In the News

Local News Matters | September 6, 2023 | Read article 

In the last year, the public furor surrounding the murder of George Floyd and other police killings has subsided, and in recent years, calls to defund the police have diminished. In contrast, support for police has grown, or at least become more vocal. 

As a result of the pandemic, some organizations, including traditionally progressive civil rights groups, are noticing an increase in certain types of crime. In any event, advocates of police reform and police abolition both agree that we must change how our society views law enforcement and how we hold it accountable.

Police use of unwarranted force is cited as one of the main reasons for their calls for reform or abolition.  Our Organizer Associate, Amanda Majail-Blanco, and sister of Erik Salgado, who California Highway Patrol officers killed during a traffic stop in Oakland in June of 2020, says  “Just because the police shot them doesn’t mean that it’s justified.”

Since the killing of her brother, she has been on the front lines of several community-led organizing efforts, including the Justice in July Block party held in Oakland that called for all officers responsible for killings in Alameda County to be charged with murder.

Advocates for abolishing police forces as they currently exist argue for law enforcement to be created and controlled by local communities. 

The Davis Vanguard | September 2, 2023 | Read article 

According to the Alameda County DA Accountability Table (ACDAAT), a coalition of community groups, the District Attorney has prioritized youth rehabilitation by pledging to keep as many juveniles as possible within the juvenile justice system rather than transferring them to adult court. But studies have shown that juveniles in juvenile facilities are more likely to receive “age-appropriate rehabilitation opportunities” that foster their ability to contribute to society, such as biannual progress checks, educational opportunities, certification programs, and restorative justice programs.

Our Policy & Legal Services Manager, J Vasquez, said, “All youth are sacred, and young people should be seen for more than their worst mistakes. We should instead invest finite county resources into community-driven solutions that hold youth accountable without causing them, their families, and our communities long-term harm. Our government structures and investments must provide wraparound services for everyone affected by harm.”

Witness L.A. | August 31, 2023 | Read article

In an article written by Taylor Walker from Witness L.A. titled “CA Bill Would Shift Restitution From Juveniles To State”, our Youth Justice Coordinator, Xochtil Larios, was quoted saying, “I can’t worry about who I am becoming because I still have to fix my past.” After years in foster care and juvenile justice, our Youth Justice Coordinator, Xochtil Larios, entered adulthood with $3,500 in restitution debt. Despite her determination to move forward, the restitution debt she owed from a teen crime felt overwhelming.

The article discusses Assembly Bill 1186, which proposes ending youth being charged restitution fines. Restitution fines are amounts owed to victims by those who commit crimes and are found guilty. #AB1186 suggests that the California Victim Compensation Board, rather than charging youth, pay restitution directly and immediately to crime victims. The bill is on the suspense file in the Senate Appropriations Committee and is expected to be heard in September.

EdSource | August 23, 2023 | Read article 

In an article by EdSource titled “New bill would shift restitution from juveniles to State.” our Youth Justice Coordinator, Xochtil Larios, was quoted extensively. The article discusses Assembly Bill 1186, which proposes ending youth restitution fines, which are amounts owed by those found guilty of crimes and paid to victims. In contrast to charging youths, AB 1186 proposes paying the restitution directly to crime victims. By September, the Senate Appropriations Committee will address the bill on the suspense file.

If the bill passes this fall, it would only end the restitution that youths have paid. Future legislative cycles will determine how to fund the bill, which is estimated to cost about $12 million annually in restitution amounts plus additional staffing costs.

“Juveniles are set off to be pioneers, leaders, start joining the workforce, education, but the justice system doesn’t think about the weight, the heavy stuff that we’re carrying,”

As a result of CURYJ’s help, Xochtil has managed to stay on track after her release. In Alameda County, she learned about CURYJ while being detained and applied for a job once she was released. She’s now worked in CURYJ for five years, supporting research development and leading training on youth rights, among other things.

YouthToday.org | August 18, 2023 | Read article 

our Youth Justice Coordinator, Xochtil Larios, was featured in Youth Today news. During an interview with journalist Brian Rinker, she discussed how her experiences in the juvenile justice system and working with CURYJ shaped her advocacy for reforms.

“At some point in jail, I met advocates with the Oakland-based Communities United for Restorative Youth Justice, CURYJ. They encouraged me to get involved in youth leadership and activism. In addition to helping me with transportation and housing, they told me they would assist me when I got out.”

