In a win for California’s youth, including our boys and men of color, last week, Governor Jerry Brown signed a 2018-2019 budget that includes $37.3 million for the Youth Reinvestment Fund.

The Youth Reinvestment Fund is the first-ever state fund specifically dedicated to keeping young people out of the justice system and in the care of community organizations that are best able to provide guidance and support. The fund will help improve the outcomes of vulnerable youth populations by using trauma-informed community and health-based interventions in lieu of arrest, detention and incarceration. More than $1 million will be allocated to Native American Tribes for youth diversion programs.

California Funders for Boys and Men of Color members joined with advocates, Assemblymember Reggie Jones-Sawyer and young people to call for the Youth Reinvestment Fund in the California State budget.

Communities are safer when young people are thriving. Currently, youth of color make up a disproportionate number of the children in California’s youth prisons, and nearly all young people who end up in the justice system are survivors of trauma. Arresting and incarcerating youth for minor offenses leaves them less likely to graduate or pursue education, more likely to suffer additional trauma and negative health outcomes, and more likely to re-offend.

Since 2015, CFBMoC members collectively have invested $149 million annually to support better outcomes for boys and men of color and remove barriers to opportunity, including reforms to the juvenile justice system. Earlier this year, our Southern California Regional Action Committee announced an initial investment of $200,000 to support the coordination of efforts to reduce youth incarceration and reform the youth justice system in Los Angeles County.

Contact Program Manager Sergio Cuellar with any questions or comments.