Gisele Castro calls for flexible community contracts and implementation role

Good afternoon and thank you Chair Brooks Powers and the members of the committee for this opportunity.

My name is Dr.

Giselle Castro and I am the CEO of Exalt.

I have spent over 20 years working in and around the criminal justice system.

And what I know is this, the young people that Exalt serves are ages 15 through 19.

And they have never been given a clean slate.

They come to us with trauma, with grief and anxiety that no one has ever named, let alone treated.

I will reference a young person experience.

As a teenager, this young New Yorker experienced family violence and became involved with the child welfare system.

They were struggling with grief and with their emotional, psychological well-being.

But the support that they needed was missing.

When they came to Exalt, someone showed up for them.

Through consistent mentorship, advocacy, educational guidance, and opportunities, she is now.

and this person is in higher education, completing their graduate degree in future mental health, wanting to participate in changing a system.

This story is not an exception, it's the pattern, and it's what extols supports for the proposal that were and are still being discussed today.

Intro 133 recognizes that representation in form of public policy matters.

Intro 453 recognizes that children with incarcerated loved ones carry that weight too.

And intro 809 recognizes that care can't disappear whenever a facility locks down.

But laws don't deliver care.

People do.

What I recommend, what we recommend are two things.

First is the multi-year flexible contracts for frontline organizations so that their work completely does not stop when funding cycle ends.

And lastly, the second one is a formal role for community organization in implementing these bills.

And thank you.

I will submit a copy.

Thank you.