September 22, 2026
City Manager's Office
DATE: September 22, 2026
TO: Mayor Martinez and Members of the City Council
FROM: Patrick Seals, Administrative Chief,
Jora Atienza Washington, Senior Management Analyst
Nicholas Delgado, Associate Management Analyst
SUBJECT: Richmond Fund for Children and Youth (RFCY) 2025 Evaluation
FINANCIAL IMPACT: There is no financial impact related to this item.
PREVIOUS COUNCIL
ACTION:
None.
STATEMENT OF THE
ISSUE:
The Richmond Fund for Children and Youth (RFCY) is
a City-managed grant program that funds communitybased organizations serving Richmond and North Richmond children, youth, and families. Under Article 15 of the City Charter, the Fund is required to undergo
regular independent evaluation to confirm that funded
programs are producing meaningful outcomes for the
community. WestEd, the City's contracted third-party
evaluator, has completed its evaluation of RFCY-funded
programs for Calendar Year 2025, the first year of the
Fund's 2025–2027 three-year grant cycle, and will
present its findings directly to City Council. This report is part of the Fund's ongoing annual evaluation cycle,
meant to keep fund expenditures accountable to the
Charter and to give Council, grantees, and
the Richmond community a clear picture of how the
Fund's grant programs are performing.
AGENDA
REPORT
September 22, 2026
RECOMMENDED ACTION: RECEIVE a presentation from WestEd, the Richmond Fund for Children & Youth’s independent third-party
evaluator, on the Calendar Year 2025 Evaluation Report
on the Richmond Fund for Children & Youth – Richmond
Department of Children (Patrick Seals/Jora Atienza
Washington/Nicholas Delgado 510-620-6523).
DISCUSSION:
In 2018, Richmond voters approved Measures E and K, collectively known as the "Richmond Kids First Initiative," which amended the City Charter to establish the Richmond Fund for Children and Youth (RFCY) and the Richmond Department of Children and Youth (RDCY) to administer it. The Fund was established to support programs that promote the health and success of Richmond's children and youth.
The Charter requires that the Fund undergo regular evaluation and assigns this responsibility to the RFCY Oversight Board. The Oversight Board is charged with retaining an independent, third-party evaluator on an annual basis to assess the implementation and effectiveness of funded programs. This requirement ensures that the City Council, grantees, and the public receive an independent assessment of the Fund's performance, distinct from self-reported information from the Department or its grantees.
WestEd, the evaluator retained for this purpose, previously conducted the Fund's evaluation for Fiscal Years 2021 through 2024, its first grant cycle. This report covers Calendar Year 2025, the first year of the Fund's current grant cycle, which spans 2025 through 2027. For this cycle, the Oversight Board approved 37 grants totaling $6,734,835 annually for three years, to 36 community-based organizations, for a cycle total of $20,204,505. As the first year of implementation, Calendar Year 2025 included a startup period in which several grantees experienced contract delays, with full implementation across all grantees expected by 2026.
In Calendar Year 2025, funded programs delivered 29,534 hours of service and recorded 15,774 participant encounters across 107 program sites in Richmond and North Richmond.
Grantees described the Fund's multiyear structure as a stabilizing source of support for their organizations, helping them retain staff, expand services, and plan over a longer term.
The RFCY Oversight Board received the evaluation report at its special meeting on August 24, 2026. WestEd will present these findings to City Council. WestEd will continue to serve as the Fund's evaluator through the remainder of the current grant cycle, with subsequent reports to be presented in 2027 and 2028.
Key Evaluation Findings
September 22, 2026
Evaluation is an important component of the RFCY’s accountability structure and provides an independent assessment of the programs and services supported through the Fund. The prior evaluation was guided by questions concerning grantee capacity, program implementation, expansion of program reach, reduction of service gaps, program quality, and positive outcomes for participants. For the Fiscal Years 2021 through 2024 evaluation, WestEd utilized a mixed-methods approach combining quantitative information from grantee reports and participant surveys with qualitative information gathered through interviews, focus groups, and administrative data review.
For Calendar Year 2025, WestEd continued their evaluation efforts with the new 3- year grantees and completed its required analysis and compiled the results into the attached evaluation report. The attached report provides the detailed evaluation results and serves as the independent evaluator’s assessment of RFCY-funded programs for the reporting period.
RFCY-funded programs demonstrated positive outcomes across key areas:
Academic Success: Increased engagement, motivation, and positive attitudes toward learning.
Health and Wellbeing: Improved healthy decision-making, coping, and stressmanagement skills. Career and Postsecondary Readiness: Increased knowledge of career, employment, and educational pathways.
Social Connections and Leadership: Stronger peer relationships, leadership skills, and community awareness.
Life Skills: Improved goal setting, future planning, and personal development. Supportive Services: Increased connections to educational, food, counseling, and other family resources.
Overall, findings indicate that current RFCY-funded programs are supporting the academic, social, emotional, and future success of Richmond children, youth, and families.
Recommendations
Based on the 2025 evaluation findings, several opportunities were identified to strengthen implementation and maximize the impact of RFCY investments over the remainder of the 2025–2027 funding cycle. Recommended actions include:
Improve access and engagement by reducing participation barriers and continuing flexible, culturally responsive, and community-based services. Strengthen program quality through clear performance improvement processes and targeted technical assistance based on grantee needs. Support organizational sustainability through capacity building, sustainability planning, and enhanced support for small and emerging organizations. Strengthen school-community partnerships to improve coordination, service delivery, and data sharing.
September 22, 2026
Improve data and grant monitoring by refining reporting systems, standardizing requirements, monitoring data quality, and providing ongoing technical assistance.
These actions will support continuous improvement, strengthen accountability, and maximize RFCY investments over the remainder of the funding cycle.
Conclusion
The first year of the Fund’s 2025–2027 funding cycle demonstrates meaningful progress in reaching Richmond communities with significant needs and supporting positive outcomes for children, youth, and families. In 2025, funded programs provided substantial direct services, with participants and caregivers reporting improvements across academic, health and wellbeing, social connection, leadership, and college and career readiness outcomes. RFCY funding also provided organizational stability for grantees, supporting staff retention, expanded services, and longer-term planning.
The evaluation also identified opportunities to strengthen Fund administration, data infrastructure, organizational capacity, and school-community partnerships. As these findings represent early indicators from the first year of a three-year funding cycle, continued attention to program quality, grantee capacity, partnerships, and continuous improvement will help strengthen accountability and maximize the impact of RFCY investments over the remainder of the funding cycle.
ATTACHMENTS: