California Adds $30 Million More to Fund Hate Crimes Organizations


California has awarded $30.3 million to 12 organizations. Today’s press release announcement doubles down on the $14.3 million in grants to 80 organizations for prevention and intervention services to groups at risk of experiencing bias and hate crimes announced this past March. After this first round of grants, the California Department of Social Services (CDSS) and Commission on Asian and Pacific Islander American Affairs (CAPIAA) worked together to identify larger investments with the potential to have an even greater impact in the area of anti-hate services. These grants are part of last year’s budget, which included an unprecedented Asian and Pacific Islander (API) Equity Budget totaling $166.5 million.

California has had one of the largest increases in overall crime in the nation over the last 20 years. CDSS Director Kim Johnson was quoted saying “These investments show once again that California leads,”

Governor Newsom was reported to say, “We simply will not tolerate intolerance” and Assembly Budget Chair Phil Ting (D-San Francisco), “The latest statistics show hate crime increased 33% in California last year, highlighting the need for more state investment in the Asian American Pacific Islander community”  

A recent report by the office of California Attorney General shows that hate crimes increased by 89% over the past decade. In particular, the report noted that anti-Asian hate crimes increased by 177% in 2021. Asians make up a much smaller percentage of the California population and a small increase in crime among these communities would impact percentages at a much higher rate while only a small number of incidents would need to be reported. No adjustment or reason was apparent in the report for this increase.

The California Attorney General report is unclear on how hate is quantified and although hate-less and hate-neutral crimes were not isolated in the report categories for hate crimes fell into categories such as biases for; Rape, Murder, Robbery, Aggressive Assault, Simple Assault, Intimidation, and Fondling. Property damage crimes were also broken down in separate categories.

The grants to these groups is claimed to go towards;

  • Direct services such as mental health and complementary health, wellness, and community healing, legal assistance, navigation, and case management;
  • Prevention services to deepen understanding and empathy, youth development, senior safety and ambassador/escort programs, individual and community safety planning, bystander training and other de-escalation techniques;
  • Intervention services for outreach and training on the elements of hate incidents and hate crimes, services for survivors, and community-centered alternative approaches to repair harm from hate incidents and hate crimes.

Selected organizations with a demonstrated track record of anti-hate work with priority populations were invited to apply for larger funding awards. A complete list of grantees announced in partnership with CAPIAA and the California Asian & Pacific Islander Legislative Caucus (APILC) can be found here.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *