Chair opens public testimony and gives decorum instructions
Brooks-Powers opens the hearing to public testimony and reminds attendees that decorum must be observed. She explains that speakers get two minutes, written testimony can be submitted, and audio or video recordings are not accepted as testimony.
But we're still open to having community involved.
The same 2025 report also noted that program participants, despite being satisfied with the Neon Works program, faced barriers to participation such as commitments to their school or job,
caregiving responsibilities, concerns with neighborhood safety, and limited access to mental health support.
Has the department addressed any of these issues?
So the NEON, by definition, is about tapping into all the resources that we can bear at a given community.
And by and large, whether it's behavioral health services or vocational mentoring opportunities, they open to everyone in that community.
And significantly, our job now is to make sure that our clients are also connected to the services at hand.
But has the department addressed any of those issues?
So let me go up front and say that's what we're doing right now.
We sort of redoubling, working with a stakeholder.
Again, that was something that the commission underscored in her testimony.
Engaging the stakeholder, by definition, is about that.
It's about making sure that what matters to that community is happening, whether it's a type of programming that is needed, if there's a gap, that we can be there up front and able to engage them.
So in short, are we addressing it?