This year marks the 10th anniversary of the passage of SB 260, the first bill in a line of ARC- sponsored landmark legislation that created a youth offender parole hearing process in California. SB 260, SB 261, and AB 1308 gave hope to people serving life sentences for crimes they committed under the age of 26 by offering them an earlier parole board hearing during which “great weight” had to be given to their youth as a mitigating factor. These reforms brought hundreds of people home to their families after spending most of their lives incarcerated, many of whom are current ARC members and staff. It also set a precedent in the legislature for considering the hallmarks of youth when determining appropriate sentencing and treatment of young adults. 

We know that the recidivism rate for this population is less than 1% and have anecdotal evidence of its success otherwise, but do not have capacity to develop a formal report. We would like to gather more evidence of the societal and individual root causes that lead youth and young adults to receive life sentences, their capacity for rehabilitation, and the impact of youth offender parole board hearings on public safety and the safety of those still inside of prison. 

We would then like to work alongside students to develop a strategy for using these findings to expand this legislation to other states. 

As an advocacy team led by system-impacted people housed within a direct services organization, we are uniquely positioned to see the immediate impact that our legislation has on formerly incarcerated people. We expect students to interview people from our membership and use our member catalog to paint both a qualitative and quantitative picture of the impact of this legislation. We can also connect them with legislators and community stakeholders, and share materials that we used to pass the legislation. 

The measurable results of this project are as follows: