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Community leaders urge reauthorization of California's Stop the Hate grants as funds near expiration
Summary
Regional leads and grantees told the subcommittee the Stop the Hate program has expanded prevention, response and legal services statewide and urged the legislature to reauthorize funding before the July 1 expiration to sustain services for communities affected by hate incidents.
CDSS Office of Equity Director Eliana Kamowitz and regional lead representatives updated the subcommittee on Stop the Hate, the statewide grant program that funds community‑based prevention and intervention services.
Kamowitz said the program measures outcomes in direct services, prevention/intervention programming, a transformative grant portfolio and statewide coordination, and that the department is using external evaluators and quarterly data reporting to monitor performance. Regional leads and grantee representatives gave examples of services that included emergency medical and legal assistance, mental health support and community healing programs; one speaker described a survivor who required relocation and long‑term care after a violent hate incident.
Speakers from API Equity Alliance, Asian Resources, Stop AAPI Hate regional leads and others urged the committee to reauthorize funding before the program's expiration on July 1 and emphasized the program's reach into underserved rural and desert regions. They asked the legislature to codify best practices, require outcomes beyond event counts and build capacity for small community organizations to participate in grant cycles.
Committee members asked CDSS and LAO for codified outcome language and technical assistance to help craft trailer‑bill language that focuses on solidarity, harm‑reduction and culturally responsive services.
