Publications

In March of 2023, Catalyst California and Youth Forward released a new report on how 9 cities in Los Angeles County are spending their local cannabis tax revenue. This report is one part of Youth Forward’s larger effort to raise awareness about how cities are using cannabis tax revenue and […]

Youth Forward is currently coordinating a statewide campaign to raise awareness of the impact on child and youth services of the tax cuts proposed by the cannabis industry. If the industry persuades the Governor and Legislature to make these cuts, we will see significant cuts to child care and youth prevention services […]

Prop 64 allocated a portion of state cannabis tax revenues to the Board of State and Community Corrections (BSCC) to administer a grant program designed to mitigate the impacts of cannabis legalization on local communities. Since 2019, BSCC has awarded over $31 million to local governments through the Prop 64 […]

In September of this year (2021), Youth Forward and the Getting It Right from the Start Project at the Public Health Institute led a campaign to persuade Governor Newsom to veto a bill (AB 1302) that would have allowed cannabis billboards on interstate highways. We took this on out of concern for […]

Last week, Youth Forward released a report on how the youth development has been adapting its policies and practices in response the COVID-19 pandemic. The report is based on surveys and interviews with youth-serving organizations that are part of the Prop 64 grant programs managed by the Governor’s Office of […]

Over the last month, we have hosted eight virtual convenings about Proposition 64 cannabis implementation and the movement to repair the harm caused by the War on Drugs by centering racial justice, equity, and healing. Our partners at Alliance for Boys and Men of Color and California Urban Partnership helped […]

In the summer of 2020, Youth Forward staff interviewed 20 local high school students to get their thoughts on how Sacramento County schools should respond to youth needs during the pandemic. Youth expressed numerous concerns and generated ideas on how schools could support youth mental health and overall well-being given […]

In this report, Youth Forward and Getting it Right from the Start offer an analysis of what is happening with cannabis tax revenues at the local level in California. The report includes a detailed analysis of which local governments have instituted local cannabis taxes and how those governments are spending the […]

In this paper, Jim Keddy analyzes the recent effort by Sac Kids First to create a children’s fund in the city budget of Sacramento. On March 3rd, 2020, 54% of Sacramento voters rejected Measure G, a policy which would have created a stable funding source for youth services in the city of Sacramento. A […]

During the Measure U campaign to increase the sales tax and in the debates that followed, Mayor Darrell Steinberg and other city leaders promised that they would use the proceeds to support “inclusive economic development.”

Marijuana policy has numerous aspects that touch upon racial and health equity. In 2017m Jim Keddy authored a short paper that outlines many of these issues and that provides recommendations to philanthropy on how to approach this complex policy area.