We Grow Strong Families and Community
We’re organizing to make sure that kids are treated like kids. We’re in the fight to increase public investments in child and youth services in Sacramento and statewide. We seek to reverse two trends that have increased child poverty and youth trauma in California over many decades: the criminalization of youth, and the disinvestment in schools and youth services. In just under five years, Youth Forward has built considerable change-making capacity and won significant victories for children, youth and families.
Youth Initiatives
Youth Leadership
We work with communities and families to ensure children are gaining traction as leaders within their community.
Youth Justice
We convene and catalyze the Sacramento region’s criminal legal, economic and anti-criminalizing policy reform community.
Mental Health
We work to increase access to culturally-grounded mental health support for youth of color, LGBTQ youth and other vulnerable youth through advocating for the expansion of peer to peer approaches.
Cannabis Policy
We work to ensure that state and local revenues generated from cannabis taxes are reinvested in communities of color that were most impacted during the War on Drugs.
Community Impact
Youth Forward works with over 100 community-based organizations around the state to develop its policy positions and to create coordinated, influential advocacy campaigns. We learn from those community-rooted organizations who work with young people every day and we organize to bring those voices and perspectives into the state policy discussion. We seek to strengthen the work of community-based organizations through advocating for increased investments in children and youth services. In addition we provide consulting and coaching to youth organizing efforts.
Make a Donation
Support Youth Forward’s mission by making a donation.
