Assembly select committee hears youth and advocates call to divest probation and invest in community programs

Summary

At a California State Assembly select committee hearing held at a Youth Justice Coalition site, young people and advocates urged legislators to shift funding from probation and policing toward youth-led community programs, apprenticeships and mental-health supports; witnesses cited racial disparities in juvenile facilities and outlined specific local models.

Assemblymember Isaac Bridal convened the first hearing of the Assembly Select Committee on the Status of Boys and Men of Color at a Youth Justice Coalition site, saying the committee would center "hope and healing" and that members had spent the morning meeting with young people at Los Padrinos Juvenile Hall.

Advocates and youth across three panels pressed state lawmakers to redirect resources from probation and policing to community-led services, job pathways and long-term mental-health supports. "We keep us safe, not police, not probation," said Justin Andrew Marks, co-executive director of the Youth Justice Coalition, at the start of the witness panels. Marks added that in his view the financial trade-offs are stark: "It costs over $800,000 to keep 1 youth locked up in a cell for a year." That figure was presented to illustrate advocates' argument that community investment would deliver better outcomes per dollar.

Panelists from nonprofit and advocacy organizations described local programs they said produce better…

Assembly select committee hears youth and advocates call to divest probation and invest in community programs

Summary

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