YouthToday.org | August 17, 2023 | Read article 

In yesterday’s article titled “Are California counties ready to handle juvenile offenders now that state youth prisons are shuttered?” from Youth Today our Executive Director, George Galvis, was quoted saying, “The state opened up Pandora’s box, and now we’re trying to manage this disaster”

In 2020, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a shutdown of the state’s youth prison system, which would trim juvenile justice budgets. He and state analysts assume that the move might improve a young person’s chances of being redirected onto a more beneficial life path by giving them more access to their families.

Many agree that Newsom’s intentions are good. But, they argue, the transfer of those youth from state to county custody has not been well-timed or well-planned. 

KTVU FOX 2 | July 18, 2023 | Read article  

A total of 45 unarmed people across California were shot by law enforcement officers in the last two years, and California’s Attorney General is charged with investigating whether those killings were justified. 

But the pace of AG Rob Bonta’s inquiries has upset victims’ families, criminal justice activists and those in uniform alike.

AB 1506 went into effect in 2021, a bill that’s changed the dynamics of how police-involved shooting investigations are handled by eliminating the influence of local law enforcement agencies and district attorneys in 58 counties. At the time, progressives and police unions both opposed it. And they still do.

CURYJ’s main opposition is that the AG’s office is still too close to police to fairly determine whether an officer-involved shooting is justified.

“It’s not going to be a perfect system by any means, but we believe it will be a more meaningful and more productive system to hold officers accountable.” – J Vaquez 

Open Vallejo | July 11, 2023 | Read article

In a statement to Open Vallejo Friday, California Senate Bill 1421’s author said withholding police records violated the bill’s intent. 

“California’s police transparency laws, SB 1421 and SB 16, guarantee public access to records related to a range of law enforcement misconduct, including cases involving death, excessive use of force, and sexual assault,” wrote Skinner, who authored both laws. “Those laws do not contain any exemption for records when a victim or witness is a minor.”

Communities United for Restorative Youth Justice, which helped write SB 1421, co-founded by George Galvis, told Open Vallejo last month that legislators would need to clarify the law by passing a trailer bill clarifying the need to disclose records of police violence against juveniles. 

Open Vallejo | June 28, 2023 | Read article 

Due to state and federal laws, government agencies have long been prohibited from publicly disclosing information about juveniles’ interactions with the legal system. In addition to reducing barriers to employment, housing, and higher education, these laws aim to protect justice-impacted youth from social stigma. However, the police have exploited these laws to evade transparency when they use force against children.

“It’s very clear to me that this is an abuse. It’s really concerning that they’re abusing the spirit and intent of SB 1421 in this way…I can tell you that, as one of the sponsors: that was not the intent. We would never have ever allowed that.” – George Galvis

AP New | June 17, 2023 | View article 

By Out Of The Margins. Shared by Andrus Family Fund  | June 16, 2023 | View article

Organizing for Abolition. Envisioning Liberation. Hosted by AFF Director Mishi Faruqee, each episode in this limited series will feature grantee partners, youth leaders and/or allies who share their visions for community-centered approaches that support youth and families.   
 
In this first episode, we hear from Brenda Gomez and Xochtil Larios of Communities United for Restorative Youth Justice (CURYJ) in Oakland, CA. They discuss their journey from being incarcerated as teenagers and being empowered by CURYJ to their continued evolution as youth leaders in the abolition movement and how CURYJ continues to support young people to #DreamBeyondBars. 

Learn more about CURYJ:
curyj.org
Twitter
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Music by Bre Stoves, “Untold Story” from Care, Not Control (The Album)

Learn more about AFF:
affund.org
LinkedIn
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Facebook

This podcast is produced by Sol Design.

KQED | June, 16 2023 | View article 

It will take creative thinking to solve this problem in Oakland, according to community groups and the city’s Department of Violence Prevention (DVP). From Friday and through July, DVP will bring back Town Nights, an arts and culture series aimed at providing resources and positive social outlets. So why do some of the city’s leading gun violence prevention groups say this programming effectively stops gun violence? A KQED associate editor of arts and culture, Nastia Voynovskaya, addresses this question in a Bay episode. 

Listen here. 

The Oakland Side | June 15, 2023 | View article 

Oakland’s Department of Violence Prevention is getting some bridge money to carry it through the summer, but the department’s community-based contractors, who do much of its work on the streets, fear the added funds won’t save them from the chopping block when the council finalizes the city’s next two-year budget before the end of June.

“That’s just throwing a Band-Aid on a broken bone,” said Alex Toris, a cultural activist for Communities United For Restorative Youth Justice (CURYJ), which is one of the recipients of department grants. 

“What we’re asking for is not for City Council to put the money where their mouth is, but to keep it there,” Joseph Griffin, executive director of Youth ALIVE! Said during a press conference on May 30. “That’s really what we need to keep our programs going.”  

ABC 7 News | June 14, 2023 | View Story 

At a rally in front of Oakland City Hall, community groups demanded no cuts to city funding for many of their programs — ahead of Wednesday’s city council budget meeting.

SF Chronicle | June 9, 2023 | View article 

One of the biggest differences between Oakland teens and those nationally was witnessing violence: Nearly one in three Oakland teens reported having seen someone assaulted, stabbed, or shot, compared with one in five nationally.

36% of Oakland high school students said they witnessed someone in their neighborhood get shot, stabbed or beaten, outpacing their peers in California and around the country. In the United States, 20% of students agreed.

“A majority of the kids I deal with have been victims of violence, have perpetrated violence, have seen people get hurt or shot,” said Francisco Cisneros, a violence interrupter from Communities United for Restorative Youth Justice at Fremont High School in East Oakland. “They’re living in an environment that resorts to violence. It makes them feel like violence is almost the first thing they should resort to solve their problems.”

SF Gate | June 6, 2023 | View article 

Three years have passed since Erik Salgado was shot, killed, and lost his baby at the hands of California Highway Patrol officers in Oakland on June 6, 2023.

The family of Erik Salgado, CURYJ, the Anti Police-Terror, and Addie Kitchen, a grandmother of Steven Taylor, who was killed by law enforcement, gathered outside Rene C. Davidson’s Oakland courthouse yesterday morning to make their case.

As a result of the shooting and death of Erik Salgado and the loss of his baby, a new district attorney has been elected, Pamela Price, who has vowed to file charges against killer cops and reopen the case closed by her predecessor Nancy O’Malley to charge the officer involved in Erik Salgado’s murder. The family awaits justice and accountability despite ample evidence against Sgt. Richard Henderson.

“It really makes me upset that these police officers have this immunity and these bills of rights that protect them,” said Amanda Majail-Blanco, Salgado’s sister.

SF Chronicle | June 4, 2023 | View article 

Over the next two years, Mayor Thao proposes reducing funding for the Department of Violence Prevention from $48 million to $41 million. Clearly, Thao’s campaign promise to double violence prevention funding would be reversed by these cuts.

Swai Lakai says she’s benefited from violence prevention services. After serving time in prison, the 21-year-old now works for CURYJ, which organizes Town Nights for the city, an event that brings young people off the streets into spaces where they can interact with mentors and life coaches in order to prevent them from engaging in criminal activity.

Swai says, “Young people need the services, they need the mentors, they need the things these organizations offer to keep them out of trouble”

Fox KTVU 2 | May 30, 2023 | View article 

Dozens of community leaders rallied outside Oakland City Hall on Tuesday, urging city officials not to slash the city’s Department of Violence Prevention budget.

A proposed budget released by Mayor Sheng Thao calls for a reduction in contracts between the violence-prevention department and community-based groups that reach out to those at risk.

Ricardo Garcia of Communities United for Restorative Youth Justice said, “What we’re demanding the city is to equally invest in our frontline people, our folks who are putting their lives literally on the ground, to be able to make sure they’re supporting families.”

Swai Lakai told the crowd, “The police do not keep us safe, we keep us safe.” Lakai told KTVU she’s a beneficiary of community-based programs.

“I’m a formerly incarcerated student, and it helped me because I used to be in a lot of trouble, and me being able to go to these programs have helped me,” Lakai said.

SF Chronicle | May 28, 2023 | View article 

George Floyd’s murder sparked calls to end police brutality and racism. California has experienced a decline in overall police killings three years later, while the U.S. has increased.

Communities United for Restorative Youth Justice executive director George Galvis says these problems stem from racism in policing in America.

“When you think about the problems with policing in this country, you think of the system’s roots, which go back to slavery and slave patrols, police violence, police terrorism, has always been a part of policing and that won’t change overnight.”

ABC 7 News | May 24, 2023 | View Story 

“Instead of reigning in police spending, the city is considering defunding vital services for violence prevention, jobs, shelter for the unhoused.”

Andrus Family Fund | March 30, 2023 | View Story 

AFF is launching a new video and podcast series that centers youth in the movement to abolish harmful systems and who are envisioning community-centered approaches to supporting youth and families. Watch now to get a sneak peek of the topics we’ll address.

“During the first 100 days of DA Price’s tenure, our coalition of advocates will hold her administration accountable to commitments made during the campaign, including community calls for decarceration, decriminalization, and accountability. Only then will voters and systems-impacted folks know that DA Price is the change we’ve been waiting for.” in the article by Ella Baker Center | January 3, 2023 | View article