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Governor Newsom signed SB 129 on July 12, legislation that reflects the majority of the 2021-22 California State Budget. This agreement contains both the biggest economic recovery package in state history, the California Comeback Plan, as well as multi-year investments in proven programs, such as Homeboy Industries’ job creation and training program, that yield transformational results for Californians in need of second chances.
(Sacramento, CA) – Governor Gavin Newsom signed SB 129, legislation reflecting the majority of the 2021 California State Budget, championed by Assemblywoman Wendy Carrillo (AD-51, Los Angeles). As part of this agreement, Homeboy Industries, the largest gang rehabilitation and re-entry program in the world, will receive $15 million in funding, allocated over a multi-year period and in partnership with the State, to support the expansion of employment opportunities and comprehensive wrap-around services at all ten of its social enterprises.
“Our state budget is a statement of our values – a promise to all Californians affirming tangible relief, protections, and investments in our future. Boldly building back better means prioritizing equity and transformation. Homeboy Industries is the perfect example of a partner uplifting both community resilience and individual agency. Everyone deserves dignity, but without support and second chances, there are few paths to opportunity, wellbeing, and stability for all. Homeboy helps people get better jobs, live fuller lives, and make their families and communities stronger. An investment in this organization and the people it serves is money well spent,” said Assemblywoman Carrillo.
Homeboy Industries will implement a job training and creation program with the California Workforce Development Board that will leverage its transformative approach of serving individuals healing from toxic and chronic stress and trauma, and providing them with innovative training and quality jobs as they redirect their lives. To deliver a comprehensive employment work therapy model, the program will aim to provide more, free wrap-around services including case management, mental health services, peer navigation, access to education programs, tattoo removal, and legal services for Homeboy Industries clients.
“We are grateful for our partnerships and the long-time support of Assemblywoman Wendy Carrillo, Assemblymember Miguel Santiago, Senator Maria Elena Durazo and Governor Gavin Newsom,” said Father Greg Boyle, Founder of Homeboy Industries. “We know that together – the transformational power of healing, workforce development and job training are the keys to eliminating many of the reentry barriers faced by formerly incarcerated Californians.”
The program will address the issues affecting marginalized people magnified even more so during the pandemic by the challenges of affordable and stable housing, the digital divide, food insecurity, and access to employment. Homeboy Industries and the California Workforce Development Board will work closely together to build a “whole person” approach to workforce development by integrating free, supportive services to yield a new era of productivity and economic mobility.
“The State ofCalifornia has invested in Homeboy Industries and our 33-year proven model of working with the most marginalized among us,” said Thomas Vozzo, CEO of Homeboy Industries. “What we know is that formerly incarcerated individuals who engage in workforce development programs that are integrated with the delivery of social services develop tools to manage and diffuse conflict, are much less likely to reoffend and much more likely to maintain long-term employment. Our partnership will enable us to expand our workforce development initiatives while developing approaches with the State to be even more effective and comprehensive in serving marginalized communities.”
About Assemblywoman Wendy Carrillo (AD-51, Los Angeles)
Assemblywoman Wendy Carrillo was elected as the representative of the 51st Assembly District in December of 2017. She is the Chair of Budget SubCommittee #4 on State Administration, and a member of the Appropriations, Budget, Health, Privacy and Consumer Protection, and Utilities and Energy Committees, as well as Chair of the Uplifting Girls and Women of Color in California Select Committee. Assemblywoman Carrillo represents the people of East Los Angeles, Northeast Los Angeles, and the neighborhoods of El Sereno, Echo Park, Lincoln Heights, Chinatown and parts of Silver Lake.
About Homeboy Industries:
Homeboy Industries is the largest gang intervention, rehabilitation, and re-entry program in the world. Annually, the $25 million nonprofit welcomes nearly 9,000 people through its doors who are seeking services and support. An additional 10,000 people come as visitors who experience the exquisite mutuality of the community. Formerly gang-involved and previously incarcerated adults and youth are part of the innovative model and therapeutic community of wraparound services and social enterprise businesses. In combination with workforce development and job training in the social enterprise businesses, Homeboy Industries provides healing and alternatives to gang life, while creating more inclusive, safer, and healthier communities. Through the Global Homeboy Network, Homeboy Industries engages with hundreds of like-minded organizations around the world providing technical assistance and fostering a paradigm of social change rooted in radical kinship and a commitment to standing with those on the margins. https://homeboyindustries.org