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Assemblymember Jones-Sawyer has successfully authored legislation that recognizes the importance of at-promise youth. This year, he championed AB 413 which rewrites the California Education and Penal Codes to eliminate the deficit mindset codified state law by changing the language from “at risk” to “at promise”. AB 413 was approved by both houses of the California Legislature on a strong bipartisan basis. Last year, he received similar support for ACR 197 which called for Californians to recognize that “at risk” creates a prediction that lower income children and children whose parents have little formal education will fail without ever being given a chance to prove otherwise.
Assemblymember Jones-Sawyer is a leading nemesis of the devastation that the School-to-Prison-Pipeline poses for underserved communities like those in his district. His powerful legislative advocacy has led the way to secure recidivism reduction grants; help invest more in local neighborhood schools while making higher education more affordable and accessible; promote public safety that makes the criminal justice system more fair for all communities; pursue re-entry assistance - like housing and job training - for persons that have been wrongfully convicted; and establish the Youth Reinvestment Fund to improve the outcomes of vulnerable youth populations by using trauma informed community and health-based interventions in lieu of detention. The Jones-Sawyer family members were early pioneers in the civil rights movement. His uncle, Jefferson Thomas, was one of the "Little Rock Nine" high school students. These brave students faced violent mobs in their fight to integrate an all-white high school in 1957; one of the most important and documented civil rights events in our nation's history. A former amateur boxer, Assemblymember Jones-Sawyer is a powerful speaker who pulls no punches when advocating for at promise youth. Join us in celebrating with him as he addresses the importance of changing from at-risk to at-promise |
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