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Office of Youth and Community Restoration details new juvenile-justice block grant formula, cites investments in less-restrictive programs
Summary
The Office of Youth and Community Restoration told the Assembly subcommittee the revised Juvenile Justice Realignment Block Grant formula shifts funding toward county capacity for less-restrictive programs and that OYCR has made $15 million in grants to 11 counties to build alternatives to long-term secure confinement.
Catherine Lucero, director of the Office of Youth and Community Restoration, told the California State Assembly Budget Subcommittee No. 6 that the agency supports changes to the Juvenile Justice Realignment Block Grant (JJRBG) formula to move funding away from metrics tied to incarcerated populations and toward measures that support less-restrictive programs in the community.
"My name is Catherine Lucero. I'm a retired superior court judge and former prosecutor and the current director of the Office of Youth and Community Restoration," Lucero said when introducing OYCR's work. She said the office "is the only state governmental agency that focuses on the health and well-being of incarcerated children and youth, children and youth on probation, and the children and youth families and communities impacted by the youth justice system."
Why it matters: OYCR officials and committee staff framed the formula change as intended to expand county capacity for alternatives to long-term secure youth treatment facilities (SYTFs) when it is safe for the community and in the youth’s interest. The change removes reliance on a 2018 DJJ baseline and instead factors: the county youth population ages 10–17, counts of youth adjudicated for serious (707(b)) offenses, and counts of youth who are committed to SYTFs but spend part of their commitment in less-restrictive placements.
Lucero cited statewide data to set context: "In 2019, there were 25,886 sustained petitions. And in 2023, there were 15,919 sustained petitions, which constitutes a 38.5% decrease." She said the revised formula builds in the concept that less-restrictive programs are part of the continuum of care for youth who have committed serious offenses but do not require multi-year secure confinement.
Supporting details: Lucero described OYCR investments and technical assistance. "That is why OYCR has invested $15,000,000 in grants to 11 counties and continues to look for ways to support counties and communities in building less restrictive programs for youth," she said. OYCR collects data under AB 102 and AB 169 (SYTF reporting) and reported about 386 youth placed in SYTFs in 2024, with roughly 1% identified as Native American in that cohort.
Data limits and equity questions: Committee members asked about data on Native American youth. Lucero and staff said statewide public data sources do not reliably break out probation populations or length of stay by Native status. OYCR said its SYTF dataset includes ethnicity for placements and that small absolute counts (around 386 placements) mean per-capita disparities may appear in specific regions even when statewide percentages look small.
What the committee asked next: After OYCR's presentation the hearing moved to the Department of Finance and Legislative Analyst Office for related budget and program questions.
Ending: OYCR's presentation closed with an invitation from Lucero to answer committee staff follow-up; the subcommittee then proceeded to the next agenda item.
