Existing law establishes the Youth Reinvestment Grant Program within the Board of State and Community Corrections to grant funds, upon appropriation, to local jurisdictions and Indian tribes for the purpose of implementing trauma-informed diversion programs for minors, as specified.

This bill would repeal these provisions. The bill would reestablish the Youth Reinvestment Grant Program, to be administered by the Office of Youth and Community Restoration, for the purpose of implementing a mixed-delivery system of trauma-informed health and development diversion programs for youth, as specified. The bill would create the Youth Reinvestment Fund to be used, upon appropriation by the Legislature, by the office for the purposes of the program. The bill would require applicants for the program to be nongovernmental agencies or tribal governments, as specified. The bill would provide that an applicant under this program be awarded no less than $50,000, and no more than $2,000,000, and would specify the requirements of diversion programs to qualify for funding under these provisions.

Date of Hearing: April 10, 2024

ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS

Buffy Wicks, Chair

ABPCA Bill Id:AB 2267

Author:(Jones-Sawyer) – As Introduced Ver:February 8, 2024

Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: No Reimbursable: No

SUMMARY:

This bill transfers administration authority for the Youth Reinvestment Grant Program (“YRGP”) from the Board of State and Community Corrections (BSCC) to the Office of Youth and Community Restoration (OYCR), alters administration requirements for the YRGP, and establishes the Youth Reinvestment Fund from which grants will be made, upon appropriation by the Legislature.

FISCAL EFFECT:

Cost pressure (General Fund) of an unknown amount, potentially in the tens of millions of dollars to fund and administer the grant program. The YRGP was originally enacted in the Budget Act of 2018 and related trailer bill, which included a $37.3 million appropriation; those funds have now been disbursed. This bill does not contain an appropriation of grant funding and the author’s office reports it does not intend to submit a related budget request.

The bill allows for 3% of the funds appropriated for the YRGP to be used by OYCR for administration, and requires $1 million of the appropriated funds be set aside for specified program evaluation and technical assistance purposes. OYCR estimates annual costs of approximately $1.4 million for staffing to conduct administration, oversight, and compliance for the program. If these projected costs exceed the 3% for administration provided under the bill, OYCR may seek additional General Fund support. BSCC reports no fiscal impact resulting from this bill.

According to the Legislative Analyst’s Office, the General Fund faces a structural deficit in the tens of billions of dollars over the next several fiscal years.

COMMENTS:

1. Purpose. According to the author:

This grant has helped divert youth from the school-to-prison pipeline and reduced interaction with the juvenile justice system across California. Since implementation, stakeholders and grant recipients have identified key areas of the grant which require clarification or improvement. AB 2267 will ensure that the Youth Reinvestment Grant can continue to be a life-changing resource by moving the program from the Board of State and Corrections to the Office of Youth and Community Restoration, expanding what services are eligible for the grant program, clarifying program evaluation requirements, and creating a technical assistance provider to help organizations build capacity and operate effectively.

1. Background. The YRGP was enacted in the Budget Act of 2018 and related trailer bill, which included a $37.3 million appropriation for the program. The goal of the YRGP is to divert youth from contact with the juvenile justice system by funding grantees that provide evidence-based, culturally relevant, trauma-informed, and developmentally appropriate programs to youth. Programs funded by the YRGP provided mental health referrals, mentoring, counseling, pro-social activities, restorative justice activities, and educational supports to participating youth. The YRGP’s governing statutes require BSCC to contract with a research firm or university to complete a statewide evaluation of the grant program. During the first two rounds of funding, the YRGP funded 42 community-based organizations that reported serving more than 15,000 youth. According to the statewide evaluation findings, grantees reported positive outcomes for participating youth, many of whom had no further contact with the juvenile justice system during the reporting period.

Existing law requires all juvenile justice grant administration functions currently under BSCC be moved to OYCR by January 1, 2025. This bill repeals BSCC’s authority over the YRGP and reestablishes the program under OYCR. Some aspects of the YRGP are unchanged, but this bill makes several notable changes to the existing program. First, this bill doubles, from $250,000 to $500,000, the amount of funding from the Youth Reinvestment Fund that OYCR may use to contract with a university to conduct a statewide evaluation of the YRGP and youth outcomes during the grant period. Second, the bill requires OYCR to set aside another $500,000 from the Youth Reinvestment Fund to contract with a technical assistance provider to support implementation of the YRGP and build capacity of grantee organizations. The bill also eliminates requirements that grantees provide additional funds to match a percentage of their YRGP grant funds. Finally, under the existing YRGP statutes, grant funds are awarded to city and county agencies, which must provide 90% of awarded funds to the community-based organizations that provide services to youth. Under this bill, a community-based organization must obtain a referral from a government agency to be eligible for a grant; if approved, grant funds will be awarded directly to the community-based organization.

Analysis Prepared by: Annika Carlson / APPR. / (916) 319-2081

Date of Hearing: March 12, 2024

Consultant: Elizabeth Potter

ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON

Kevin McCarty, Chair

ABPCA Bill Id:

Author:() – As Ver:

SUMMARY: Re-establishes the Youth Reinvestment Grant Program (YRGP) and designates the Office of Youth and Community Restoration (OYCR) to administer it. Specifically, this bill:

1. Creates the Youth Reinvestment Fund and allocates monies into it, as specified.
   
2. Requires funds appropriated for the YRGP to be allocated as follows:
   
   1. Three percent to be used for administrative costs to the office resulting from the implementation of this chapter;
      
   2. Five hundred thousand dollars for evaluation of the YRGP, as specified;
      
   3. Five hundred thousand dollars for technical assistance to grantees, as specified;
      
   4. Ten percent for Native American youth diversion programs, as specified; and,
      
   5. All remaining funds must be used for youth diversion programs, as specified.
      
3. Requires that OYCR allocate YRGP funds through a three-year competitive grant program to implement a mixed-delivery system of trauma informed health and development diversion programs for Native American youth.
   
4. States that an entity is eligible for funding for this program, if it not otherwise excluded by another law, and is one of the following:
   
   1. A federally recognized Indian tribe, as specified in the United States Code;
      
   2. A tribal organization, as specified in the United States Code;
      
   3. An Urban Indian Organization (UIO), as specified in the United States Code; or,
      
   4. A nonprofit organization whose board of directors is majority controlled by Native Americans, including organizations that are fiscally sponsored.
      
5. Requires applicants who receive funding from a grant for Native American Youth to be nongovernmental entities, with the exception of tribal government applicants, and not be law enforcement or probation entities
   
6. Requires that OYCR allocate YRGP funds through a three-year competitive grant program, as specified, to programs offering mixed-delivery systems of trauma-informed health and development diversion programs for youth, and specifies, among other things, that the entities must not be governmental, or law enforcement, or probation entities.
   
7. Requires OYCR to distribute grants to eligible applicants with all of the following conditions:
   
   1. An applicant shall be awarded no less than $50,000 and no more than $2,000,000;
      
   2. Applicants from two or more local jurisdictions may apply for funding on a regional effort basis and receive the aggregate amount of funds that they would have received if awarded as an independent applicant;
      
   3. Grants shall be distributed in three installments:
      
      1. The first installment shall be distributed on day one of the grant contract;
         
      2. The second installment shall be distributed no later than the first day of the second year of the grant contract;
         
      3. The third installment shall be distributed no later than the first day of the third year of the grant contract; and,
         
      4. The second and third installments shall be contingent on the applicant fulfilling the grant obligations and reporting requirements to the office.
         
   4. Funds must be awarded to applicants who obtained an official letter from at least one referring agency demonstrating the agency’s intent to refer diverted youth to the diversion program to provide the youth with trauma-informed health and development services;
      
   5. For regional applications, letters of intent shall be required for each jurisdiction proposed in the application;
      
   6. Diversion services must be provided in communities described as areas with high needs;
      
   7. Applicants shall have experience serving populations of youth who are juvenile justice system-involved or at-risk of system involvement;
      
   8. Priority must be given to organizations that employ people with lived experience as a youth in the juvenile justice system;
      
   9. Diversion programs must include alternatives to arrest, incarceration, and formal involvement with the juvenile justice system with priority given to programs that divert youth at the earliest possible point of involvement. Diversions program must include at least one or more specified criteria;
      
8. States that the OYCR will be responsible for administration, oversight, and compliance of the program and shall perform all of the following duties:
   
   1. Support grantee data collection and analysis and require grantees to demonstrate outcomes of the funded programs;
      
   2. Set aside $500,000 of funds appropriated for the program, exclusive of the funds sets aside for the administrative costs as previously specified, to contract with a university to conduct a state evaluation of the program and youth outcomes over a three year grant period, as specified;
      
   3. Set aside $500,000 of funds appropriated for the program, exclusive of the funds sets aside for the administrative costs as previously specified, to contract with a technical assistance provider to support implementation of the program and to build capacity of grantee organizations, as specified; and,
      
9. Requires OYCR to contract with the university evaluator and technical assistance provider prior to developing and disseminating the requests for proposals; in addition OYCR shall solicit and receive input from the university evaluator and technical assistance provider in developing the requests for proposals.
   
