OUR HISTORY

STRENGTHENING YOUTH DEVELOPMENT INFRASTRUCTURE AND EXPANDING ACCESS TO RESOURCES FOR YOUTH AND FAMILIES

In 2023 and beyond, the Department of Youth Development and our diverse network of partners will continue to strengthen youth development infrastructure and expand access to a holistic continuum of resources for youth and families countywide. As we move into the second eighteen-month phase of the Youth Justice Reimagined vision, collaboration with youth, community, and County partners continues.

ESTABLISHING THE DEPARTMENT OF YOUTH DEVELOPMENT

On July 1, 2022, the Department of Youth Development was officially established. In August, recruitment began for the newly established Youth Development job series and collaborative research and planning continued as the Department’s infrastructure began to grow.

BEGINNING TO IMPLEMENT YOUTH JUSTICE REIMAGINED PHASE 1

In 2021, after the Board of Supervisors unanimously adopted the vision and values of Youth Justice Reimagined, the Youth Justice Work Group became the Youth Justice Advisory Group and began the next phase of their collaborative efforts. Continued collaborative research and design focused on core initial elements of the Youth Justice Reimagined model and the County began necessary budgetary, legal, and legislative analysis in addition to preparing to establish a new Department of Youth Development.

CO-DESIGNING YOUTH JUSTICE REIMAGINED

In 2020, Los Angeles County established the Youth Justice Work Group, a collaborative planning process coordinated by YDD that included system-impacted youth, community-based organizations, all youth-serving County Departments, the Public Defender and Alternate Public Defender’s Office, District Attorney’s Office, Probation Department, and experts from other jurisdictions. The Work Group was tasked with exploring the feasibility of transitioning to a transformational care-first model for youth justice that would achieve meaningful improved outcomes compared to the existing system. For more information, see the Work Group’s final report and recommendations: Youth Justice Reimagined.

EARLY IMPLEMENTATION AND SHARED LEARNING

In 2019, YDD continued to implement and expand a countywide model for community-based youth diversion. Additionally, YDD and its partners held a Youth Development Summit to support shared learning and develop shared priorities for the next phase of youth development in Los Angeles County. To learn more, please see the video below developed in partnership with youth leaders who shared their experiences and vision for the future:

BUILDING INFRASTRUCTURE FOR DIVERSION & DEVELOPMENT

By 2018, the Division of Youth Diversion & Development (YDD) was established in the Department of Health Services to advance the County’s new youth diversion model, which empowers community-based organizations to provide individualized care coordination in lieu of arrest with the goal of equitably reducing youth arrest. To learn more about the history of YDD, please see this history developed in collaboration with youth leaders and core partners with support from the Annie E. Casey Foundation: Collaborative Chronicle: Designing Youth Diversion and Development.

CO-DESIGNING A MODEL FOR YOUTH DIVERSION & DEVELOPMENT

In 2017, informed by decades of youth and community organizing, Los Angeles County established a Youth Diversion Subcommittee of the Countywide Criminal Justice Coordinating Council. Chaired by the Department of Public Health, this subcommittee included system-impacted youth; community-based organizations; school districts; the Departments of Health Services, Mental Health, Children and Family Services; Public Defender’s Office; District Attorney’s Office; Juvenile Court; Probation; and local law enforcement agencies. To learn more, please see the subcommittee’s final report: A Roadmap for Advancing Youth Diversion in Los Angeles County.