Dear Honorable Mayor and City Council,
 

We write to inform you of our support for the new investments in youth and youth-serving programs as shared today in the City of Long Beach’s Proposed Budget for Fiscal Year 2024. 
 

Since 2017, the Long Beach Invest in Youth Coalition has advocated for equitable budgets that reflect hope, opportunity, and healing for youth and families- especially those most impacted by systemic racism, disenfranchisement, inter-generational poverty and trauma. Alongside our coalition are individuals and organizations that also support the 2024 Budget Proposal's investment in youth, whose names you will find listed below.
 

We applaud Mayor Rex Richardson for showing the youth love by prioritizing young people in the new budget proposal, particularly in:
 

• Allocating $1M for the Long Beach Children & Youth Fund:

  • Long Beach voters have consistently supported spending public dollars on positive youth development. This investment is aligned with the priorities of voters. It also strengthens the infrastructure and ecosystem that youth need to succeed and to realize the goals in the Long Beach Youth & Emerging Adults Strategic Plan. 
     

• Investing $500,000 for the Citywide Youth Participatory Budgeting Process:

  • Increasing the Citywide youth participatory budgeting fund from $300,000 to $500,000 ensures more funds for programs that prioritize the needs of youth who make up close to a quarter of Long Beach’s population.
     

  • This increased investment celebrates the success of this year’s pilot process where over 800 youth voted on how to allocate $300,000 to advance the goals of the Youth Strategic Plan. Increased funds will improve youth-serving programs and increase the population of youth served.
     

• Creating a year-round Citywide Youth Participatory Budget Process:

  • Expanding democracy to include a young, multi-racial population ensures that  expenditures of public funds are both meaningful and accountable to young people and their priorities as listed in the Youth Strategic Plan (specifically in the areas of housing, health and wellness, community care, planning for the future, and transportation).
     

• Allocating $50,000 for a divide-by-nine process to support youth:

  • Youth in each district have particular needs and challenges. As cited in the Youth Strategic Plan, 21.6% of the City’s youth live under the poverty level. And, the majority of youth ages 5-17 live in Central, West, and North Long Beach, which are areas with the highest rates of low-income households. This fund allows youth-serving organizations who were not funded through the pilot participatory budgeting process another opportunity to apply for funding.
     

  • Our communities thrive when we are resourced and supported. Nearly a quarter of youth under age 18 live in families with incomes below federal poverty level. Reserving an additional $5,000 per district and for the Mayor means harder-to-reach and vulnerable community members are connected to organizations with the expertise and experience to offer support.
    
     

We often hear “youth are our future”. And, this year’s budget proposal is a reflection that young people are valued and cared for.

Thank you to the Mayor and City Manager for the investments in youth in this year’s proposed budget. We hope to see these allocations reflected in the finalized budget.