(a) The Director of the Youth Authority shall provide grants from funds made available for this purpose, for the development, implementation, and support of juvenile justice community resource programs.

(b) Any public or private nonprofit agency that does not directly deliver services may apply to the director for funding as a juvenile justice community resource program pursuant to this article.

(c) Funding may consist of organizational and program grants.

(1) As used in this article, “organizational grants” means grants for the purpose of funding community organization efforts in order to develop a bank of public and private agencies, and other community resources, to provide services needed by youthful offenders and to provide financial support to the referral program. An applicant may receive only one organizational grant, which may not exceed thirty thousand dollars ($30,000).

(2) As used in this article, “program grants” means grants to support the operating costs of the referral programs. A program grant may not exceed fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) per applicant per year. As a further limitation, beginning in the second year of the program grant, the amount of the program grant may not exceed a prescribed percentage of the referral program’s operating budget, as follows: 50 percent in the second year of the program grant, 33 percent in the third year, 25 percent in the fourth year, and 20 percent in the fifth and subsequent years of the program grant.

(d) The director shall consider all of the following factors, together with any other circumstances he or she deems appropriate, in selecting applicants to receive funds pursuant to this article.

(1) The stated goals of applicants.

(2) The number of youthful offenders to be served and the needs of the community.

(3) Evidence of community support, including, but not limited to, business, labor, professional, educational, charitable, and social service groups.

(e) In addition to the factors specified in subdivision (d), in selecting applicants to receive program grants, the director shall also consider all of the following:

(1) Description of the number and type of service providers available.

(2) Existence of support and involvement by participants in the local juvenile justice system, including law enforcement, probation, prosecution, and the judiciary.

(3) The organizational structure of the agency which will operate the program.

(4) Specific plans for meeting the percentage of local funding of operating costs as specified in paragraph (2) of subdivision (c).

(f) After consultation with the advisory committee, and upon evaluation of all applicants pursuant to the above criteria and any other criteria established by the advisory committee, the director shall select the public or private nonprofit agencies which he or she deems qualified to receive funds for the establishment and operation of the programs.

(g) The initial evaluation, selection, and funding of applicants shall take place prior to January 1, 1986.

(Amended by Stats. 1992, Ch. 711, Sec. 139. Effective September 15, 1992.)