Assembly hearing spotlights Stop the Hate program as advocates urge reauthorization before July 2026

SACRAMENTO — Lawmakers heard testimony Tuesday that California’s Stop the Hate program has built a statewide network of community organizations that provide culturally and linguistically competent services to victims of bias and to communities at risk — and that the program risks significant service cuts if state funding is not reauthorized.

Advocates, regional leads and Department of Social Services officials described a program that funded about 180 community-based organizations and created regional “leads” to coordinate services ranging from lay mental-health counseling and legal help to youth prevention programs and community healing events. “Without culturally competent support, victims don’t just suffer violence, they suffer erasure,” said Khadija Alam, executive director of the California Commission on Asian and Pacific Islander American Affairs, who told the committee the program was designed to meet people “in the languages they speak, through organizations they trust.”

Why it matters: Several witnesses told the Assembly Human Services Committee that the Stop the Hate grants acted as a rapid-response infrastructure during spikes in hate and enabled community-level prevention and healing that state systems alone could not provide. Regional leads said the model also helped small organizations access state funding and improve grant management and service delivery.

What presenters said: Eliana Kamowitz, Office of Equity director at the California Department of Social Services (CDSS), outlined the grantee selection process and said the department distributed what it described to the committee as state budget allocations across three fiscal years. Kamowitz told members the program funded direct services, prevention, and intervention work and that CDSS and regional leads are still completing the statutory evaluation of the initial grant round.

Professor Brian Levin, chair of the California Commission on the State of Hate, told the committee the commission’s landmark survey work indicates that “about 3,100,000 Californians experienced at least 1 act of hate within just 1 year,” and that many acts go unreported to law enforcement. Levin said the commission issued 42 interim policy recommendations, including continued investment in community-based organizations and improved protections in schools.

Grantee experiences: Grantees gave concrete examples of services and local outcomes. Kaylee Levitt of Jewish Family Service in San Diego said Stop the Hate funding enabled creation of JCERT, a trained nonclinical emergency response team; Julia Liao of Asian Health Services described a lay mental-health counselor academy and said that between 2021 and 2025 some neighborhoods reported measurable drops in violent incidents after community interventions. “This program made our state a national model,” Khadija Alam said.

Funding and timing: Witnesses gave differing dollar figures when describing total state investments and allocations: witnesses described multi‑year investments in six- and eight-figure totals and CDSS outlined the specific yearly amounts it administered. Regional lead Manjushak Gulkarni urged action to reauthorize funding before the current program expires on July 1, 2026, saying, “we are urgently asking the legislature to reauthorize this critical funding before it expires on 07/01/2026.” CDSS said evaluation work is ongoing and that some grantees have received no-cost extensions to finish services and reporting.

Questions and concerns from members: Committee members repeatedly pressed for evidence of program effectiveness and asked whether the next funding round should prioritize only proven practices. Members also sought clearer data on how much funding flowed to frontline service delivery versus administrative or regional lead costs. CDSS said it can provide awardee lists and breakdowns and noted regional leads also provide capacity-building services to smaller CBOs.

Public testimony: Dozens of community partners and beneficiaries spoke in public comment, describing youth programs, legal referrals, rapid-response networks and community-building activities. Many asked the legislature to continue the program to avoid layoffs and loss of services, and several speakers described measurable local impacts — from park revitalizations to new school-based workshops.

What’s next: Chair remarks closed the hearing noting follow-up with staff and reference to forthcoming budget subcommittee hearings on the subject. The main practical question for lawmakers remains whether to reauthorize or replace the Stop the Hate funding stream before the listed July 1, 2026 expiration, while CDSS completes its evaluation of the initial grant round.

Ending: Witnesses and members agreed on the need for more evaluation data and for clearer reporting on program spending; grantees and regional leads asked that any reauthorization include multiyear funding, language access, and capacity-building while the department finishes its formal evaluation.