Liberty Hill Foundation

Los Angeles has long lagged behind other major U.S. cities when it comes to youth development spending, especially when it comes to comparing city budgets. But now, between juvenile justice reform efforts at the county level and the planned legalization of recreational marijuana in the city, the floodgates to funding may be starting to open.

Suspended multiple times as a student, Juan Peña now fights to keep kids in class. As an organizer for Los Angeles advocacy group Youth Justice Coalition, he’s supporting legislation that would ban willful defiance suspensions in schools statewide.

Current and former foster youth involved in youth-led advocacy organizations are taking action to push back on policy proposals made by President Donald Trump and Congress that they consider harmful, particularly the repeal of the Affordable Care Act.