Tribal leaders and state officials urge sustained funding for tribal youth diversion programs

The Assembly Budget Subcommittee on Public Safety heard testimony from tribal leaders, state juvenile-justice officials and the Legislative Analyst on tribal youth diversion programs and the need for sustained funding and capacity building.

Caitlin O'Neil of the Legislative Analyst's Office summarized the program's start and scope, saying the Board of State and Community Corrections received one-time general fund augmentations of about $1,000,000 in 2018-19 and $10,000,000 in 2019-20 to fund competitive grants for tribes. O'Neil told the panel the grants were designed to support trauma-informed, culturally relevant diversion services to keep American Indian youth out of deeper justice-system involvement.

The Office of Youth and Community Restoration (OYCR) and tribal witnesses described how diversion programs were implemented and the services they provided. Catherine Lucero, speaking about diversion work and OYCR efforts, said community-led diversion "is shown to have the best outcomes for children and youth who have committed low level and nonviolent offenses." She described a range of funded activities, from…