADDITIONAL SUPPORT FOR COLUMBUS FAMILIES TOGETHER FUND: Councilmember Shayla Favor, chair of the Criminal Justice & Judiciary Committee is sponsoring ordinances 1558, 1559, and 1560-2021 in support of the Columbus Families Together Fund. This program was established by Council in 2017 to protect immigrant and refugee families in Central Ohio from the long-term financial and emotional devastation that results from aggressive deportation. In the next phase of the fund, $300,000 will be awarded to Advocates for Basic Legal Equality (ABLE) to provide direct legal representation to detained immigrants in removal proceedings, and $75,000 will be awarded to the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) and Our Lady of Guadalupe Center of Catholic Social Services to provide legal services to immigrant and refugee families.

• BUILDING OUT SYSTEMS TO FURTHER DEVELOP EQUITABLE RESPONSES FOR COVID-19 RECOVERY: Councilmember Rob Dorans, chair of the Neighborhoods Committee is sponsoring ordinance 1123-2021 to enter into a $153,594 grant agreement with Partners Achieving Community Transformation (PACT) in support of the Equity Now Coalition. This funding will allow the Equity Now Coalition to further develop racially-equitable responses to the COVID-19 pandemic for the Black and other People of Color communities in Columbus including research work that will focus on building out a data management platform and smart data dashboard for Central Ohio, continuing communications, outreach and engagement work including focus groups, a community survey and building out a outreach & engagement plan to sustain continuous feedback loops with community stakeholder groups.