By Dianne Anderson

Fighting to pass an oil tax seems to be paying off for local kids, who, thanks to years of their hard work, now get to decide where some city money goes and how it’s spent.

For the first time ever, the youth have the power.

Maggie Quan said their biggest victory wasn’t just creating the Youth Fund, but building a budgeting process that gives young people a real role in governing. Youth now participate to shape each stage of the funding process, including setting priorities and deciding which programs receive support.

She said that it proves how, with meaningful resources, young people are ready to lead.

“Because of the decades of disinvestment and criminalization of youth, particularly youth of color, impoverished youth of color, we’re so proud to be able to shift the narrative that youth are so powerful, they’re ready to take lead,” said Quan, program manager of Khmer Girls in Action.

Through Khmer Girls in Action (KGA) and the Invest in Youth Coalition, youth organizers campaigned to pass Measure US, the local oil production tax. New funding has flowed down, helping form the Children and Youth Fund along with the city’s first Office of Youth Development.

Now, the city hands them their own budget to work with in North and West Long Beach. Youth set the rules, develop ideas based on community needs, and then vote on which proposals receive funding.

Today, through Youth Power Participatory Budgeting (YPPB), even 8-year-olds up through 24-year-olds get to decide what programming they want to see in their neighborhoods.

They’re doing their civic duty, serving on steering committees, helping guide decisions every step of the way.

Over the previous four funding cycles, about $1.6 million has come down to support projects envisioned, shaped, and ultimately chosen by the youth for the youth. This year’s cycle adds another $500,000 to their wins, with funding split evenly at $50,000 to support ten community organizations.

Each project must turn the youth-designed proposal into something tangible before September.

Participation in PB is open to all Long Beach youth, but she said it is spearheaded by KGA and others as part of the Invest in Youth Coalition. Most programs are already underway for the summer, but limited spots are still available depending on the provider.

During the year-long process, youth mull over priorities, analyze problems,  and work with local nonprofits until their rough conceptualization fits the plan and the budget. This year, over 1,400 young people cast ballots, deciding which ten proposals would make the cut.

This summer’s lineup include Shared Science Robotics Exploration eliminating barriers to STEM for youth of color, Success in Challenges with critical housing support and financial literacy, Thrift Flip Fashion Experience mixes creativity with sustainability in clothing upcycling, and Devotion Fitness builds physical and mental resilience with high-energy kick boxing training.

Together, the programs pull in about 200 young people each cycle, with most offering free meals and direct financial stipends, and lessons in the real world of city life. They show up, do the work and get cash on hand to get back to school in style.

Formal outcome data is limited, but organizers say the program’s impact is visible with many new youth-led programs now operating across the city.

She said the youth teach adults a lot about what they are capable of, collecting ideas to serve the primary goals of the youth strategic plan, like programs targeting career preparedness and homelessness.

This year, they decided that all of the ideas have to come from youth.

“There were fewer ideas but the quality of it is that it comes directly from young people and is responsive to their actual needs,” she said. “They’re also part of a month-long process of connecting with organizations to develop those ideas into proposals so those proposals are what young people vote on.”

Initially, the youth strategic plan outlined the need to focus on lower-income areas of Long Beach. The program is seeing good participation from young Black leaders, who are voting, and actively facilitating conversations with partner nonprofits.

Everyone is energized to get supportive space while backing the programs they feel passionate about.

Quan said participatory budgeting moves through three phases, from setting the rules, to ideation, to steering committee oversight where youth determine the age criteria for serving and voting.

In terms of impact, recent economic cutbacks are hitting lower-income communities hard. While the funding may seem modest, she said it keeps kids off the streets, engaged in learning, and participating in local government on their own terms.

“I think the bang for the buck is that over the last four years there’s like so many like dozens of programs, summer programs that would not have existed without folks supporting the ideation and the project proposal all the way to the votes, which youth were involved and led in every step of the way,” she said.

According to city spokesperson Emily Rodriguez, YPPB is a massive group project administered by the Office of Youth Development, alongside The Nonprofit Partnership (TNP), the Invest in Youth Coalition anchored by KGA, and CSULB’s Department of Geography.

“YPPB gives young people ages 12 to 26 who live, learn, work, play or pray in Long Beach the opportunity to directly decide how a portion of Measure US funding is invested in youth-serving summer programs,”  Rodriguez said.

That pipeline moves from youth-written rulebooks and collective brainstorming to project development and community voting. Through each phase, youth work alongside local nonprofits and facilitators, developing eligible proposals.

She said the Office of Youth Development monitors each grant to make sure the funds are used according to the approved scope of work, and that programs are meeting established objectives.

For those that do not make it into YPPB, the city is also excited about its ongoing Futures First Program.

“Futures First serves young people ages 16 to 24 who are not currently connected to school or employment by providing career exploration, life coaching and workforce readiness support,” she said.

For more information:

Khmer Girls in Action programs, see https://kgalb.org/programs/.

The City’s Youth Fund page, see https://longbeach.gov/health/healthy-living/community/community-impact/office-of-youth-development/youth-fund/

Futures First program and the interest form, see https://forms.office.com/g/GJnt71sNuJ or on the City’s website https://www.longbeach.gov/futuresfirst