Publications

In 2023 and 2024, Youth Forward led efforts at the state and local levels to ban the sale of intoxicating hemp products. Through our work in local high schools, we learned that young people had easy access to highly intoxicating candy edibles, made with hemp, that have been sold in […]

On February 22nd, 2024, Youth Forward released a letter to Governor Newsom and legislative leaders advocating for ongoing investments from state cannabis tax revenues in child and youth services and environmental repair. In developing this letter, Youth Forward partnered with leading environmental organizations. Currently the State invests cannabis tax revenue […]

On March 28th, Youth Forward presented an overview of mental health funding streams to the Sacramento Children’s Fund Planning and Oversight Commission. The purpose of this analysis is to assist the Commission in the development of the Fund’s strategic plan regarding youth mental health by illustrating what currently exists and […]

On March 7th, 2024, leaders who work in our Sacramento community in support of youth impacted by foster care brought forward a memo to the Children’s Fund Planning and Oversight Commission with recommendations on how the Fund can support vulnerable youth and prevent homelessness among young adults. Youth Forward facilitated […]

On February 1st, 2024, leaders in the field of early childhood presented recommendations to the Planning and Oversight Commission of the Sacramento Children’s Fund. The Oversight Commission has the task of developing a 5 year strategic plan for the Fund based on 5 goals, one of which is early childhood. […]

On February 5th, 2024, the Youth Forward staff presented to the Law and Legislation Committee of the Sacramento City Council regarding the growing problem of youth substance use and intoxicating hemp products. Throughout Sacramento, corner stores, vape shops and even some gas stations are selling highly intoxicating hemp edibles, often […]

In August of 2023, Youth Forward and Councilmember Mai Vang held a Youth Policy Convening at Luther Burbank High School that was attended by over 70 child advocates and policy experts. We were joined by city and county staff, the Mayor, Councilmember Rick Jennings, and youth leaders. Based on the […]

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.