10. Defines, among other terms, “youth” as a person subject to the jurisdiction of the juvenile court.
    

EXISTING LAW:

1. Establishes the YRGP within the Board of State and Community Corrections (BSCC) for the purpose of granting funds, as specified. (Welf. & Inst. Code, § 1450.)
   
2. Requires that three percent of funds allocated to YRGP be used for the purpose of implementing diversion programs for Native American children that use trauma-informed, community-based, and health-based interventions. (Welf. & Inst. Code, § 1453, subd. (a).)
   
3. States that priority must be given to diversion programs addressing the needs of Native American children who experience high rates of juvenile arrest, suicide, and alcohol abuse, among other things. (Welf. & Inst. Code, § 1453, subd. (b).)
   
4. Requires that a specified percentage of funds be allocated for the purpose of implementing diversion programs for children throughout local jurisdictions that are trauma-informed, evidence-based, and culturally relevant, among other things. (Welf. & Inst. Code, § 1454 subds. (a) & (b).)
   
5. States that jurisdictions with the highest need must be provide a certain minimum of funds and defines “highest needs” as areas with high juvenile arrest rates and high levels of racial or ethnic disparity in juveniles arrest rates. (Welf. & Inst. Code, §1454, subd. (b).)
   
6. Provides that BSCC is responsible for oversight and accountability of the program and that it must track funding, provide guidance to programs, and contract with a research firm to conduct a statewide evaluation of the grant, as specified. (Welf. & Inst. Code, § 1455.)
   
7. States that the YRGP funds must be allocated by the BSCC through a competitive grant process, as specified. (Welf. & Inst. Code, § 1458.)
   
8. Establishes the OYCR in the California Health and Human Services Agency, whose mission is to promote trauma responsive, culturally informed services for youth involved in the juvenile justice system that support their successful transition to adulthood and help them become responsible, thriving, and engaged members of the community. (Welf. & Inst. Code, § 2200, subds. (a) & (b).)
   
9. Provides that all juvenile justice grant administration functions in the Board of State and Community Corrections shall be moved to the OYCR no later than January 1, 2025. (Welf. & Inst. Code, § 2200, subd. (h).)

FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown

COMMENTS:

1. Author's Statement: According to the author, “I created the Youth Reinvestment Grant in 2018 so that community-based organizations offering diversion programs could expand their reach and at-risk youth could access trauma-informed, evidence-based services. This grant has helped divert youth from the school-to-prison pipeline and reduced interaction with the juvenile justice system across California. Since implementation, stakeholders and grant recipients have identified key areas of the grant which require clarification or improvement. AB 2267 will ensure that the Youth Reinvestment Grant can continue to be a life-changing resource by moving the program from the Board of State and Corrections to the Office of Youth and Community Restoration, expanding what services are eligible for the grant program, clarifying program evaluation requirements, and creating a technical assistance provider to help organizations build capacity and operate effectively.”
   
2. Violence as a Public Health Issue: In recent decades, the approach to curbing violence primarily through law enforcement methods has shifted, and violence is now being recognized as a public health problem.^[1] One of the proffered reasons for the transition is that, as the health care system achieved advancements in preventing and treating infectious diseases, homicide and suicide rose in the cause-of-death rankings.^[2] Since 1965, homicide and suicide have consistently been one of the top 15 leading causes of death in the US.^[3] For some groups, homicide has had an even greater impact. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), homicide has been the leading cause of death for black youth during the past three decades.^[4] Another reason for the transition was the successful outcomes achieved by modifying behavioral factors for diseases such as stroke, cancer, and heart disease, which encouraged health professionals to believe the same epidemiological approach could be applied for behavioral challenges underlying violent behavior.^[5] Lastly, the emergence of child maltreatment and intimate partner violence as recognized social problems in the 1960s and 1970s further demonstrated the need to move beyond relying on the criminal-justice sector for finding solutions for the problem of violence in general.^[6]
   
   Furthermore, it has been posited that the symptoms and behavior of violence mirrors those of a contagious and epidemic disease.^[7] Such symptoms include morbidity and mortality, person to person transmission—youth with chronic exposure to violence have been found to be 3,150% (or 31.5 times) more likely to engage in chronic violent behavior, and incubation periods—for example, the period between being subjected to child abuse and becoming a perpetrator of violence may be years or decades.^[8]
   
