(a) The board shall allocate 94 percent of funds for the Youth Reinvestment Grant Program, upon appropriation of funds pursuant to Section 1450, to local jurisdictions, including a county, city, or city and county, through a competitive grant process for the purpose of implementing trauma-informed diversion programs for minors.
(b) The board shall distribute a grant under this article pursuant to all of the following conditions:
(1) A local jurisdiction shall be awarded no less than fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) and no more than one million dollars ($1,000,000).
(2) (A) A local jurisdiction shall provide at least a 25-percent match to the grant that it receives pursuant to this article. Funds used to provide the 25-percent match amount may include a combination of federal, other state, local, or private funds.
(B) Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), a local jurisdiction may provide less than a 25-percent match, but at least a 10-percent match, to the grant if the local jurisdiction is identified by the board as high need with low or no local infrastructure for diversion programming.
(3) (A) Ten percent of the funds shall be distributed to a lead public agency to coordinate with local law enforcement agencies, social services agencies, and nonprofit organizations on implementation of diversion programs and alternatives to incarceration and involvement with the juvenile justice system.
(B) Ninety percent of the funds shall pass through the lead public agency to community-based organizations, that are nongovernmental and not local law enforcement agencies, to deliver services in underserved communities with high rates of juvenile arrests.
(4) Highest need is identified based on both of the following:
(A) Jurisdictions with high rates of juvenile arrests for misdemeanors and status offenses.
(B) Jurisdictions with racial or ethnic disparities on the basis of disproportionately high rates of juvenile arrests.
(5) (A) Services shall be community based, located in communities of local jurisdictions with the highest need.
(B) Services shall be evidence based or research supported, trauma informed, culturally relevant, and developmentally appropriate.
(C) Direct service providers who receive funding from a grant pursuant to this article shall be nongovernmental and not law enforcement or probation entities.
(D) Direct service providers shall have experience effectively serving at-risk youth populations.
(E) Services shall include all of the following:
(i) Diversion programs and alternatives to arrest, incarceration, and formal involvement with the juvenile justice system.
(ii) Educational services, including academic and vocational services.
(iii) Mentoring services.
(iv) Behavioral health services.
(v) Mental health services.
(c) Local jurisdictions may apply for funding under this article on a regional efforts basis and receive the aggregate amount of funds that they would have received if awarded as independent jurisdictions.
(Amended by Stats. 2019, Ch. 497, Sec. 299. (AB 991) Effective January 1, 2020.)