BLOOM stands for Building a Lifetime of Opportunities and Options for Men, a bold, new initiative of the California Community Foundation (CCF) in Los Angeles. The initiative seeks to contribute to a minimum 10 percent reduction in prison incarceration among 14-18 year old Black males who have been involved in the county probation system. For more information, http://www.calfund.org/bloom.

1. A Partnership with the African-American Community of Los Angeles
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2. Description
“A Perfect Storm of
Opportunity”
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3. Description
Goal:
To redirect Black male youth (ages
14 – 18 years old) who are or have
been involved with the L.A. County
probation system toward a path
that produces improved education
and employment opportunities.
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4. Grantmaking
Strategies
1. Community Organizing - Supporting grassroots organizing efforts to identify and mitigate policies
and systematic interventions that negatively alter the life paths of system-involved Black male
youth.
2. Re-shaping Public Perception - Supporting efforts that seek to re-frame images of system-
involved youth through challenging public perception and media messaging, emphasizing positive
alternatives and highlighting stories of redemption.
3. Career-Based Mentoring - Supporting sustained career-based mentoring relationships between
system-involved youth and Black adult males to create new avenues for exploring career and
educational options.
4. Strengthening Capacity - Supporting organizations to improve their efficiency, effectiveness and
sustainability.
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5. Desired
Impact
SHORT-TERM OUTCOMES LONG-TERM OUTCOMES
(1-2 years) (3-5 years)
1b. Decreased policies and systematic interventions
1a. Increased public knowledge and will and
that negatively alter the life paths of system-involved
creation of a policy agenda at the local level
Black male youth
2a. Increased awareness of challenges facing
2b. Increased positive portrayals of system-involved
system-involved youth and recognition of their asset
youth and projects that highlight their asset potential.
potential
3a. Decreased time of Black male youth
3b. Decreased Black male youth recidivism rates
involvement in the juvenile justice system
4a. Increased connections between system- 4b. Sustained relationships between system-
involved youth and Black men that lead to involved youth and Black men that result in youth’s
increased awareness of possible career paths pursuit of vocational and/or educational paths
5a. Organizations have developed or completed
5b. Organizations have implemented processes that
processes that increase their potential for growth
result in overall growth and long-term sustainability.
and chances of sustainability
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6. The
Investment
$1 million per year over five years ($5 million total)
• CCF investment of $500,000 per year
• An annual 1:1 match in additional investments will be leveraged from foundations,
corporations and individual donors
• Goal - Contribute to a 10 percent decrease in the number of Black male youth
under L.A. County probation supervision over the next five years (approximately 480
youth)
• Translates into taxpayers savings of almost $50 million
• $5 million investment = $10,246 per youth versus approximately $100,000 spent
per youth in an L.A. County probation camp
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7. Community
Partners
Community Organizing
Community Coalition www.cocosouthla.org
Service Area:
Youth Justice Coalition www.youth4justice.org
South Los Angeles, with an
Re-Shaping Public Perception emphasis on organizations
LAGRANT COMMUNICATIONS www.lagrantcommunications.com serving system-involved Black
male youth residing in portions
Career-Based Mentoring
of Service Planning Areas
Brotherhood Crusade www.brotherhoodcrusade.org (SPAs) 6 and 8.
Los Angeles Urban League www.laul.org
Youth Mentoring Connection www.youthmentoring.org
Strengthening Organizational Capacity
Liberty Hill Foundation www.LibertyHill.org
Project Evaluator
UCLA Evaluation Team
www.healthychild.ucla.edu
(Drs. Jorga Leap,Tyrone Howard,
www.blackmaleinstitute.org
Todd Franke and Tina Christie)
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8. Contact Information
To learn how you or your organization can partner with BLOOM, please contact:
Robert Lewis, Program Officer (Human Development) 213-413-4130 ext. 273
RLewis@calfund.org
Please visit our website for details: www.calfund.org/bloom
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