Community-based Organizations Encouraged to Apply for $175M in Available Funds

LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles County Justice, Care and Opportunities Department (JCOD) has officially launched the third year of funding opportunities through the Care First Community Investment (CFCI) Care Grants, making $175 million available over the next three years for direct community investment and alternatives to incarceration programming.

In 2022, during JCOD’s first year of existence and the inaugural allocation of CFCI Care Grants, JCOD awarded over $55 million to 118 organizations, each serving neighborhoods with the highest need. In July, JCOD released a second round of funding opportunities, with more than $100 million in Care Grants to be award this Fall. This funding aligns with L.A. County voters’ commitment to community investment and alternatives to incarceration.

The program areas eligible to receive this funding include:

• Housing Project
• Holistic Out of School Time Enrichment/Youth Development for Reentry Youth
• Youth Academy/Pathways out of Poverty & Non-Carceral Diversion
• General Access to Funding for Small, Minority-Owned Businesses
• Resource Movement Center
• Youth Development and Diversion through Sport and Play
• American Indian Day Care & Family Resource Center
• Reentry Education and Career Development Training
• Community Farms
• A Better Tomorrow
• TGI Mentorship Project
• Youth Learning Community
• School-Based Youth Development Support Service
• 24/7, 365 Youth Center
• Community Mentoring Leaders Program and Community-Based Juvenile Reentry
• Feeding the Unhoused
• Mommy Support
• Seeking Equity in Medicine
• Multicultural Diverse Intensive Outpatient Project
• Mommy Mentors
• Resources for Underserved Communities
• Healthcare Payment Assistance for Low-Income and Underserved Individuals
• Fresh Food
• Unhoused Youth Support
• Youth Programming in Communities of Color

For background information, webinar schedules, application and contracting timelines, and detailed information on how to apply for the CFCI Care Grants, please visit JCOD’s third-party administrator site.

Background

On November 3, 2020, the voters of Los Angeles County approved Measure J, which directed the County of Los Angeles to allocate at least 10% of the County’s locally generated, unrestricted revenues directly to community investment and alternatives to incarceration. Despite legal challenges, the Board of Supervisors reaffirmed its commitment to continuing to support Measure J’s spirit as a budgeting principle, annually allocating at least 10% of the County’s locally generated unrestricted revenues. The Board established the Re-imagine LA Advisory Committee, now known as the CFCI Advisory Committee, to help develop proposals for spending the allocation, now known as CFCI.

The Justice, Care and Opportunities Department, created by the Board of Supervisors in November 2022, is now responsible for the stewardship of CFCI. JCOD continues to follow the guidance of the Board of Supervisors, the CFCI Advisory Committee, and the CEO to ensure that CFCI funding reaches those who need it most.