(Pictured Above)"Energy" by youth artists from Challenger Memorial Youth Center (Lancaster), in collaboration with artist Joseph Montalvo of the Armory Center for the Arts. Photo by Cam Sanders, courtesy of Arts for Incarcerated Youth Network.

The goals of the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture’s Countywide Plan for Elevating the Arts as a Criminal Justice Reform Strategy were adopted yesterday by the Los Angeles Board of Supervisors, furthering the transition of LA County’s justice system from a punishment-based model to one that embraces trauma-informed and healing-centered approaches. The new plan guides the development of countywide infrastructure that expands arts-based programs and services to those impacted—or at risk of becoming impacted—by the justice system. Its core components focus on prevention, community development, diversion, custodial care, and re-entry strategies. The plan directs the LA County Department of Arts and Culture (Department) and Chief Executive Office to assess resources for implementation.

Arts and culture have the power to promote positive narrative change and connect us to our humanity and the humanity of others, said Department of Arts and Culture Director Kristin Sakoda. By investing in justice-impacted youth, individuals, and communities as part of alternatives to incarceration, arts and culture can play a meaningful role in helping the County enhance our systems of care, and build safer, healthier, and more equitable communities.

Research shows us that the best outcomes for decreasing justice system involvement are achieved through individual and community development efforts, along with opportunities for job placement. These strategies also tend to be much more cost-effective than long-term custody and care, said Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, lead author of the motion that directed the development of the plan. The Department of Arts and Culture has an ambitious strategy to not only help individuals re-enter society after their time in the justice system, but to prevent system involvement in the first place.

Arts-based strategies have already shown a wonderful ability to foster resiliency and positive self-images in young people, said Supervisor Sheila Kuehl, co-author of the motion. As the County embraces more rehabilitative and trauma-informed practices in our juvenile system, we recognize that it’s important to incorporate innovative arts strategies. As the poet Thomas Merton wrote, 'Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time.' Let the healing begin!

The arts also play a unique role in connection to community. In the criminal justice context, incarcerated and formerly incarcerated individuals suffer additional trauma and isolation as a result of societal stigma. Engaging with arts bring forward the stories, experiences, and emotions of those affected by the justice system to be heard, felt, and embraced by the broader community.

Background
Starting in 2014, the Department of Arts and Culture (then the LA County Arts Commission) has partnered with community-based organizations, the Los Angeles County Probation Department, and other County agencies to pilot arts-based services for incarcerated and at-risk youth. This work expanded in 2018, when the agency was awarded a one-year, $750,000 grant from the Art for Justice Fund to build support for youth involved or at risk of becoming involved with the LA County juvenile justice system.

In our cross-sector collaboration with the Department of Arts and Culture, our staff has been trained in arts-based interventions, and we have been able to bring transformation and access to creative career pathways to County juvenile facilities. We are incredibly proud of the work, said Department of Probation Interim Chief Probation Officer Ray Leyva.

In December 2018, Supervisors Mark Ridley-Thomas and Sheila Kuehl advanced a motion, Investing in Justice Involved Individuals Through the Arts, which called on the Department of Arts and Culture to create a Countywide plan to elevate the arts as a criminal justice reform strategy. The Department submitted the plan in September 2019. It advances the Department’s work even further—the new plan supports not just young people, but youth, families, and adults touched by County criminal justice systems. It sets out five goals, including establishing Countywide leadership and coordination of arts-based strategies; expanding prevention strategies; strengthening and sustaining support for justice-involved youth and their families; supporting justice-involved adults; and expanding external partnerships.