   In the 1990s, the CDC began implementing and studying violence intervention programs influenced by a public health approach.^[9] These studies demonstrated that significant reductions in violent behavior were possible through applied, skill-based violence prevention programs.^[10] Since then many violence prevention programs have been used here in California, most notably programs such as Operation Ceasefire, Advance Peace, and Trauma Recovery Centers have been implemented with seemingly positive results. These programs operate based off of the well documented fact that violent crimes are highly concentrated in certain locations and among a small number of offenders.^[11] In Oakland, crime data suggested that less than one half of one percent of the city’s population generated the majority of gun violence, and that these “at-risk” individuals tended to be involved in gang and other criminally-active groups.^[12]
   
3. YRGP: The YRGP was established in the 2018 Budget Act and a related trailer bill. The YRGP is aimed at diverting low-level offenders from initial contact with the juvenile justice system using approaches that are evidence-based, culturally relevant, trauma-informed, and developmentally appropriate. Currently, only California cities and counties are eligible to apply for grants. Current law requires the applicant to designate a “lead public agency”—which may be the applicant city or county, or a department or agency within the applicant’s jurisdiction—to receive 10% the funds and to coordinate with local law enforcement agencies, social service agencies, and nonprofit organizations to implement the local grant program. Applicants are required to pass through the remaining 90% of awarded funds to community-based organizations to deliver diversion programs to minors.^[13]
   
   According to the Legislative Analyst’s Office, 30 local jurisdictions have received funding through the YRG program from the Board of State and Community Corrections (BSCC).^[14] Examples of funded programs include a range of after-school and mentoring programs in Culver City and a program in Alameda County that provides services to at-risk or justice-involved youth (such as a late-night sports league, case management, and mentorship).^[15]
   
   All juvenile justice grant administration functions in the Board of State and Community Corrections are required to be moved to the OYCR no later than January 1, 2025. (Welf. & Inst. Code, § 2200, subd. (f).) Moreover, in light of the public health approach to criminality, arguably the OYCR a branch of the Health and Human Services Agency, is better suited to administer the program.
   
   A report administered by Sacramento State University showed positive outcomes for YRGP. It states, in part, in its final evaluation report, “Grantees reported the total number of youth who completed their program. On average, the most frequently reported outcomes include having No Contact with the Juvenile Justice System (66%), Positive Youth Development Outcomes (68%), Reduced Assessed Risk Status (56%), and Improved Educational Outcomes (48%).” (YRG-Round-1-2019-2023-FINAL-Revised-Report-to-BSCC.pdf (ca.gov) [as of Mar. 7, 2024]
   
   This bill would reinstate the YRGP and designate its administration to the OYCR. In addition, it would provide enhanced guidelines for distribution of the YRGP funds to ensure organizations receiving funds had prior experience and communities with the highest need received greater priority, including the needs of Native American youth, among other things. This bill would also require OYCR to designate a university evaluator or technical assistance provider gather and collect date regarding the efficacy of these grants.
   
4. Argument in Support: According to the Transformative In-Prison Work Group, “This bill would reestablish the Youth Reinvestment Grant Program, to be administered by the Office of Youth and Community Restoration, for the purpose of implementing a mixed-delivery system of trauma-informed health and development diversion programs for youth. The bill would create the Youth Reinvestment Fund to be used, upon appropriation by the Legislature, by the office for the purposes of the program. The bill would require applicants for the program to be nongovernmental agencies or tribal governments, as specified.
   
   “The TPW strongly supports bringing nongovernmental organizations into the criminal justice reform space, which we believe provides a much higher level of care and a greater likelihood of success for all concerned.”
   
5. Related Legislation: AB 2064 (Jones-Sawyer), would make findings and declarations regarding about advancing racial equity and would be subsequently amended to establish and fund a grant program to support community-driven solutions to decrease community violence at the family, school, and neighborhood levels in African American communities. AB 2064 is pending referral from the Assembly Rules Committee.
   
6. Prior Legislation:
   
   1. AB 912 (Jones-Sawyer), of the 2023-2024 Legislative Session, would have provided for the establishment, expansion, and funding for early-violence-intervention programs, school-based physical and mental health services, and youth-recreational activities, contingent upon appropriation. AB 912 was vetoed by the Governor and stricken from the file.
      
