(Sacramento) – Today, Assemblymember Reginald Jones-Sawyer’s budget request of $100 million to establish the “Youth Reinvestment Fund” was passed unanimously by the Assembly Budget Subcommittee on Public Safety. This funding is an investment that would improve the outcomes of vulnerable youth populations by using trauma informed community and health-based interventions in lieu of arrest, detention and incarceration.
“Today was a firm step toward securing my $100 Million Youth Reinvestment Fund into the 2018-19 California State Budget, with bi-partisan support,” said Assemblymember Jones-Sawyer. “Thousands of California youth are incarcerated every year for low-level offenses and they deserve better and more affective interventions. It’s time we stop locking up our children and start investing in their future.”
The Youth Reinvestment Fund proposal would allocate $15 million to hire social workers in public defender offices. $10 million would fund Tribal Diversion Programs for Native American youth, and $75 million would fund local diversion programs and community-based services for at risk youth over a 3-year grant period.
“I am proud that the Assembly recognizes the value of investing in Youth Diversion Programs that will prevent children from entering the criminal justice system and reduce the need for reentry services for them later in life. However, there is more work to be done, since the Senate’s budget proposal did not prioritize youth diversion funding, this issue must be resolved in the Budget Conference Committee, which will begin meeting soon. My colleagues in the Assembly and I will be working diligently to negotiate with conferees a full allocation to the Youth Reinvestment Fund and send it to Governor Brown’s desk.”
Assemblymember Reginald Byron Jones-Sawyer, Sr. represents South Los Angeles, Florence-Firestone, Walnut Park, and a portion of Huntington Park.