$1M Grant Awarded To Santa Cruz County For Youth Offender Program

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY, CA — The County of Santa Cruz announced Wednesday it has received a $1 million grant that aims to help youth successfully reenter society after serving time in custody. The money will also be used to help these young people stay out of future trouble.

The grant will provide the Santa Cruz County Probation Department with $350,000 annually for three years for its Stable Transitions After Reentry program, which provides in-custody, reentry, and aftercare services to justice-involved youth.

“The county is committed to understanding and responding to the factors that contribute to youth involvement in our justice system, and the result has been a long-term decline in youth crime rates,” the county's probation chief Fernando Giraldo said. “This grant will allow us to expand on that work and continue making Santa Cruz County a better and safer place for all our residents.”

In addition to youth services for those up to age 26 confined for both long and short periods of time, the county has proposed including parent/teen mediation and a parenting program for parents and other caregivers. Eligible participants include those at Juvenile Hall, Juvenile Ranch, short term residential therapeutic programs, and Department of Juvenile Justice facilities, as well as youth who have been taken into custody but released within 72 hours of being detained.

The grant funding is provided through the Title II Grant Program of the Juvenile Justice and
Delinquency Prevention Act, administered by the U.S. Office of Juvenile Justice and
Delinquency Prevention. The California Board of State and Community Corrections administers Title II awards.

This year, a total of 11 awards were issued statewide to address aftercare/reentry, alternatives to detention, community-based program and services, diversion, mental health services and mentoring, counseling and training programs, according to the county.