(a) The board shall allocate funds appropriated pursuant to Section 1450 through a competitive grant process for the purpose of implementing trauma-informed diversion programs for youth.
(b) The board shall distribute a grant under this article pursuant to all of the following conditions:
(1) A local governmental entity or nonprofit organization shall be awarded no less than fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) and no more than two million dollars ($2,000,000).
(2) (A) An applicant shall provide at least a 25-percent cash or in-kind 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), an applicant entity may provide less than a 25-percent match, but at least a 10-percent cash or in-kind match, to the grant if the applicant identifies the service area as high need with low or no local infrastructure for diversion programming.
(3) Ninety percent of the funds awarded to a local government entity shall pass through to community-based organizations to deliver services in underserved communities with high rates of youth arrests, as described by the applicant.
(4) (A) Services shall be community based, located in communities of local jurisdictions with high needs.
(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) Diversion programs shall include alternatives to arrest, incarceration, and formal involvement with the juvenile justice system. Diversion programs shall also include one or more of the following:
(i) Educational services, including academic and vocational services.
(ii) Mentoring services.
(iii) Behavioral health services.
(iv) Mental health services.
(c) Multiple applicants may apply for funding under this article on a regional basis in a single application and receive the aggregate amount of funds that they would have received if awarded as independent applicants.
(Added by Stats. 2019, Ch. 584, Sec. 3. (AB 1454) Effective January 1, 2020.)