Children deserve investment, opportunity — not punishment
California’s AB 2267 bolsters state’s landmark Youth Reinvestment Grant Program, which has helped transform communities
[May 22 Update: Assembly Bill 2267 (Jones-Sawyer), a bill that would have bolstered California’s Youth Reinvestment Grant (YRG) program and expanded services and supports to keep young people in their communities and out of the juvenile justice system, did not advance out of the California Assembly’s Appropriations Committee this month. While this outcome is unfortunate and will delay much-needed progress, the National Center for Youth Law remains committed as ever to ensuring California’s youth receive trauma-informed and culturally relevant support rather than criminalization and punishment.
AB 2267, which was sponsored by NCYL, aimed to build on the success of the YRG Program, by enhancing the positive impacts the program has had on communities across the state. Specifically, it would have moved the YRG Program under the more appropriate Office of Youth and Community Restoration (OYCR), increased eligible services, and provided key assistance to providers to strengthen local supports.
Had it been enacted, AB 2267 would have helped more children across California, especially Black, Latine, and Native youth, access a wider range of services to support their growth and development while avoiding the many harms of the juvenile justice system.]
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By Darya Larizadeh, a Senior Policy Attorney with the National Center for Youth Law
In the six years since California took the bold step of investing in its young people and exploring ways to keep them out of the juvenile justice system rather than ensnare them in it, thousands of young lives have been transformed for the better — even if only by receiving a chance.
The 2018 establishment of the landmark Youth Reinvestment Grant (YRG) Program, which allocated state funds for trauma-informed and culturally relevant services that divert youth in under-resourced communities away from the juvenile justice system, signaled an important — and much-needed — step forward. It proved that investing in young people, instead of punishing them, can not only improve their lives, but lead to stronger, healthier and safer communities overall.
It’s critical that we don’t lose that momentum.
Assembly Bill 2267, currently making its way through the California Assembly, would build on the YRG Program’s success and help expand and enhance the positive impacts the program has had on communities across the state. Specifically, the bill moves the YRG Program under the more appropriate Office of Youth and Community Restoration (OYCR), increases eligible services, and provides key assistance to providers to help bolster local supports.
In short: AB 2267 will allow more children across California, specifically Black, Latine, and Native youth, to experience a wider range of services that support their growth and development while avoiding the many harms of the juvenile justice system.
Helping transform communities
The YRG Program has had a profound, and proven, impact on young people — particularly young people of color — in communities across the state. Among the program’s positive outcomes:
- In 2019, thanks to YRG Program funding, the Young Women’s Freedom Center was able to launch innovative diversion programs centered on healing, mentorship and development throughout Santa Clara County. The county went from having 268 girls incarcerated in its jails in 2018, to months-long stretches with zero girls incarcerated in recent years. Additionally, girls who’ve experienced the diversion programs, including trainings on stepping into their power and becoming advocates, have used their voices to influence decision-makers across the county regarding issues that impact their lives.
- In Santa Clara County, the Community Agency for Resources, Advocacy and Services (CARAS) used YRG Program funding to implement diversion programs targeting Latine youth in areas in which these youth were being disproportionately arrested. Through the diversion programs, youth’s needs are assessed before they’re referred to programs and services designed to support their goals in life. Since the start of the diversion program, youth arrest rates have dramatically dropped in Santa Clara County and several youth who’ve participated in the program successfully advocated, through a months-long process, for the City of Gilroy to begin the process of developing a youth center.
- The Pukúu Cultural Community Services, a nonprofit in San Fernando, has used its YRG Program funding to help young people heal through programs rooted in Indigenous culture. These efforts have helped hundreds of young people cope with mental health challenges during the COVID pandemic and have grown into a consistent space for support and healing.
Youth development programs aren’t necessarily new; they’re widely available in well-resourced communities. What is new — though it should be common practice — is the public recognition that all youth deserve access to basic health and development supports. A child’s neighborhood or their family’s income level shouldn’t dictate whether they’re deserving of care or whether their future is worth investment. Children in low-income communities deserve the same opportunities to learn, make mistakes without being criminalized, and grow as their more affluent peers.
So what will AB 2267 do?
Perhaps most importantly, AB 2267 would help further California’s progress in moving toward health-based interventions, rather than punitive ones. To that end, the bill would move the YRG Program away from the Board of State and Community Corrections and under the umbrella of the OYCR, which, per a new law, must manage all juvenile justice grants beginning in 2025.
Additionally, the bill strengthens and clarifies existing language regarding program evaluations and youth outcomes. It would also create a technical assistance provider who would assist grant recipients in building relationships with community stakeholders and help with other capacity-related concerns, like offering trainings and providing administrative support, allowing grantees to maximize their services as effectively and efficiently as possible. Through my outreach with the National Center for Youth Law, I’ve heard directly from several providers about this critical need.
Investment in the YRG Program, and in AB 2267, is an investment in California’s youth and its future. Please join me in supporting the many children and communities that for too long have gone without support or investment. Please join me in supporting AB 2267.
Darya Larizadeh is a Senior Policy Attorney with the National Center for Youth Law with a focus on Youth Justice. Darya works to advance local and state policy reforms in partnership with directly impacted communities to disrupt the school-to-prison pipeline, create alternatives to juvenile justice system involvement, address the unique needs of girls, and to increase access to developmentally appropriate services for youth in their communities.
