More Than $500 Million Dedicated to Preventing Harm and Violence from Occurring in First Place, Meeting Needs of Victims
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 13, 2021
CONTACT: Californians for Safety and Justice; [email protected]
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Californians for Safety and Justice, the state’s leading criminal justice reform
organization, on Tuesday commended Gov. Gavin Newsom for signing into law a fiscal year 2021-2022
budget that includes unprecedented investments in proven crime prevention strategies and meeting the
needs of victims of crime.
The budget, which Newsom signed into law Monday evening, comes as the state grapples with an uptick
in violence resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic’s destabilization of individuals, families and entire
communities.
Contained in the budget framework is a $200 million, one-time general fund allotment over the next
three years for the California Violence Intervention and Prevention (CalVIP) grant program that helps
reduce gun violence. The budget framework also includes a $175 million general fund investment in
various programs that help meet the needs of survivors of domestic violence, sexual violence, human
trafficking and forced sterilization. More than $50 million has been dedicated for reentry supports such as
prison to employment opportunities and removal of barriers for successful re-entry.
And the budget contains a record $116.2 million in savings from continued reductions in state prison
incarceration as a result of Proposition 47, the 2014 ballot initiative approved overwhelmingly by voters
that reduced the penalty for petty theft and possession of drugs for personal use from a felony to a
misdemeanor. The Proposition 47 savings are reallocated back to local communities for mental health
and addiction treatment programs, truancy prevention programs and trauma recovery services for victims
proven to prevent crime from occurring in the first place.
The following can be attributed to Tinisch Hollins, executive director of Californians for Safety and
Justice:
“Our communities are hurting and in urgent need of support. These investments are critical as we begin
to address the way that the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated decades of underinvestment in some
communities and caused a rise in violence. During the past decade we’ve taken significant steps toward
transforming our justice system into one that prioritizes the needs of communities and prevents crime
and harm from occurring in the first place. We’ve known for a long time what works and what doesn’t to
protect our neighborhoods from harm and now we have the research to back up our decades of lived
experience showing that over-reliance on incarceration does nothing to prevent crime and in fact only
compounds the conditions that fuel violence. Gov. Newsom and the Legislature should be commended for
passing a budget that prioritizes immediate and targeted investments in community-based initiatives that
are best equipped to work with our most vulnerable populations. The need for funding for proven,
community-based programs like violence intervention, assertive outreach, youth employment and mentoring programs, community-based victim support and trauma recovery services has never been
more acute. We thank the governor and our legislative leaders for seeking to meet this moment by
providing the support and resources our communities so desperately need.”