   2. AB 1454 (Jones-Sawyer), Chapter 584, Statutes of 2019, revised and recast the Youth Reinvestment Grant Program by increasing the maximum grant award from $1,000,000 to $2,000,000 and allowing nonprofit organizations to apply for grants through the program.
      
   3. AB 1603 (Jones-Sawyer) Chapter 735, Statutes of 2019, codified the establishment of the California Violence Intervention and Prevention Grant Program and the authority and duties of BSCC in administering the program, including the selection criteria for grants and reporting requirements to the Legislature
      
   4. SB 493 (Bradford), of the 2021-2022 Legislative Session, would have revised components of the Juvenile Justice Crime Prevention Act, including by requiring funded programs to be modeled on trauma-informed and youth development approaches in collaboration with community-based organizations (CBOs), requiring no less than 95 percent of specified funds appropriated to counties be allocated to CBOs and non-law enforcement government entities, and changing the composition of county juvenile justice coordinating councils. SB 493 was held on the Senate Appropriations Suspense calendar.
      

REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:

Support

California Public Defenders Association
Initiate Justice Action
National Center for Youth Law
The Transformative In-prison Workgroup

Opposition

None

Analysis Prepared by:

1. Dahlberg and Mercy. History of Violence as a Public Health Problem. American Medical Association (AMA) Journal of Ethics. (2009) <https://journalofethics.ama-assn.org/article/history-violence-public-health-problem/2009-02> [as of Feb. 29, 2024]. ↑

2. Id. ↑

3. Id. ↑

4. CDC. A Comprehensive Technical Package for the Prevention of Youth Violence and Associated Risk Behaviors. <https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/youthviolence/fastfact.html> at 8. [as of Feb. 29, 2024]. ↑

5. Dahlberg and Mercy. History of Violence as a Public Health Problem. ↑

6. Id. ↑

7. Slutkin, MD. How the Health Sector Can Reduce Violence by Treating It as a Contagion. AMA Journal of Ethics. (2018) <https://journalofethics.ama-assn.org/article/how-health-sector-can-reduce-violence-treating-it-contagion/2018-01> [as of Feb. 29, 2024]. ↑

8. Slutkin, MD. How the Health Sector Can Reduce Violence by Treating It as a Contagion. AMA Journal of Ethics. (2018) <https://journalofethics.ama-assn.org/article/how-health-sector-can-reduce-violence-treating-it-contagion/2018-01> [as of Feb. 29,2024]; Spano R, Rivera C, Bolland JM. Are chronic exposure to violence and chronic violent behavior closely related developmental processes during adolescence? Crim Justice Behav. (2010) <https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0093854810377164>; Ehrensaft MK, Cohen P, Brown J, Smailes E, Chen H, Johnson JG. Intergenerational transmission of partner violence: a 20-year prospective study. J Consult Clin Psychol. (2003) <https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2F0022-006X.71.4.741>; Huesmann LR, Moise-Titus J, Podolski CL, Eron LD. Longitudinal relations between children’s exposure to TV violence and their aggressive and violent behavior in young adulthood: 1977-1992. Dev Psychol. (2003) <https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2F0012-1649.39.2.201>. [as of Feb. 29, 2024] ↑

9. Dahlberg and Mercy. History of Violence as a Public Health Problem. American Medical Association (AMA) Journal of Ethics. (2009) <https://journalofethics.ama-assn.org/article/history-violence-public-health-problem/2009-02> [as of Feb. 29, 2024] ↑

10. Id. ↑

11. Hannah McManus. Street Violence Crime Reduction Strategies: A Review of the Evidence. (Feb. 2020) <https://www.theiacp.org/sites/default/files/Research%20Center/Violence%20Reduction%20Literature%20Review_FINAL.pdf> at vii [as of Feb. 29, 2024].); ↑

12. Braga et al. Oakland Ceasefire Evaluation: Final Report to the City of Oakland. (May 2019) <https://cao-94612.s3.amazonaws.com/documents/Oakland-Ceasefire-Evaluation-Final-Report-May-2019.pdf> at p. 9. [as of Feb. 29, 2024].) ↑

13. BSCC, Youth Reinvestment Grant Frequently Asked Questions <http://www.bscc.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/YRG-FAQ-POSTED-3.5.19.pdf> [as of Feb. 29, 2024]. ↑

14. Legislative Analyst’s Office. Youth Reinvestment, Second Chance Act, and Trauma Recovery Center Grant Programs. (2019) <https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Detail/4082> [as of Feb. 29, 2024]. ↑

15. Ibid. ↑