In an op ed written by Urban Peace Institute Policy Coordinator, Nicole Brown, she explains the frustrating journey in efforts to fully fund Youth Justice Reimagined, an initiative that would shift Los Angeles' youth justice system from control and punishment to health and healing.

While the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and CEO initially promised to invest $75M towards Youth Justice Reimagined, they then included zero dollars to support ending youth incarceration within their planned budget. After months of advocacy and pressure, the Board of Supervisors finally approved $44.7M, still far short of the $75M inititially promised to support Youth Justice Reimagined. Brown and other Los Angeles Youth Uprising Coalition leaders found that juvenile probation currently has over 400 vacant positions, accounting for about $72M the County receives for probation. LAYUP is urging Los Angeles County to keep their word of "Care Not Cages" by putting their money behind their motion.